Minx Ep. 05: Sphere, Age of Arachnids

Minx stopped, as did Arachne. They watched as Ahmed nodded, then slowly stretched out his leg while keeping his foot on the muddy bottom of the bog. He put his arms out to balance himself, then dragged his other leg forward until he was standing normally again. Travelling in this slow but cautious fashion he managed to travel three metres before large leaves splashed out of the water around him and then dragged him under.

The water went calm very quickly, aside from the ripples that caused small waves which lapped the shore near Alice's boots. She looked down and backed away in horror. Minx placed her hand on Alice's arm in an effort to comfort the woman.

"They're gone," explained Minx. "There was nothing you could have done, Alice. This world is very unforgiving to those who take stupid risks."

Alice turned a forlorn face toward her. The pirate's arms came up and wrapped around Minx as she buried her face in Minx's shoulder and cried. The bounty hunter hugged the other woman for several minutes, muttering soothing words to her. As evil as the others had likely been, they had been the closest thing Alice had to a family or friends, and now they were all gone.

XV

"How did she know not to go into the water," gasped Vanessa as she stared in wonder at the image on the screen.

An angry Mahar turned to face Dragon. "She threatens to make this escapade dull. What do you recommend, Dragon?"

"She watched Arachne's reactions, Vanessa," explained Dragon as he sat. "Her people are the rightful rulers and original builders of this great ship. They returned to Terra and collected specimens with which to populate this hollow world, and they did it repeatedly and no human ever found out about it."

"But...it's just a tamed spider...isn't it?" asked Vanessa.

"Enough!" snarled Mahar. "This human's questions are tiresome and beneath our notice! Now..."

"She's not a tamed spider, Vanessa," interrupted Dragon. "Arachne's people developed a civilization and technology millions of years before the dinosaurs evolved. And their technology goes beyond anything that humans or my people have ever developed. I've hypothesized that her people, over the tens of millions of years since they last visited Terra, slowly descended into a state of lethargy and lost the drive and energy that kept them advanced for the last few hundred million years. Mahar stumbled upon this place at a very opportune moment. If their fall had occurred a few million years later he would have been recognized as a threat and destroyed before he gained entry. As the arachnid race faltered and lost the essential knowledge that made them masters of this world, Mahar was able to step into the power vacuum and take control."

"Enough!" shouted Mahar. "This world was my discovery! I will use its treasures to build an army the likes of which the peoples of this galaxy have never seen before!"

"You've known about this world, what..." Dragon raised an eyebrow as he, at last, recognized the other hyperman had been speaking, "twenty or thirty years? In that time even a clever human could have done far more than you have, Mahar. Look at Vanessa. She and her friends built a primitive civilization with a stable hierarchical structure that withstood the most dangerous creatures from the age of mammals...well, aside from man that is."

"Silence!" shouted Mahar.

"I could have looted this place in five years and moved on. Minx in ten, perhaps fifteen years. The offspring of Vanessa and her friends could have done it in three generations — you sterilized them!" Dragon opened his eyes wide and laughed.

"He did what?" shouted Vanessa, having momentarily forgotten her fear of Mahar.

"He was so afraid of you and the others that he sterilized you so there would be no offspring. If he'd been cleverer he simply would have allowed you to procreate, thus building an officer class for his future army, but he never thought of..."

"SILENCE!" screamed Mahar.

"I seem to have hit a nerve, Vanessa." Dragon allowed himself the luxury of a smug smile, knowing that he would soon pay for it.

The two prisoners watched in silence as Mahar opened a panel on the console and then removed a thin cylinder from an otherwise empty compartment. He made a few careful adjustments to the device, then walked over to Dragon's cage and plugged it into an opening on the side of the octagon. Dragon eyes went wide, then he took a deep breath and screamed at the top of his lungs. The hyperman's eyes closed and his body went limp.

"What did you do?" Vanessa shouted, over the hyperman's moans.

"Entertainment," answered Mahar, as he watched every twitch and spasm of Dragon's face. "If you aren't capable of appreciating it, you are free to leave this room."

Vanessa hurried out into the hall, ignoring the two scorpions who waited patiently for their master. Another agonized scream from Dragon made her clamp her eyes shut and clench her fists. She was thankful that Mahar had spared her any torture for the moment but, deep down, she felt a pang of sympathy for his hyperman prisoner. Dragon had deliberately provoked his captor and Mahar was now getting his revenge but, she wondered, why?

