Finding the Jewel Read online

  Tark! She would have shouted for joy if the slimy tentacle hadn’t been wrapped across her mouth. Actually, it was a good thing she couldn’t make a sound. Globber was facing away, heading for his ship which was now visible in the dim gloom of this strange dimension. He was dragging Chloe behind him, so his lantern-like eyes were pointed in the opposite direction, allowing the big Kindred to sneak up from behind.

  But what is he going to do? Chloe wondered, beginning to feel nervous. He doesn’t have his blaster with him, does he? Does he have any weapons on that metal glove of his that he can use?

  It hardly seemed like a fair fight. Tark was big and immensely strong but he only had two arms. Globber, on the other hand, had dozens of tentacles and almost all of them were covered in the murderously sharp sucker-teeth. Chloe remembered the numerous small, vicious wounds that had covered the big Kindred’s left arm after just one tentacle had wrapped around it. How would he withstand dozens?

  She wished she could help Tark in some way but there was nothing she could do—she was trapped in the endlessly shifting coils of the tender-mother arm, unable to even speak.

  Tark saw her watching him and nodded silently, his golden eyes blazing in the gloom. Though he hadn’t said a word, Chloe knew what he meant—Hang on—I’m going to get you out of here!

  But could he?

  Before she had another minute to consider the question, the big Kindred sprang. Jumping on the Slimerian’s back, he hit the balding, bulbous head like a punching bag as hard as he could with his metal-gloved hand.

  Chloe gasped as she saw Tark’s big fist sink into the Slimerian’s head as though it was made of putty. The blow would have killed almost anyone or anything else—hell, she thought, it would have killed the elephant she’d been comparing Globber to earlier.

  But like the putty it resembled, the tissue of the Slimerian’s head began to stretch and grow, regaining its shape in only a matter of moments. And now Globber was on the defense.

  With a low, burbling cry, like someone being strangled underwater, he turned towards Tark and threw his tentacles around the big Kindred, wrapping him tight in an unbreakable bear hug.

  Chloe thought the big Kindred would have used his metal glove but now it was pinned to his side. Globber squeezed tight and horribly, little trickles and rivulets of blood began to run down Tark’s bare arms and shoulders. Obviously the Slimerian’s sucker-teeth were hard at work, gnawing on every available inch of skin.

  Biting him—that bastard is biting him all over! she thought frantically. If only Tark could get his arms free to fight! If only she could help him!

  “You can help him, my daughter,” whispered a warm, strong, feminine voice in her ear.

  Chloe looked around—where had that come from?

  “The “tender-mother” arm is called so not just for its lack of suction cups or sucker-teeth,” the mysterious voice went on. “It is also extremely sensitive and easily wounded. There are three times as many pain receptors in this one tentacle than the whole of the rest of the Slimerian’s body put together.”

  There are? Chloe wondered if the owner of the strange voice could hear her thoughts. Who was she anyway? And why had she chosen this moment to start talking to Chloe? Was Chloe going crazy? Breaking under the stress?

  “You need not fear for your sanity, daughter,” the voice murmured in her ear. “Only do your best to inflict pain on your captor—the arm is across your mouth. You know what to do!”

  Behind the tentacle, Chloe grimaced. She knew now what the voice was talking about—what she had to do. It was going to be horrible but there was no other way.

  The arm over her lips loosened its hold for just a moment and she opened her mouth as wide as she could manage. Then, fighting her gag reflex, she bit down on the slimy, muscular thing as hard as she possibly could.

  Gooey stuff like warm snot squirted into her mouth and then Globber made a gobbling howl of pain. The long tentacle holding her flung Chloe away in an instinctive gesture, like someone jerking their hand away from a hot stove.

  She hit the ground hard and for a moment everything was dark with shiny white stars dancing in the background. Then she came to, gagging to get the hot slime out of her mouth. Blinking to clear her blurry vision, she looked anxiously to see what was happening in the fight to the death between the Slimerian and the big Kindred.

  She must have been out longer than she thought because it appeared that Tark had the upper hand now. He was dripping with blood from a thousand tiny wounds but he had one muscular arm wrapped around Globber’s thick neck and he seemed to be pressing something against his flat, awful, alien face.

  What is he doing? What’s going on? Chloe thought woozily. She still felt dizzy and sick from having the slime in her mouth but she staggered to her feet, meaning to get back into the fight if she could.

  But when she managed to get around to where she could see what was happening, she saw there was nothing she could do. Globber had multiple tentacles wrapped around the Kindred’s waist and legs and arms and shoulders but they didn’t seem to be doing much good. Maybe it was because Tark was cutting off his air supply with the arm wrapped around his neck.

  With the other hand—the one with the metal glove—he was pressing forward. There was something shiny in his palm and with a start, Chloe recognized the sharp, glittering jewel he had pried from the walls of their sex-cubby.

  Globber was writhing and snapping at the big Kindred with his long, yellow tusks, but he couldn’t quite reach the muscular arm which was coming inevitably, inescapably toward him. His tentacles, dragged on Tark’s arm but the Kindred’s jaw was clenched in determination. Though his blood pattered down like crimson rain onto the Slimerian’s face, he pressed forward until the glittering multi-faceted jewel was right in front of one of Globber’s wide, lantern-like eyes.

  Chloe watched in horrified fascination as Tark pushed the sharp crystal into the eye, popping it like a water balloon filled with yellow, viscous slime. Globber howled and gibbered and writhed, his tentacles knotting and clenching and flailing so that Chloe had to step back in a hurry to avoid being hit by them. And still the big Kindred pressed forward, a look of grim determination on his face as his arm disappeared up to the elbow in the Slimerian’s empty eye socket.

  “Die you fucker,” he said clearly and with a final thrust, he jammed the sharp jewel home in the Slimerian’s brain.

  With a last, gurgling howl, Globber finally went limp and collapsed onto the dark, hard-packed ground in a pile of limp, rubbery tentacles and goo.

  “Oh my God,” Chloe whispered. It was simultaneously one of the worst and best things she had ever seen. It had been horribly disgusting but at least she was absolutely certain that Globber the Slimerian would never bother her again.

  It seemed to take Tark a moment to understand he had won. He looked silently down at the lifeless Slimerian who was surely dead for good now, his golden eyes uncomprehending.

  “Tark?” she asked softly, daring to go closer now that the tentacles had stopped twitching. “Tark, are you okay?”

  It was a fair question. The big Kindred was covered with blood and slime and it looked to Chloe like every inch of him had been bitten by the ruthless sucker-teeth. Tiny, jagged wounds covered his smooth tan skin. None of them were deep but all were bleeding freely—how long could he last losing blood at that rate?

  “Tark,” she said again, more urgently. “Tark, please—talk to me!”

  “Chloe…” He looked up at last, his golden eyes beginning to focus. “Y-you…are you s-suh-safe?”

  “Now I am—thanks to you.” She reached out her arms. “Come here—get away from that nasty thing!”

  He stepped over the fallen Slimerian’s tentacles and nearly stumbled. Under the mask of blood, his cheeks were pale.

  “God!” Chloe rushed to help him although he was so big she couldn’t offer much of a shoulder to lean on. “Come on—we have to get you out of here. Get you back!”