The Astralaceaes

Chapter 38: Yielding a Broadhead

Haledon experienced strange disorientation as he walked along the hull's gentle curve. In front of him, Witch-Hazel's body slowly dipped beneath the surface, leaving only their bobbing head in view. Above him, Haledon looked between the gaps in the scales at the dots of stars beyond that only partially came into view. And as the distance between the plates grew and shrunk, he occasionally felt alone as the thick bark dome enveloped him in inky darkness.

As they walked, Haledon caught glimpses of the megafauna that hung to the edge of the Megacolides. There, Gravodonatas rested with tucked appendages and folded wings. And while their heads never moved, Haledon felt their bulbous compound eyes watching his every step. Fighting the urge to approach, he continued to follow Witch-Hazel's vine.

The walk down the height of the Megacolides was quick. But it wasn't until the group had descended past the sixth row of scales that finally Witch-Hazel spoke up.

"This is what we're looking for—" They said from a scale ahead of Haledon.

Haledon felt the cord shift and sway as he watched the visible foliage of Witch-Hazel's head bob to the side. Gripping the tether, Haledon planted his feet into the leathery hide of the ship. He held fast, waiting for his anchor to stop moving, which, luckily, took only a moment. And only then, glancing at Mek-Tek, Haledon continued his walk to catch up to Witch-Hazel.

"What did you find?" Haledon asked, approaching quickly.

"Dermal pustule," Witch-Hazel answered, pointing at a large patch of raised, discoloured flesh. "A foreign object breached the skin here."

"Like a Mecharrion Broadhead?"

"Exactly like a Mecharrion Broadhead," Witch-Hazel replied to Haledon. "This is where we're going to want to enter."

"Okay. Where's the threshold?"

Witch-Hazel looked down at the inflamed, semi-translucent scab and then back to Haledon.

"Oh," Haledon replied. "Like, actually through the wound."

"Think of it less like a wound and more like a pimple." Witch-Hazel corrected. "Now, we don't know what to expect on the other side, so be prepared for anything."

"Okay," Haledon said once more and watched his companion begin to move.

Witch-Hazel stepped onto the membrane, quickly falling through the surface with a squirt of thick liquid erupting into his occupied space. Haledon watched the pus as it drifted lazily away, never freezing and eventually coming to rest under the nearest plate.

Following shortly after, Haledon stepped through the threshold and felt the thick goo as it coated his SOIL. It was done as quickly as it had happened, and he slipped through the other side of the scab.

"There's usually a doorway," Witch-Hazel explained as Haledon emerged. "But it looks like they damaged it when they brought the Broadhead through. The scab will heal back over...after we excise the problem."

Haledon's helmet decomposed into his SOIL, removing the goo blocking his vision. He inspected Witch-Hazel and Mek-Tek, examining the pus that quickly soaked into their armour.

"Regenerative hull tissue," Haledon said with a sudden, basic understanding of the substance. "Must repair faster than the Astralaceaes brambles."

"Different organism requiring different responses," Witch-Hazel shifted their head, looking down the length of the long room at the reflective surface of the distant Broadhead. "Now, let's return what was stolen."

"We're not returning anything—this is just another layer of theft," Mek-Tek said matter-of-factly as his helmet finally decomposed. "We stole it from the Mecharrion, and Mesa stole it from us, so we're technically stealing it back."