Starquake.pdf

"You must be Qui-Qui," Ferocious-Eyes said. "The cheela who never dies." He inserted a quirrl into a
specially trained throwing pouch. "Let's see if your magic can protect you from a quirrl." The quirrl
flashed down through the air and buried itself deep in the crust just in front of Qui-Qui. He started to
reload, when she rushed forward to slash him with her pike. He brushed back his bodyguard, twirled his
whip-sword forward and cut the end off the pike. The return flick cut a slash across Qui-Qui's topside.
She didn't feel it.
With her pike gone, Qui-Qui retreated to the jumble of pipes and valves that made up the central power
distribution system for the maze complex. The power generator itself was hidden in the old underground
laboratory of Zero-Gauss.
She tried to goad Attila off his nearly invincible perch.
"And you must be Attila-the-Speckled," she said. "I hear you are called 'Ferocious-Eyes.' 'Weak-Eyes'
would be more like it after missing big targets like these." She flapped her lower eyeflaps at him. "Come
and get me, my little speckled hatchling child."
The insult of being called a "child" nearly made Ferocious-Eyes lose control, but he calmed himself
down. Whip-sword flickering in front of him, he prodded the Flow Slow from behind and forced it into
the jumble of tubes and boxes. Qui-Qui clambered away. The Flow Slow mounted a box. The large
valve inside gave way and gigantic surges of power burned through the huge body. The Flow Slow died
and spread out, breaking other power connections. The automatic defenses of the Maze Temple
collapsed and the Speckled Horde rushed in.
Qui-Qui was crushed against the wall by the spreading body of the Flow Slow.
Ferocious-Eyes slid down off the dying Flow Slow and approached Qui-Qui. Suddenly a section of the
wall slid aside and a dome-shaped metal object appeared. It moved and talked and seemed to be alive.
"Are you ready to undergo rejuvenation?" the robot asked.
"No!" shouted Qui-Qui, her tread muffled by the crushing body of the Flow Slow. "Don't talk to him!
Reset! Stop! Deactivate circuits!"
"I cannot obey that command," the robot replied. "I must keep the rejuvenation machinery running."
Qui-Qui didn't answer. The robot moved over to her and examined her body with its sensors.
"She is dead. She waited too long for rejuvenation." The robot turned toward Ferocious-Eyes. It moved
around him, sensors in operation.
"You are in excellent muscle tone, ready for instant rejuvenation," said the robot. "Would you like a
young new body?"
"Yes!" Ferocious-Eyes kept his eyes on the moving, talking magic dome of metal.
"First we must prepare the records for the Combined Clans Rejuvenation Board." The robot pulled a
scroll out of a compartment. "Name?"
Ferocious-Eyes thought for a moment. A new body deserved a new name. A name like no other.