They'd been watching Minx avoid some dangerous obstacle that Mahar had been sure would have killed the woman, so why had Dragon talked that way? Then, she realized that Mahar had been growing bored, and had admitted it. What if the hyperman had decided to just go out and kill Minx? Or worse, what if he grown tired of having her wandering around his home and carried out his plan to feed her to that dinosaur, just like he said he was going to? Dragon's insults had prevented Mahar from doing either deed.

Vanessa almost couldn't believe that Dragon had really protected her like that. She also had trouble accepting that he had manipulated Mahar so easily, yet she had seen it with her own eyes.

XVI

Having taken a day to circle the deadly bog, Minx, Arachne and Alice now found themselves on drier ground. The wetlands had been bordered by scrub. Odd, small trees that appeared much like thin pineapples topped with fern-like fronds were spread sparsely across a mix of earth and sand that eventually evolved into rolling hills. A fine moss carpeted the ground beneath their feet, and Minx was thankful for that, being bare-footed.

Alice followed closely behind her, while Arachne scuttled about here and there, chasing the hand-sized chitinous daddy-long-legs that inhabited this strange land. There were other, smaller creatures which seemed to be prey animals. She suspected they were ancestors of the various branches of vertebrates, such as amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.

"How are you doing?" she asked Alice.

"I'm okay." The pirate had said very little since the last of her friends had been killed by those carnivorous water plants. "I wish you'd stop asking. It's like you're hoping there'll be something wrong with me."

"It's not that..." Minx paused and listened.

She could hear something in the air, something large. The sounds came from several directions, almost surrounding them. What made her anxious was that Arachne suddenly bolted back to position herself beside her, then reared back as if ready for a fight.

"What is it?" asked Alice.

"Sh!" commanded Minx.

Suddenly she saw the threat. Huge dragonflies were flying toward them in starts and stops, using the shoulder-tall trees as cover. This was a favoured hunting strategy, the bounty hunter realized.

"Back to back!" commanded Minx.

Alice and Arachne were quick to respond. The two women each held a sword ready while Arachne had nothing but her claws and mandibles. They waited. Minx noted the first dragonfly, its wings stretching three metres across, shoot toward them. Without a word, she leapt out, slashing at the insect and cutting through its armoured head, then returned to the relative safety of her allies. The bug, green ichor pouring from the enormous gash, swerved and then crashed to the ground.

"What are they?" asked Alice, her voice on the edge of panic.

"Dragonflies," answered Minx. "I think these ones are after us."

Arachne hissed then took a few steps away from the two women. She pointed an arm at one of the trees and issued a series of rapid clicks.

Minx cast an eye to the air, where a few dozen of the flying creatures were bearing down on them. "Follow Arachne!" she shouted.

The arachnid ran to the shelter of the nearest tree and was quickly joined by Alice and then Minx. The two women panted and watched metre-long dragonflies buzz by overhead.

"What do we do?" pleaded Alice.

Minx stepped out from the shelter and swung her blade at an insect that had tried to swerve under the fronds to get closer to them. She stepped back as two transparent wings fell to the ground, followed by a wounded insect that flexed and unflexed its legs as it flopped around on its back.

Arachne clicked again then pointed at the fallen dragonfly. Minx wondered what her friend was trying to tell her. Finally, after an annoyed stamp of a clawed foot, Arachne darted out toward the dying insect and tried to pull it back to the protection of the tree. Three more dragonflies immediately swooped down after her.

"Come on!" shouted Minx, as she dashed out to protect her friend.

One fell as she cut through its body with a single blow. A second she kicked as hard as she could, bending one of its wings and sending it rolling away. Arachne leapt up at the third, her legs extended to catch it and then clamped around it tightly as she bit into its green and blue body.

"Arachne!" shouted Minx, pointing back to the tree where Alice cowered.

Having paralyzed her prey, Arachne tried to pull the dragonfly back. Minx gave her a hand and the two returned quickly to Alice's side.

"Why did Arachne do that?" asked Alice. Then she went green as Arachne bent over the still-living insect and began to gnaw a hole in its side.

