“What purpose does this place serve?” Riina asked, her tone surprisingly reflective.
She’d come because she was curious, or so she’d said. Naxe had assumed she was curious about Tim, but what if she were a researcher of some kind? John might have called this a vacation, but if he only brought two people with him, they’d each have a distinct function. It felt like she’d been slow to realize this, but she’d had a lot on her mind.
In the semi-silence following Riina’s question, there was a rustle, followed by a scrape. Now memory began to make associations, further fragmenting the shadow that still tried to keep her from knowing.
John strode forward, his light finding a larger space without stumps and trees. Not altogether willing, Naxe followed him into a small clearing, where light from above fell with less obstruction.
Insects darted in and out of this light and she repressed a shudder. They were so huge. Some even bigger than she’d realized. Her throat closed when one almost the size of her own head darted past her face.
A particularly large insect paused well above their head height, its wings moving so fast it felt as they were more heard than seen. Then it vanished between one blink and the next. Naxe felt the dam inside her head breaking as he dropped into sight, the insect clutched in its legs.
Halliwell wanted to scream like a little girl. He didn’t, but it was a near thing. His eyes had a hard time coming to agreement with his brain on what it was he saw snatch the bug out of mid-air. From deep in his past, a memory meshed with the thing and produced a sort of identification.
A dragonfly.
A big, dang dragonfly.
Maybe a quarter of his height and at least half his length long. Yeah, maybe he could step on it if it wasn’t hovering in the air over their heads slurping down the bug one crunch at a time.
Halliwell only barely managed to stop himself from pulling his weapon. He’d done a school project on dragonflies a lifetime ago when he’d been nine or so. Young anyway. But if this thing was anything as fast the dragonflies on Earth, he didn’t have a hope of hitting it.
This couldn’t be the same, even though it looked a lot like the one he’d pinned on a slide and studied through a microscope. This one wouldn’t have fit on that slide.
He’d learned a lot, but the key elements right now seemed to be how fast a dragonfly could move; they could intercept prey in mid-air—he tried not to focus on the prey while it was munching on that big bug—and their incredibly sharp mandibles that lined their inner legs. He could see some of those mandibles even in the low light. The one bright spot, which didn’t seem that bright right now was that dragonflies had one blind spot. Their heads were all eyes, and they could see almost 360. Except for their very rear.
How did he get this info to Tim? He was the only who could move fast enough to get behind it.
The thing paused halfway through the bug, and might have directed all those eyes in Naxe’s direction.
“You should introduce me to your friends,” it said. Its voice was almost shockingly mellow, but without the compelling quality that made Naxe’s so special. This one was creepier in a chills-down-the-spine way. Like the villain in a campy melodrama.
With all those sharp insect edges, he’d expected something more sinister and shrill. Something more insecty.
“Odon.”
Halliwell might have been surprised by how much Naxe packed into the single word.
“I know my name,” it pointed out, gesturing with one of the legs not needed for securing the bug. “I don’t know theirs.”
It had five legs, Halliwell recalled, all with those killer mandibles. And yet somehow it felt less powerful because it was trying harder to sound more so.
“Name’s Halliwell,” he said. He decided to stick to minimal information hoping it would bug the bug. Okay, mental wince. He gestured to Riina. “This is Riina.”
The thing’s head moved. It was possible it was surprised. Could it be surprised? Right now, all he was pretty sure of, was that thing could use all of its eyes to see all three of them with no problem, so why did it move its head? Could it pierce Tim’s camouflage? The robot had the ability to blend in with his surroundings, making him appear invisible. And he gave off no heat signature. Would that be enough? And could even Tim move fast enough?
Odon shot up higher, and then buzzed down, landing in a crouch in front of them. This gave Halliwell a chance to measure their sizes. The bug was just a bit over knee height and the angle reduced the intimidation factor. Okay it was still freaky. Maybe it was the mandibles. And all those eyes. So maybe still a little intimidating.
“You got new crew!” Odon rubbed a couple of his legs together. “And you brought them to meet me.”
At least it had finished off the bug, though he thought he saw a piece of leg hanging off Odon’s chin.
“Odon,” Naxe said again.
Halliwell felt a shiver go down his back.
“We have established my name, I think,” Odon said.
There was a shrill edge to the voice that took it back toward insect. Naxe didn’t speak and after a moment, the bug appeared to turn his attention to Halliwell and Riina.
“I love exploring new memories,” Odon said.
It said the words with ominous relish that made it sound a bit mustache-twirling villain, but he did have a record to back up the threat. Or did he? Halliwell’s thoughts shot back to Kismir and his vines. There was more to unpack there, but for now he needed to focus on the big bad bug.
A small shudder went through the ship, as if something had impacted—or docked—with it. The frog ship? Odon’s head started to lift.
“What kind of memories do you like best?” Halliwell asked. Okay, that was lame. But it did bring the bug’s head down again. Of course, it also brought it tilted his direction. That wasn’t great.
It was silent for several long seconds.
“I am an explorer, a researcher, and ultimately, a tale teller.”
“Interesting,” Halliwell said, trying to sound like he meant it, instead of injecting some “what the heck” in there, with a measure of “I don’t really care.” Mostly, he wanted to turn off the cloaking that was keeping them here—and get his people out—and get out of here. And he might want to see the bug squashed.
“I am a researcher, too,” Riina said into the small silence that wanted to get bigger. “I have access to a tremendous archive of data.”
She’d taken the hint about minimizing the information they shared. Good for her.
The bug’s head might have shifted her direction, though it didn’t need to. Was it an intimidation tactic or a focusing issue? Even after the science project he didn’t know. It’s not like a nine-year-old could interview a bug about the vision issues of multifaceted eyes.
“Data is so dry,” it complained. “I prefer the immediacy of the living and their stories. I like listening to them more—directly. And then sharing them with my appreciative audience.”
It had resumed the mellow voice. Halliwell frowned. Was it was trying to goad Naxe into a response? Did it want her to remember?
Moving very slowly and deliberately, Naxe reached up and removed her headgear. Halliwell wanted to protest. He didn’t because he suspected she had her memory back. She was acting with intent. He just hoped the intent wasn’t to take the hit to protect Riina and himself. Because the hit was coming. The Big Bad had eaten the bug with intent, too.