Eric Flint: The Sorceress of Karres

Worried about the captain, they'd moved fast to deal with the rest-only to find that they didn't have to. The plants were deserting their hosts as fast as they could. The three in the lounge were lying on the floor, sitting. Vezzarn wasn't quick enough for Goth. She 'ported the lock out of the door of the room Captain Pausert was in.

And she personally burned the mother-plant parasite. The Leewit had to stop her from doing so the minute she saw it. "Let it get out completely. You don't want it to die half way. Then it could go bad in him and cause all sorts of problems."

Goth took a deep breath. "I can wait," she said, between clenched teeth. "But I'm going to fry it."

And she did, as a startled Pausert looked on, his eyes wide, but smiling.

"You know," he said, "I'd expect my future wife to take better care of the carpets."

And then he couldn't say anything more because she was hugging him.

"The addiction effect was on those the mother-plant kept under superficial control. Some of those goons of hers, for example."

"So you don't find you prefer it to me?" said Goth, still holding onto him.

"Great Patham, no!" Pausert shuddered. "Now, unless I am very much mistaken, we'd be very wise to get out of here. Let's get everyone strapped in and try for one of my better launches!"

He looked at the mound. At the array of protruding spaceguns. "It's going to be… interesting. I think we had better get airborne and go Sheewash or we might be toast."

"Got to get these collars off first," said the Leewit. "It's bothering me."

Goth grimaced. "Okay. I'm just really tired."

"Whoa," said the captain. "Is that what I think it is? Explosive collar?"

Goth nodded.

"I've got an idea. I can shield-cocoon you to fit your body, I think. And I just feel it would be a good idea."

"Clumping well just take the thing off me," said the Leewit, suddenly peevish. "I'm not too happy with that shield cocoon."

"Captain knows what he's about," said Goth. "Let him do me first, then you. We'll do it down in the hold in case it does blow."

So they did. And as the collar was 'ported… it exploded. But Goth was unharmed, inside the cocoon.

The Leewit made no further objection. Shortly thereafter, she was free of her own collar.

"Captain," called Vezzarn over the intercom. "There's a whole bunch of Megair Cannibals coming our way. I think they're looking for the ship."

"Must have figured out something was wrong," said Goth. "It looks like theirs, but… "

"But we are getting out of here."

They ran back to the control room. "Strap in, and ready for Sheewash," said the captain.

"We'll do it," said the Leewit firmly to Goth. "You're dead tired. I've hardly done anything."

"'Kay," said Goth with a sigh. "This time, Leewit. I am pretty tired. Tell you what. I'll try Sedmon's toy-that subradio communicator of his."

She strapped down in the observation lounge, as the captain pushed the thrust lever right down-and one of the laterals on full. That was clever, Goth thought. Straight up was where gunners would predict. Now if he could stop the side blast from crashing them into the swamp.. .

She was looking at the Megair mound when they began firing, and saw the effects of her teleportation.

The energy-intended to reach out to the stratosphere-didn't leave the mound. The results were pretty spectacular.

The Leewit whooped, as the Venture suddenly began to Sheewash toward the heavens.

"What are you yelling about," asked her father, from the miniature subradio communicator.

"We got Captain Pausert back and we dealt with the plant, and we are out of here!"

"Wonderful!" there was no mistaking his relief. "Those Phantom ships are just about solid around Megair 4. We haven't been able to get through."

"Didn't give us any trouble coming in. They treated us like we were one of them. What are you doing on the subradio, Threbus? Are you with Sedmon?"

"We borrowed his toy. It was a bit dangerous for him to play with. Your mother wants to speak to you too. What about the addiction part?"

"Patham's hells! We're being attacked! We're still inside the gravity well and about six of those Phantoms have tried to take us down. They've committed suicide! They're trying to ram us!"

The captain's take-offs had always been a weakness of his. But his evasive flying in the upper atmosphere was stunning. They dived towards the clouds again.

"Got away," she re-assured an anxious parent, "But we're going to have to go down, I think."

Pausert dived for the swamp below and then skimmed zig-zagging just above treetop level. He'd seen the explosion at the Megair Cannibal base-but they still had ships and maybe they were tracking the vessel. The Venture wasn't built for this, but he was compensating for a lack of exterior vanes with laterals and luck. And lots of fuel! He spotted the small outcrop and set the Venture down. So far there was no sign of pursuit-a far cry from their first visit to this wet world.

They sat, electronics powered down, Goth using what little energy she had left to cloak the ship, the Leewit and Ta'zara ready on the nova guns. Nothing happened. Instruments picked up a high-flying craft heading in the direction they'd come from. After twenty minutes it was becoming obvious that nothing was going to happen except that Goth might need to eat all the food in the robo-butler's store.

"So," said the captain, "what now? We're safe, but stuck. And while I like the company, I can't say that this is my idea of a perfect place to spend the rest of my life."

Looking out of the viewscreen, Goth had to agree with him. Megair 4's rain came down gently. All around lay the typical Megair swamp. Miles and miles of channels, soft looking lobular trees, and more channels, trees and drifting rain, with a greenish cast to the light. They were lucky to have found a hard surface to land on. She said as much.

Pausert grinned. "Wrong. When we were diving in I hit the deep radar and got a surface scan of the local area." He pointed at the screen. "See. There are the hard spots. Not many of them. This was about the smallest, so I hoped it was least likely to be used by the Megair Cannibals. The others are in that arc over there. See-that one was their base."

"You're quick, Captain," said Goth.

"It's still like the Cannibal base one… a piece of rock in the middle of a swamp," said the Leewit, grumpily. "It's even got a mound on the other end. So why couldn't we get out this time, and what are we going to do? Egger?" She pulled a face.

Not done here yet! said the little vatch. Still got problems to solve.

A suspicion blossomed in Goth's mind. "Is this anything to do with you?"

Could be. But you can't Egger out until you solve it. Stopped that! The little whirling piece of blackness abruptly vanished.

"She's getting too big for her boots," said the Leewit.

"And the worst of it is that she learned a lot of it from you," said Goth. "So she's been interfering. Big vatches like watching us solve problems and I guess she's growing up. So what do you think she's talking about? And do you think she's really stopped the Egger route?"

"Likely," said the Leewit. "She understands how we do it. We don't. And I suppose the easy answer is to figure out what problems she's talking about and trick her too. Not sure what she means, though."

"The Megair Cannibals, maybe? If they can't get off world to hunt, they'll eat each other, and eventually die. I suppose."

"Or the Phantom ships," said Pausert. "Where do you think they all come from? And why did they let us in?"

"Well, the first time they weren't too keen. Taken by surprise, maybe? They seem to learn, but slowly." Goth had been pacing disconsolately around the control room as she said this, taking in the changes that that Marshi and her lot had made to her beloved Venture. On a high rack with several manuals, webbed in, was something that had no place here.