"Why do you think that?" I asked.
"Well-" she gestured toward the window. "For one thing the Chtorran ecology doesn't seem to like jet engines. For another-we'll need them to control the spread of infestation. That nest we hit will be back to normal within weeks. We're going to need ten times the number of ships we had today if we're going to hold them back. And that infestation isn't the worst I've seen."
"We don't have enough pilots, do we?"
Lizard shook her head. "No, we don't. Probably, we'll have to start flying drones. But these ships are programmable. A good pilot can control a whole wing." She looked annoyed. "I've been recommending it for a month. Maybe today's videos will convince them. God knows it isn't a question of money any more." She snapped off the screen. "Well, there isn't anything else I can do here now. I need to check outside."
We clambered into the back and Duke joined us at the hatch, zipping up his jumpsuit. Lizard opened a hull panel, grabbed a lever, pushed and-grimaced. "Damn! The frame must have bent." She braced herself and pushed again. The lever resisted for a moment, then snapped loudly into position. "All right, we're on manual now."
She closed the panel and hit the large red button next to it with the heel of her fist. The hatch popped open with a bang. It swung out and up and out of the way. The ramp dropped into the fluffy pink dust and disappeared. A puff of pink smoke rose around it.
We stared down at it. How deep was this stuff anyway? We could smell the sweetness of it in the air. It was thick and buttery. "Mm," Lizard said, "it smells like fresh bread."
"Nope," said Duke. "Too much sugar. It must be cake."
"So?" I asked. "Who wants to be first?"
Neither Lizard nor Duke answered. The intense pink landscape was somehow intimidating. We studied it in silence. The drifts kept sliding and collapsing under their own weight. We were in the middle of a rolling sea of powdery dunes.
I realized I'd been making an inaccurate comparison. These weren't snowdrifts-this was dust as fine as smoke, and piled as delicately as spider silk. The rosy powder was so fine the light glittered and sparkled as if the dunes were made of magic. It was impossible to see them clearly. They were bright and vague and hard to focus on.
There were tiny motes floating in the air. I could feel my eyes starting to water. But I had an odd thought about this stuff-I had to test it.
I stepped down the ramp, three steps, four-knelt and scooped up a handful. It felt like talcum, smooth and powdery-but with a curious silkiness. It was almost liquid.
I sifted a little more, till I was rubbing the last of it between my fingers. "It's very faintly gritty. There must be some larger particles in it too. I don't know." I touched a fingertip to my tongue. It was sweet. I glanced back upward. Both Lizard and Duke were watching me with curious expressions. "It tastes as good as it smells."
I scooped up another handful and blew on it. It puffed away like smoke-like dandelion fur. The motes drifted in the air like snowflakes. I was right in my guess.
I came back up the ramp and stepped back into the chopper, brushing the last of it from my hands. "I know what this stuff is-" I said it hesitantly. The realization was numbing.
Both Lizard and Duke looked at me.
"Remember Dr. Zymph's speech at the conference?" I said to Lizard. "-The one where she listed some of the different creatures in the Chtorran ecology? Well, these are the puffballs! Or what's left of them-they powder like dandelions."
"But so much-?" wondered Lizard. She looked out at the frozen pink landscape again.
I shrugged. "I guess they all blew up at once. The right combination of heat and sun and wind and who knows what else and you get puffballs. But they're practically pure protein," I said. "You can eat all you want. The stuff is harmless-"
"Harmless to everything but precision machinery," Lizard said. "Dammit. The one decent thing in the Chtorran ecology and it knocks airplanes out of the sky."
"Have you got a science kit here?" I asked. "I want to bag some of this."
"Yeah, wait a minute-" I followed her into the back. She opened another panel and dug out a pack for me. I returned to the hatch with a plastic bag.
"This stuff's a mess," coughed Duke, stepping around me. "We're going to need masks."
"I'm already getting them," called Lizard. "And goggles too."
"The puffballs powder as soon as they hit the ground," I reported. I stepped down onto the ramp again. There were fresh puffballs drifting down now-the great wall of clouds were just coming overhead. Some of the puffballs were as large as apricots-but so ethereal to look at they were hardly there. They were just spherical hints in the air, bursting like bubbles if they even brushed against each other, or anything.
"They can't even support their own weight," I called. "The stuff must be compacting under each new layer." I began filling the plastic bag.
"Here's a mask," said Lizard, reappearing in the doorway. I came back up the ramp to get it; she handed me an O-mask with goggles. And an air pack. "That stuff is pretty fine," she explained. "You'd better carry your own air."
"Good thinking," said Duke. He was already pulling his mask down over his head. "What about weapons?"
"What do you want?"
"What have you got?"
"Come take a look-"
Duke followed her aft. I heard the sound of a floor panel being pulled up. Then Duke whistled. "Holy Jesus! This ship is better equipped than a man with three balls!"
"I like to be careful," I heard Lizard say.
I wasn't surprised. I remembered her from my last visit to Denver. The woman was inhuman. What would surprise me would be seeing the famous Colonel Tirelli caught unprepared. I hoped I'd never be there to see it happen. I doubted there would be survivors.
I stepped out onto the ramp again and looked around.
Something moved.
On the far side of the dune, just behind that pink bush. Something small.
I thought I saw eyes. A face. Staring at me.
I wanted to call Duke, but I was afraid of scaring it off. InsteadI took another step down the ramp. Slowly.
The face didn't move. The eyes blinked.
I wondered what Duke and Lizard were doing. I wished I could warn them not to make any sudden moves or loud noises.
I took another step. Very slowly, I shaded my eyes against the sun and the glittering pink dust.
The eyes behind the bush were large. And gold. The face was pink. And furry. But it wasn't a worm face. Worms didn't have faces. Worms had two eyes, sort of, and a mouth, sort of-but that still didn't add up to a face. A worm had no more face than a snail. This was a face. Almost... human. I couldn't tell if the fur was really pink or just covered with dust. I'd bet the latter.
I took another step down. I was on the lowest step of the ramp. One more step ...
FOURTEEN
-AND THEN Duke appeared in the door behind me. "What do you want, Jim-the torch or the freezer?"
The eyes vanished. I caught a quick glimpse of a furry body and that was all. Something scuttled and there was pink smoke. "Shit!"
"What was that-?" said Duke.
"There was something out there-" I pointed. "Some kind of humanoid!"
"Where-?"
"Over there!" I dropped off the bottom step of the ramp and sank chest deep in the pink powder. A great cloud of it swirled up around me. I ignored it and started pushing toward the bush the creature had been hiding behind. The powder was as light as cotton candy. It pushed aside like cobwebs. It was hardly there at all.
"Jim-wait! It might be a worm!"
"This was no worm! I know a worm when I see one! This was humanoid!"