Pictoria (The Ammonite Galaxy Series, Book 4)

Chapter 5

LEDIN AND GRACE had just reached the chamber at the top of the butte when the Arcan trimorphs made contact with them. Ledin was staring at one of the avifauna, which was making crooning sounds deep in its elongated throat, and had brought its sharply pointed beak to within a few inches of Ledin's face. Its head was tilted to one side and it was examining the newcomer with great attention through almost reptilian eyes.

When the trimorphs materialized in front of him, Ledin gave a start, and the avian close to him squawked in terror at the appearance of the small creatures in mid air. The avian retreated, sounding a bugle of alarm to its fellow birds, many of whom tried to escape the imagined danger by taking to cumbersome flight. There was much loud flapping of wings, shrieks as wing tips caught other wing tips, some fighting between the more closely-packed avians, and a general chaos in the chamber that left Grace ducking to the floor and covering her ears. They waited as those birds which could reach one of the ledges took off, and many of those who couldn't scaled the curved walls of the chamber, taking refuge out of reach of the imagined danger.

Finally the chamber quietened down and Grace uncovered her ears. Ledin pulled her to her feet, and they regarded the new arrivals solemnly.

Grace looked at Ledin. She had felt instinctively that these beings contained the two canths who had died, and their symbionts. "You did survive!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I am glad!"

"Thank you, Grace. And we were grateful for the attention you both gave the canths as they were dying. It was appreciated." Both of the small beings flashed over their heads, in an explosion of light and colour, and movement. Grace was captivated. "You can remember, then?"

"We can remember being canths, and being Arcan, and the ortholiquid, and even the lost animas of Xiantha. It is a good combination. However, we are here for something rather more sinister," one of them said to her. Then he explained what had happened to Six and Diva, and the visitor. "You must go down to the surface of the planet immediately. Diva will not be able to exit the cavern on her own."

Ledin nodded. "I can help Diva. What about Six?"

The trimorphs shimmered. "We do not know if there is an exit to his cavern. He has started to climb, I believe, but he may not be able to make his way out. Many of these underground lakes are sealed off completely from the exterior. His cavern may well be one of those. We have never tried to find an exit from the area where he is."

"Can you find out?"

"Certainly. We were asked to come here first, but now you are aware of the need for your assistance we will return to Six. We think we might be able to find a route out for him."

Grace wrinkled her brow. "Surely if he can get high enough up, Arcan could transport him out of there. If it were very quick?"

The trimorph turned completely black. "NO! That is not possible! The ortholiquid is now aware of Arcan. It sees him as a missing part of itself. It has a need to fusion with Arcan, and will destroy him. He is the only powerful quantum entity it is aware of, and it seems to want to come face to face with him. If he ventures off the Independence it will sense his presence, and it may even be able to trace him back to the binary system. That must never happen. The ortholiquid here on Pictoria will follow Arcan anywhere it can, and is not sentient enough to know of the damage it can cause."

Grace pulled a face. "Then it will be up to us to help Six." She looked at Ledin, who nodded and held out his hand to her.

"It will be quicker if we help each other," he said calmly.

There was a moment's pause, and then she slipped what was left of her hand into his, and smiled shyly. "I am ready."

They watched as the trimorphs shimmered and disappeared, and then they turned back to the dark corridor of stone behind them. Hopefully it would be quicker going down than it had been going up.