Starquake.pdf

A dothturn later, the speckled warriors surrounding the Maze Temple went on alert as a deep humming
started in the crust. The hum rose to a whine, and out of the middle of the Temple
the God of Youth and Knowledge ascended. She went up ten centimeters and stopped. Coming toward
her from the outskirts of Bright's Heaven was what looked like a huge robot. No. It was a Flow Slow,
covered with metal. On top was a tiny speckled creature.
Following the armored Flow Slow was the Speckled Horde, recuperated from their wounds and back
at full strength. Qui-Qui felt her spirits sink along with her body as the gravity machine brought her back
down again.
Ferocious-Eyes wasted no time with preliminaries. Either the Flow Slow would conquer the Maze
Temple for him or it would fail. Riding on its topside, he rippled backward as the metal-covered plates
moved forward underneath him. His two bodyguards kept the Flow Slow moving and on course with
occasional pricks between the armored plates. They moved over the outer magnetic barrier with ease,
the crust giving off bolts of electricity as the coils failed under the increased magnetic pressure.
He waited while his warriors silenced the flame throwers along a section of wall, then urged his gigantic
metal mount forward. The falling plates of superconductor, backed by the massive weight of the Flow
Slow, pressed against the ultra-strong magnetic barrier along the top of the outer wall. The coils of wire
hummed as the barrier resisted the pressure, then the atmosphere sparked with energy as the coils
collapsed.
Bellowing from the pricks of the tiny ones riding on its topside, the armored Flow Slow pushed over the
outer wall, toppling it into the next wall of the maze. The Flow Slow continued on and entered a secret
room, reachable only by a subterranean tunnel. It was one of the control rooms for the outer maze
defenses. Quirrls from the bodyguards on either side of Ferocious-Eyes pinned the acolytes to the crust.
The Flow Slow moved over the bodies and crashed through another wall, heading for the center of the
Maze Temple. One bodyguard was struck by a falling weight that had been fired upward from a tube in
the corridor through which they passed. The strong thread tied to the weight dragged her off the top of
the Flow Slow. She fell to the crust and burst.
Ferocious-Eyes pricked the Flow Slow to drive it harder as it breeched the next wall. They were now in
a large inner room that held a number of acolytes. He could hear their treads talking rapidly, but they
didn't seem to be speaking to one another.
A flickering image of a strangely bloated cheela floated in the center of a magic window embedded in the
floor.
"Attila has managed to ride a Flow Slow right over the walls. He is penetrating deep into themaze." The
speaker looked up as the wall came down. "Attila is here! We are lost!" He started to run, but was
trapped and crushed along with the others as they tried to flee through the one exit from the
communications room.
Three more walls and the Flow Slow reached the center of the complex. Ferocious-Eyes stopped the
Flow Slow and looked around. In the center of the room were a jumble of boxes connected with heavy
tubes. Against one wall was the most beautiful female cheela Ferocious-Eyes had ever seen. She was
carrying a pike and what looked like a pricker, but it was hard for his eyes to make out something that
small.