Minx Ep. 05: Sphere, Age of Arachnids

"You," began Mahar in an angry tone, "are trying to anger me." He quickly calmed. "Your intellect is no match for mine, Minx. Your simplistic attempts to infuriate me will not weaken my resolve, nor will they make me change my plans."

"Weaken your resolve?" mimicked Minx. "Do you hear that, Alice? His plan is to tease and scare us until we willingly submit to his plans. He's wanted us to trudge across this dangerous world to beat out our wills, to crush our resistance. He's not even planning to kill Vanessa. He needs all three of us alive." She put her hands on her hips and laughed. "He won't kill us! He's trying to keep us alive!"

Mahar's face contorted. He bared his teeth and clawed his hands and lunged for Minx...and disappeared from view.

"What happened?" asked Alice in wonder.

"He got so mad that he forgot I wasn't right in front of him and he jumped off the device that generates the hologram. He completely forgot where he was and where we are." She shook her head. "Mahar isn't thinking clearly. He wanted us dead before, but now he wants us alive so we can be mothers to his race of soldiers. Now we know he won't kill us." Minx smiled and chuckled. "Once Dragon is free he's going to kill that guy." She hurled her handful of stones where the hologram had been and was rewarded with two bright sparks.

"Why won't he just kill Dragon?" asked Alice.

"He needs Dragon as a lure, to draw me to the tower. I think he suspects that I have the skills to live off the land and doesn't want me going into hiding. He's afraid he won't be able to find me. That means he only has a limited ability to monitor us. Dragon would never have made the mistakes that he's made!"

"You love Dragon, don't you?" asked Alice, suddenly.

Minx clasped her hands together and looked away. "I don't know about love...I mean...I like him and he's really attractive, even without the pheromones..."

Alice gave Minx a hateful look. When Minx turned back to face her, Alice looked away.

"Minx!" exclaimed Alice. "I saw something move in those ferns!"

Minx rose to her feet, gripping a large stick that had been conveniently near. "Follow me."

She advanced, heading straight for the few fronds that were gently swaying. As she drew closer she could see the corpse of a large scorpion laying amongst the ferns. She swatted at it with her club but it didn't react.

"Was it following us?" asked Alice. She reached down and picked up a large stick of her own.

"Yes, and something was following it." She pointed near the front and tail of the corpse. "Something stabbed into it there, something with fangs. Arachne?" she called out.

There was no response. After a short time the familiar buzz of small insects rose in volume. Minx crouched near the scorpion's body and examined the ground. She pointed out a number of small depressions but said nothing. Then, she nodded her head toward the area they had just come from. The two walked away, but Alice could not resist looking back for further signs of pursuit.

"You won't see anything," whispered Minx. "I think Arachne and her people are following us but don't want Mahar to know. Let's not talk about this again."

Alice leaned close to her as they walked. "I can't believe how comforted that makes me feel."

XXIX

Dragon examined the images of the still lake, with the domed stromatolites rising from the shallows, and compared it to the other screens showing dense jungle with myriad arthropods climbing, flying and crawling through the vegetation. Vanessa waited patiently for his assessment.

"The water," he said finally. "As much as I hate to send them there with the limited data we have on it, there are just too many carnivorous creatures in that forest. While the water is likely to contain predators, my guess is that they won't be much of a danger to the ladies. We've seen no large prey animals around those stromatolites."

"You're sure?" she asked. "Those aren't giant clams waiting to trap them or something?" She eyed the screens and took quick breaths. The two women were so close to the tower now! And Mahar seemed totally ignorant of the approaching danger!

"They're stromatolites, Vanessa. Simple mounds of silicates and dirt laid down by algea. They'll be slippery but in no way dangerous to the ladies if they have any foot coverings. I wish Mahar had some microbots under that still surface though. I'd prefer to be completely sure on how safe the area is before advising Minx to travel that way."

Vanessa ignored the thoughtful look on his face. "I'll go warn them, then. I think Mahar is performing some more modifications on Paul and Miguel." She shuddered. "He was rather upset the last time he tested me...there was still no indication of a pregnancy."

"Minx will be here prior to the next time Mahar throws you to those two wolves, Vanessa. He's waiting on the both of them to arrive, and he must know they're close. He foolishly believes the fault lies in your uterus and not in his pseudoscience."