Minx glanced about. The other dragonflies were now keeping their distance, having recognized the danger they posed. "I think she's grabbed dinner."

"I can't eat that!"

"Then you'll go hungry, Alice."

Still, Minx waited until the creature had stopped moving before cutting off a leg. The flesh inside was unrecognizable and unappetizing green goo dripped out. She shrugged her shoulders, put her mouth to the flesh and took a small bite. While the texture was barely palatable the taste was not too bad. Her stomach accepted the offering, and she ate more.

Arachne bit off the remaining five legs, then concentrated on eating the contents of the thorax, head and abdomen. Having finished her first leg, Minx picked up a second and began to work on that. After a few seconds, she grabbed another leg and offered it to the squeamish pirate.

Alice went very pale. "I really don't think I can..."

"You'll eat it, or you'll slowly weaken and get left behind. How long do you think you can last around here without eating the food we find?" asked Minx. "This isn't about what tastes good...this is about survival."

Alice reluctantly brought the opening in the leg up to her mouth, closed her eyes and took a small bite. Then, she turned away and nibbled on the dragonfly leg.

Minx watched her as she grabbed her third portion. Arachne finished her meal as if she'd been famished then sat upon the ground to rest. Alice was learning, thought the bounty hunter. They had to make do with what became available to them if they were going to reach the distant tower, rescue Dragon and kill Mahar.

XVII

Dragon's agony went on for three days. Vanessa could hear the screams wherever she went, and it was driving her crazy. Even in her sleep she had nightmares of Dragon screaming. She had been debating whether or not to chance trying other levels of the complex when she suddenly realized she was surrounded by silence. If Dragon had finally died then it meant Mahar would be turning his attention to her soon. However, she couldn't resist the urge to see what had become of the tortured hyperman.

Slipping on a new poncho, from a store of strange silvery cloth she had found in a small chamber, she followed the corridors until she was outside the chamber she'd avoided while the hyperman screamed. She took a deep breath, steeled herself for whatever grisly sight might be awaiting her inside the room, and then entered.

Dragon was sitting in his cage, cross-legged, with his chin upon his chest. Mahar was nowhere to be seen. She took some quick breaths then hurried over to the hyperman. He was breathing but appeared to be sleeping.

"Oh, Dragon! I think I'm going to be far luckier than you..."

"Vanessa?" he whispered, his voice hoarse.

"Wait!" Vanessa hurried from the room and returned to her own chamber. She collected some water in a cup and went back to Dragon. "Drink this, slowly."

She handed him the cup between the energy bars, and he brought it slowly to his lips and took a couple of sips.

"Thank you."

"What did he do to you?"

"We call them pain inducers...for obvious reasons. They bypass nerves and flesh, sending a signal directly to your brain to inform you that everything hurts. They were quite the rage almost four hundred years ago, at least from what I've heard. Never had one used on me before." He cringed for a few moments. "I have to say I've developed some new respect for your ancestors, Vanessa. I understand that my people used them quite freely on yours during the Third Galactic Empire."

She brushed her hair back with her fingers. "You shouldn't have angered him."

"I had to, don't you see." He took a few breaths, then finally appeared to relax a little. "He was frustrated by Minx. Those other humans were meaningless to him, but she matters to him because she matters to me. And, when she cost him some entertainment he was bound to look elsewhere..."

"Oh, my God! He was going to kill me!" Vanessa stared into Dragon's face and tears welled up in her eyes. "You let him torture you to save me! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Look, Vanessa. I don't want to appear cold-hearted but I really need some rest right now..."

She stood and backed away quickly. "No problem! I'll be back in a few hours. You get all the rest you need, Dragon, and then we'll talk some more." She walked across the room then paused in the doorway. "Thank you, Dragon."

"Yeah, no problem," he said, half-attempting a smile. "Oh! Has he had you clean out..."

"Yes. Just as you said, Dragon." Her eyes flashed.

Then, she left, and Dragon closed his eyes and breathed out a deep breath. He shook his head. Minx was a lot smarter than Vanessa and would have determined Dragon's true motive immediately. It was just as well, though, that Vanessa believed he had purposely redirected Mahar's fury at himself simply to protect her and not because he needed her if he was ever to be free.

