The Planet Dweller
Page 16
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Reniola fired another explosive punch at the layer of rock Moosevan had used to entomb the equipment that had been installed millions of years ago for her own preservation. Reniola began to wonder if the planet dweller wanted to be saved after all. The sheer walls were layered like the skin of an onion and made of stone so thick it was a wonder that Moosevan didn’t show some objection to her blasting her way through it.
At last Reniola came to a substantial cavity encrusted with sharp crystals. As she slithered through it she tripped and trod on her tail so many times she could have quite happily blasted that off as well. The signal led her on and on through narrower and narrower passages. She hoped Moosevan wouldn’t decide to breathe in at a crucial moment. Her natural vaporous form would have been no good in such a situation. It lacked fingers and the dimensional mortal reasoning crucial to the matter in hand. So she pressed on awkwardly until she came to another sheer wall of rock. It was so impregnable this had to be the place. The blast needed to get through would have run the risk of irritating Moosevan and could make her move violently enough to close every space and cavern beneath her surface. That wouldn’t have done the mechanism operating the accretion beam any good. It had to be repaired if the capricious creature was to be preserved. Vibration was out too. That could have shifted the crust without Moosevan’s help and brought the roof down on the equipment as well as the engineer.
Reniola scratched her muzzle in frustration. It would be a simple matter for her to realign the equipment, but she needed Dax’s help to get at it without altering the structure of the planet. Unfortunately, she was many miles above pursuing some green creatures who were pursuing a very puzzled Yuri.