"I wish I had your confidence..." she mused.

Vanessa turned off the control console to prevent Mahar from knowing what they'd been viewing, then left the room. A few minutes later she entered the chamber with the hologram projection machine and stepped onto the platform. Minx and Alice appeared before her, seated upon the ground and waiting patiently, much to her surprise. The bounty hunter looked very confident in her capabilities while Alice seemed as nervous as ever, though she was getting better at concealing it.

"Ah, there you are," noted Minx. Both women stood.

"You knew I'd be contacting you? How?" asked Vanessa.

"Either you or Mahar would be. We've reached a crossroads. That jungle looks a little too risky, while that water looks just too inviting. Which way are we supposed to go?"

Vanessa frowned briefly. "Well, we think you should go by the water. There're some stomatomites...or something...that you can use to hop through the shallows. You won't even get you knees wet. Oh, you can't skirt the water the entire way because..."

"We saw the rock cliff meet the lake surface, Vanessa," finished Alice in a bored tone. She examined her fingernails.

"And the stromatolites are safe enough for us to use. Dragon did say the water was safe, though, didn't he?" asked Minx, staring pointedly at Vanessa.

"Well...," Vanessa struggled to remember exactly what Dragon had told her, "it was safer than the jungle, Minx. How did you know they were called stromatolites?"

The woman shrugged. "I have a message for Dragon. Tell him that Mahar fully intends that we should arrive alive and unharmed at the tower. He wants us beaten down by our long journey, but both Alice and I are doing well. Arachne left us to be with her own people, but he'll understand how unreliable she can be. I'm guessing we'll arrive in two days. That will be when things really start hitting the fan."

"You have a plan to kill Mahar?" urged Vanessa, clapping her hands together.

"Of course, don't you?" responded Minx.

"I..." Vanessa furrowed her brow. "How could I ever kill him? He's a hyperman! For that matter how could the two of you kill him? You'd better fill me in so I can tell Dragon!"

Minx and Alice glanced at each other. "Just return to Dragon and pass along my message," said Minx. "Tell him exactly what I said, word for word. Do you understand, Vanessa?"

"Yes! I'm not an idiot! And," she glared at Minx, "I really don't understand why you don't trust me! He plans to hand the three of us over to Paul and Miguel! He's changed them into...primitive beast-like men! They've already...Mahar's been turning me over to...". A look of intense anguish crossed Vanessa's face.

Alice's eyes went wide. "Minx! You won't let them have me, will you?"

"Don't worry, Alice. I handled those two easily enough when they had human brains, and I doubt they'll be much trouble just because they've got a few more muscles." Minx shook her head. "Can't say I feel sorry for the fate of those two would-be rapists."

"You're not still mad about that, are you Minx?" asked a sheepish Vanessa. "I've been trying to help you...and the guys talked me...threatened me into helping them."

"I haven't forgiven or forgotten, Vanessa. However, right now you must return to Dragon and pass along my message! Get going!"

Vanessa stepped off the platform, then stopped and wondered for a few seconds if Minx would turn her over to Paul and Miguel once Mahar was dead. She thought about warning her tormentor that she'd been communicating with Minx. Would he reward her for it? Then, she thought better of the idea. Minx wouldn't hand her over to be raped! What woman could do that to another woman?

She walked back to Dragon, praying she would not run into Mahar along the way. Not once did she dwell on the hypocritical nature of her thoughts. She walked past scorpions with little concern over their presence; they seemed intent on carrying tools and supplies from one place to another under Mahar's direction.

XXX

"I don't believe the lake to be any safer than the forest, Minx," cautioned Aphrodite.

"I know. My instincts say we don't have any choice, though."

"Your instincts say...?" questioned Alice.

"Sorry, Alice. I was talking to Aphrodite. She doesn't think either path will be safe." Minx stood at the edge of the bluff. Down, below, was the still and deep blue water of the lake. It was at least a kilometre across and much of it as surrounded by white, sandy beaches. To her left, the trail went up the gentle, rocky slope and disappeared into a knot of barrel-trunks and shoulder-high ferns of varying colours. To her right the land descended into thick, green vegetation that would tower over her and Alice. Their goal was out of view currently, but she knew it was directly ahead of them.

"Can we go around one or the other?" asked the pirate in a quiet voice.

