Starquake.pdf

"Fights!?!"
"They were terrible," said Coulomb-Force. "It only took a few turns of nobody working before the food
got short. Some of the plain-hides tried to kill a food Slink and got into a fight with the speckled-hides."
"It ended with most of the plain-hides being driven off to the east," said Quick-Writer. "They stripped
the plants before they left and managed to hold onto some herds of food Slinks. We went with them at
first, but decided our first duty was to the future of Egg and came back to where Coulomb-Force had
hidden the communicator. Speckle-Top and the rest of the speckled-hides didn't bother us as long as we
kept out of sight."
"They obviously didn't like us, though," said Coulomb-Force. "So we started fortifying this compound.
How do you like my magnetic barrier?"
"Is that the coil across the top of the wall?" Qui-Qui asked.
"Yes, I've been collecting superconducting wire since I was a hatchling, and it finally found a good use. It
sure used up the energy when I charged it, but it keeps us safe from speckles and Swifts alike."
"I was attacked by a pack of Swifts when I landed," said Qui-Qui.
"There are a lot of wild animals now," Quick-Writer told her. "All the pets that people used to have are
now on their own. I also noticed that the young miniature Swifts and Flow Slows are bigger than the
older ones. The hybrid miniaturization process must be a temporary one, since the new generations seem
to be reverting."
"Where is Speckle-Top now?" Qui-Qui asked. "I didn't see .anyone around when I flew in."
"She knew you would be returning shortly," Quick-Writer replied. "I guess she didn't want to meet you
eye-balls to eyeballs, so she and the rest of the speckled-hides left a dozen
turns ago. They headed north, taking the food Slinks with them."
"We had better get the communicator operational again," said Qui-Qui. "I should tell this to the spacers."
"They already know all about it," said Coulomb-Force. "I set up the communicator as soon as we
secured this compound Newton-Einstein is using it now. I think he is getting instructions from Engineer
Cliff-Web."
"Follow me and I'll take you there." Quick-Writer led them through a maze of wall and passages. "Don't
go that way," he said, pointing with his eye-stubs at what looked like the main passageway while turning
to his left into what looked like a storage alcove and climbing over some bags of dried nuts.
"Why?" asked Qui-Qui.
Coulomb-Force didn't answer, but picked up a heavy nut from a burst bag and rolled it down the
corridor. The nut flashed into an incandescent glare of purple-hot plasma.
"Cliff-Web suggested it," said Coulomb-Force. "Of course it is more spectacular on a small object like a
nut, but it is enough to turn a large cheela into dinner."