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The clog appeared to be made of the same material I had chipped out earlier, only this time, when I reached a cautious finger to push against the surface, it flexed.
Did I want to take on the occupant of this vent? Nope. But there was no other way out of this place.
Muttering curses under my steaming breath, I cut the clog out again. Then I climbed back out of the pit and, grasping Liri's hand, pulled her a few steps along the circumference of the rim, to crouch and to watch the opening. I did not convert the knife back to a harmless tube.
We waited in silence, staring at shadows inside of shadows.
Within moments there was a shift of movement inside the vent. A short, thick shape reached out of the opening to probe around.
I had trimmed out the fresh blob in one piece and laid it aside on the bones. The tendril found it, swelled on the end to increase contact, and began to tug it back. It looked as if it planned to use it to reseal the opening.
I leaped up, ran to the space above the vent, and reached down with both hands to catch the end of the sticky slab before it disappeared inside the hole.
A wave of energy shot through it, rattling my body from head to toe.
With a yelp of pain, I released it and collapsed onto my side.
A pinkish semitransparent glob slowly raised above the rim in front of my face.
A Brktar!
The bastard had paralyzed me!
More important, however, the Brktar at Duff's poker game had responded to Union Basic.
"Help us," I gasped. "Local 100866. Duff. The Cheel. Tell we need help."
The blob vanished downward.
Did it understand? Down in the tunnel, the Brktar seemed to understand what I said. Or was I violating the first rule in interspecies communication by superimposing Human responses onto an alien species?
This was bad. Even through my numbed flesh I felt the floor sapping what little body heat I had left. I twisted and thrashed, fighting to regain control of my muscles.
Liri came over and pulled my legs straight. Then she lifted my head and pushed me upright by the shoulders to a sitting position.
Squatting in front of me, she peered cheerfully into my face. "Okay, Vivi Zant?" She giggled.
She talked? After all this time, the kid talked? And she thought this was funny?
For a moment, I was dumbstruck. Then I realized, in all this mess she deserved some reason to laugh and I probably did look ridiculous, caked in white powder and flopping on the floor.
"Yes," I gasped. Thank the Goddess my toes were tingling and I could wiggle them again. While I waited to repossess my body, I decided I might as well use the time productively. "How why you speak Basic?"
Her smile faded as she lifted a hand to tap her temple. "Endar not hear." Her word for them sounded more like Endiel. Her hand fluttered down in a gesture toward her throat. "We no talk Endiel words. We talk Basic words."
Vocalizing actual Endar sound was impossible for a Human throat, too. "They teach you?"
She nodded.
"Me no telepath." The last word was not part of Basic. "Me no hear you," I corrected.
"No telepath," she repeated. "You no hear talk inside head."
I thought Saura might strongly agree with that on a certain level.
"Yes." I wondered why she had never spoken before, then realized, of all the times I'd seen her, there was only one other place where we'd actually had a chance to exchange words. "Why no speak on Idwal Station?" And, yeah, it was an insensitive question, considering everything that went down out there, but I needed as much information as I could grab while I had the chance.
She took a moment to respond.
Names of places remain a problem in Union Basic. Not everyone calls them the same thing.
Liri's expression tightened to sadness. "Mother and father—Endiel kill. Me was fear."
I shivered, then realized feeling and motion were returning to the rest of my body.
There were a few more things I wanted to know. "How old are you?"
"Nine turns." She held up nine fingers.
"Do you know where here is?"
Her frown reappeared.
"No," I corrected hastily, "not here." I made a small circle with my hand. "Here." I flopped an arm in a broader gesture. "Where see me with Endiel. Where more Makima is."
That brought an anxious reaction. She shook her head. "Here look same Endiel place, Zam Fiella, but big! Makima here listen... Do hurt them?"
"Makima or people Makima listen to?"
"Makima."
"Not know."
"Steyl hurt you."
Seok? "Him not like Human."
Her hand touched the patch on her face. "Not like me here."
Here? "You know him?"
"Steyl Seok rule labs on Zam Fiella. Many babies there. Steyl say me special. Father say must return me home. Is big angry. People help mother, father, me run away. Endiel follow, kill ship."
I wondered if I knew anyone who had backed that play. Right now, it didn't matter. "Sad happen."
She nodded solemnly.
"How are you special?" As in, was there anything else I should know?
She smiled shyly. "You know."
"Tell."
"Make people not see me. Make people do and forget why. No others can do." Her expression clouded. "Steyl Seok say make others to learn do. He say make new children same me."
The High Jerak said his labs were working to produce clones of Liri with her skills. Would her loss set his vile program back? I didn't think so. He had behaved as if he were ready to destroy her—like he already had what he needed from her.
"Ones Liri make forget," I asked, "can remember later?"
She looked frightened.
"Is okay," I reassured her. I was pretty sure I knew the answer but it never hurt to confirm. "Can tell."
"No. Not remember."
"Never?"
"Never no more. Thing Steyl wears. Thing he give guards. You have?" She asked.
"No. Why? Want erase me?"
She considered me with a solemn expression. "No. Want know if bad person. Vivi Zant not bad?"
"No try be bad. Sometimes fail." I sighed. This kid had been through bad things beyond losing her family. I tapped my forehead with a forefinger. "Endiel thing protect from erase?"
"Yes. Steyl Seok think shield stop all things can do," she added.
Was that a smirk?
A chill crept down my spine. "Can do things shield no stop?"
She looked at me with a guarded expression. "Think learn more things when grow."
Well, by the Holy Plinth, why not, considering everything else?
The last of the tingling sensation was leaving my muscles. I rubbed my hands together. They felt like clubs. "You know here situation bad, yes? Cold kill if we no go."
"Yes." Her eyes went to the pit.
"Can you telepath person outside here? Me friends help." I had no idea how to convey Saura or Duff to her as a target.
Fear flitted in her eyes. "Threadmaster—" her word sounded different to my ears from the one the High Jerak used; more like Uranta. The variations told me her people actually did have a spoken language of their own. "Him hear me. Momma say Urantas not good."
Ah, yes, the Threadmaster—only she had added an 's' for plural. Urantas. I wondered how many levels of deepening uneasiness I had the capacity to feel. "How?"
"Urantas have much power. Can pull minds together, make work as one. Endiel take them away Zam Fiella. They make plans."
"How many Threadmasters here?"
"One."
"Liri afraid of Endar and Threadmaster, why come here?"
"Feel my people. Walk many days before feel."
Yeah, she had done that. The High Jerak said the Minders' range was limited, which was the only thing keeping the renegade embassies outside the Zone free of his influence. "You know Endar here?"
"People tell, yes."
"People?"
"My people here."
"Tell you Steyl here?"
"No. Maybe not know. Steyl rule Zam Fiella." Her face twitched with sadness and fear.
"Thing in hole," I gestured toward the vent below us. "I ask help us."
"Understand. I no blank mind."
A stab of panic drove through my body. With no threat to me, I had not realized how dangerous the kid could be to the people around me! "No blank people's mind! Only when me tell! Please."
She nodded.
"And the Brktar? Liri tell help?" I ventured hopefully.
"No. Gone fast," she said.
Well, that was a big opportunity lost.