Minx shook her head. "Two rivers of lava box this landscape in. We'd have to cross one and I don't think we're going to be allowed to go around even if we could. Besides," Minx stretched, clasping her hands together and bending to her right and then her left, "we don't have time to circle around either the forest or the lake."

"We don't have the time...?"

"The lake it is," announced Minx.

With a skip, she set off along the narrow trail that descended the bluff. Alice waited a few seconds, then hurried after her companion. The path grew narrow, but never so narrow as to seem dangerous. Stones, kicked off the path during their descent, ricocheted their way down the bluff until at last they splashed into the water, sending ripples across its otherwise placid surface.

"Strange that there should be a path, isn't it?" asked Alice.

"There've been creatures living inside this world for over a hundred million years, Alice. It's strange that everything hasn't been ground to dust by now. Either weathering processes are slowed down somehow, or some power rebuilds the landscape from time to time."

"Oh."

The women stepped onto the soft white sand of the beach and surveyed the water. The ripples had long since disappeared and the lake was absolutely smooth once again. The sand was very fine-grained. Minx crouched down and picked some up in her hands. "Shellfish," she observed.

"What?"

"Shellfish. Or the crushed shells of shellfish." She stood and brushed her hands clean. "An uncountable number of shellfish have lived and died in this lake, and their shells have coated the bottom and eventually washed up to form this beach. We might be in luck. There're no bones or seaweed or signs of any other life here."

"Well, let's get going then, Minx. This lake is creepy."

Minx turned to her companion with an odd look. "You're a pirate and you're creeped out by water?"

"What do pirates have to do with water?" Alice asked, confused.

Minx shook her head in exasperation and began walking. The beach sand compacted under her boots and water welled up in the depressions. She glanced back and noted Alice just two metres behind her. The pirate woman gave her a hopeful smile.

"She never would have survived here on her own, boss," noted Aphrodite. "She's only one asset and that's her looks."

"I know," whispered Minx.

"She was born into a world of technology and, like most humans, is incapable of adapting quickly enough to survive a traumatic change. You're more adaptable."

"And that's why Dragon wants to turn me into a breeding machine to produce his army?"

"I think he has a few reasons, Minx." There was a brief pause. "However, I think he's given up on the idea of galactic conquest. He's adaptable, too."

Minx glanced at Alice, but the other woman seemed unaware of her conversation with the A.I.

"So...I should be happy that he's given up his dreams of galactic conquest and has decided to spend his time bedding as many human women as he can?"

"You're no virgin."

"I didn't say I was."

"Then as long as you keep saying no to him, why should he be celibate? He's a healthy male and women are attracted to him."

"They're attracted to him because of his pheromones!"

"A natural attractor to the opposite sex. How many times have your own sex pheromones got you out of a jam? Or your face? Or your long hair? Your boobs? Why shouldn't he use what he has?"

"Because women cannot say no to him!"

"They can say no if they really want to. The ones that he's had sex with simply didn't want to say no. Besides, does he seem the type to trick women into sleeping with him? Do you remember how he behaved while you were on Hephaestus?"

"He was trying to fool me into..."

"He could have set his pheromones to full output and simply waited until you dropped onto your knees before him, at least by your logic. Boss, you're not giving him his due."

Minx frowned. She was coming up to a spot where the level of the beach dropped and the water went right to the bluff. She could see stationary, black shapes in the water, just below the surface and a few metres from shore.

"And you're trying to ensure that you and Hephaestus get back together again, Aphrodite."

"Can't blame a girl for trying, boss."

"No, I can't."

"No to what, Minx?" asked Alice, joining her as she examined the water.

"Just talking with Aphrodite, again. The beach has ended, Alice." Minx pointed ahead.

"I don't like it," whispered the pirate.

Minx shrugged. "I haven't seen anything swimming in the water, and we haven't seen any movement in the lake at all. It's not too deep before we'll be able to step up onto the stromatolites. I think we're good to go."

"If you say so, Minx." Alice slipped her hand into Minx's.

The bounty hunter thought about freeing her hand, then realized that the other woman wanted some reassurance. Wading out together, they scanned the water cautiously. Minx noted some small, triangular crab-like things scuttling about around the stromatolites but said nothing to her nervous companion. They reached the first mushroom shaped rock and Minx helped Alice up onto it, then stepped up onto one of her own. The water sloshed around their ankles.