Soon...soon, Vanessa would be ready to move against Mahar.

XVIII

Minx put an arm in front of Alice to keep her from stepping into the sandy circle. Arachne had frozen in place and was staring intently at the very centre of the circle. Bordering the sand were an odd mix of three-bladed grasses and land-bound vines, none of which grew greater than ten centimetres tall. All around was dirt, except for this single, circle of sand about three metres across.

"What is it?" asked Alice in a whisper. She was learning caution, but was still far less observant than Minx would have liked.

"Something's in the centre of all that sand. It may be big."

There was a flicker of light before them, then Mahar's image appeared floating knee-high from the ground, directly above the circle made of sand. Minx noticed again how handsome the man was, like all hypermen supposedly, yet she could now see wrinkles around the man's eyes that showed he was older then Dragon. Mahar wore a brown jumpsuit, tight-fitting, though he wasn't quite as well-built as her hyperman. His black cloak was flung back over his shoulders.

"Minx, I have a message that it would do you well to hear," the hologram said. Semi-transparent eyes stared straight at Minx.

The two women watched as an arm-long pair of pincers darted up out of the sand and tried to close around Mahar's boots. After a few futile attempts the insect-like creature gave up and buried itself back in the sand.

"Go ahead, Mahar. We've nothing better to do."

Mahar crossed his arms. "I'm giving you three weeks to come to me, Minx. At the end of that time I shall simply kill Dragon." He stared at Minx, clearly searching for an emotional reaction.

Minx sat down in the dirt and absently picked up some stones. "So...he's still alive?"

"Of course he is. You don't think I'd simply kill my new favourite plaything, do you?"

Minx threw a stone over Mahar's holographic head. "I'd hoped he would be safe, but with you being a hyperman...your people are generally known as homicidal maniacs." She hurled another stone over his head.

"My people are the result of the advancement of your species, despite what your primitive fears have led you to believe. Now, stop throwing those stones. You must know you cannot hurt me."

"I know it bothers you, so I'll keep throwing them." She threw another, then another.

"Very well. Amuse yourself. Now, to reach the tower in three weeks you will need to..." Mahar's image suddenly flickered and a small, brief explosion of sparks appeared in the air.

"Got one!" laughed a triumphant Minx.

"Got one what?" asked Alice.

Mahar glared at Minx.

"One of his projectors. He's using microrobots and nanobots scattered throughout this hollow world for various tasks. Without them he's far less dangerous." Minx threw another stone above Mahar's head.

"Stop it!" demanded the hyperman.

"But..." began a clearly worried Alice, "why would you want to get him angry?"

"He's already planning to kill us, Alice. Probably in some unbelievably horrible way that would never occur to either of us." She threw another stone to Mahar's left and his image flickered. That was followed by another stone hurled as hard as she could throw. Mahar's image disappeared as another small explosion of sparks flickered into existence for a second.

"But he was going to tell us how to reach him!" Alice pointed out.

Aphrodite sighed over Minx's implant. "Oh, brother!"

"Alice, we will get no favours from him," explained Minx. "He's a hyperman, not a reasonable one like Dragon, but a bloodthirsty, cold, calculating, the only good human is a dead human-type of hyperman. Think of him as the most bestial and cruel man you've ever met, then give him genius level intelligence, the strength of three or four men and make him twice as fast as any athlete. Any help he would give us would lead to incredible dangers and he hopes to sit back and watch us live or die while ignorant of the fact that he's going to kill us once we reach the tower."

"Then, what's the point of going?" Alice bit her lip. "We could go to your ship and..."

"Alice! We are not going to my ship until we rescue Dragon!"

"Fine!" Alice stormed off.

Minx watched the woman walk away. Arachne clicked questioningly. Minx nodded and pointed to Alice, and the arachnid hurried after the departing woman. The pirate was still incapable of looking after herself in this hollow world.

Taking a look around, Minx wondered how many microbots were watching her right now. How many active ones did Mahar have left? These things were small, but still used up energy. So how did they recharge? It seemed reasonable to her that they charged up at his vessel or, perhaps, an arachnid facility. Yet, they were quite far from one. And, she guessed, he couldn't just keep sending them out and replacing them with new ones as the old ran out of energy. So, he had a finite supply that might already be close to exhaustion.