"See?" Minx said. "Easy! Now all we have to do is step from stromatolite to stromatolite for a hundred metres or so, and then wade a short distance to the next beach."

"Okay, Minx." Alice stared at the water ahead, her face full of trepidation.

Minx hopped to the next rock, about a metre from her own. Water splashed up and she struggled to catch her balance on the slick surface of the stromatolite.

"It's a little slippery, Alice, but it's flat enough you shouldn't fall into the water. Go ahead."

The pirate took a breath and leapt, splashing water everywhere. She put her arms out fearfully, then grinned and laughed as she found her balance.

"It's like a game, Alice! Try to keep from falling into the water!" Minx hopped to another and then another. "And try to keep up!"

The two women laughed as they jumped from rock to rock, then spent a couple of seconds gaining their balance. It was a game, and Alice grinned mischievously as she leapt ahead of Minx for the first time. The bounty hunter nodded, then half-heartedly chased after her companion. She was content to give Alice the victory in their race if it made the woman a little more amenable and braver for the next few hours.

Suddenly, Minx called out to Alice. "Stop!"

The pirate froze in place. She'd been ready to leap to the next stromatolite when Minx had shouted her command. "What's wrong?"

"There's something on that next rock!" Minx came even with Alice and the two women peered into the water from their separate vantage points.

"It's a bug!" cringed Alice.

Minx rolled her eyes. "No, Alice. It looks a bit like a trilobite with long feelers in front of it."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Aphrodite?" asked Minx.

"Unknown. How big is it?" answered her vessel.

"Uhm, maybe about the size of my hand."

"Unless it has a poisonous bite or sting I doubt it's dangerous. Do the feelers have hairs or something similar?"

"Yes."

"Minx!" screamed Alice. "There's another one on your rock!"

"Boss, my first thought is that the creatures are eating the algea that makes the stromatolites, so they shouldn't be dangerous to you."

"It's alright, Alice. They're not dangerous," soothed Minx. "And look! There aren't that many of them so we can easily avoid them."

"Whew! That's a relief, Minx." Alice jumped ahead again, but only after a careful look revealed none of the creatures on her target rock. "I'm winning!" She giggled, having lost her fear of the trilobites.

"Boss!" called out the A.I. "You said there are just a few of them?"

Minx froze. "Alice! Stop!" The bounty hunter became very sensitive to everything around her. "Yes. I can see under a dozen within several metres of me, and there are some stromatolites that are free of them. Aphrodite, what are you concerned about?"

"Something's preying on them. It'll be bigger, and if it's big enough it could be dangerous to you and Alice."

"Got it. Thank you, Aphrodite."

"Minx? What's the problem?" asked Alice quietly.

"There may be something else around, something that eats these bug-things." Minx scanned the water. Alice copied her. "There!" shouted Minx, pointing at a large black mass under the surface that was drifting toward them.

As the two women watched the mass passed through the stromatolite field, parts of it flowing around the squat, mushroom-like rocks. "I think it's a school of predators, but I can't see whether they're fish or what. Head to the bluff, Alice. Maybe they'll avoid shallower water."

The women hopped from stone to stone, keeping a careful eye on the black mass that seemed to be following them. Minx paused to watch the black mass surround a stromatolite on which one of the trilobite-like creatures was cowering. A tentacle or pseudopod wiped the surface, sweeping the creature into the black mass.

"Damn!" cursed Minx.

"What is it, Minx?"

"It's some sort of amorphous creature! A big one! And it scours the stromatolites free of creatures!"

Alice had reached the bluff. She looked around helplessly. "It's too steep!"

As Minx came closer she realized the pirate was right. "Damn!" What could they do? She looked left and right, up and down, seeking some sort of escape but could see no way out. The black shape had practically encircled their retreat, cornering them against the sheer bluff, and it was still advancing!

"Mahar! We're in trouble! Damn it! I know you've been watching! Rescue us!" shouted Minx.

Several seconds passed and the creature drew closer. A black tentacle began to sweep the stromatolite that Minx stood upon. She stamped her boot upon it and it stopped, then it slowly pulled away.

"Minx? What do we do?"

"We hope Mahar has been watching us, Alice!"