The Moldy Dead (5 page)

Pingit cursed.  “So it was the
Emissary.  Take me to him.”

#

“That Jahul is dead,” Pingit
snapped.  It had already released its death-toxins, drowning the place in a
putrescent, eye-burning smell.

Yet the Ooreiki continued to shoot
the vermin, ignoring him.  The multitude of
vaghi
that had accumulated
to gnaw at the edges of the Geuji were quickly being picked off to nothing.

Frustrated, Pingit grabbed one of
the Ooreiki by the arm.  “What in the hell—”

“Sir,” the Ooreiki said, nodding at
the rock against which the Jahul now leaned in death.  It went back to firing.

Pingit frowned at the mold spread
across its surface.  In it, someone had scribed, “
Help.
”

“Who wrote that?”

Then, before any of the Ooreiki
could answer, the impressions in the Geuji’s skin shifted and changed.  “
Sentient.
”

Pingit’s headcrest quivered against
his skull.

Beside the tear-shaped stone, his
assistant was trying to lift the limp Jahul from the ground.  The death-toxins
rubbed off on him, and his assistant backed away, gagging.

Pingit’s eyes were torn back to the
Geuji covering the rock.

“
Help,
” the mold said
again.  “
Sentient.  Register us.
”

Then, “
They ate us alive.
”

“Someone call the Regency,” Pingit managed, a thin
sound in his throat.  “We’ve made a big damned mistake.”

-END-

About the Author:

Sara King is an Alaskan author who thinks that there’s a
better way to do publishing.  She’s best known for her Legend of ZERO books,
but she’s got plenty of other novels to check out (
Outer
Bounds: Fortune’s Rising
is a good place to start).  She’s a certified
browncoat (Jayne is her favorite!!), trekkie (Spock for the win!) and aspiring
Jedi (though she wishes that they sold better light-sabers at her local comic
shop).  She is one of the founding members of Parasite Publications, a radical
new character-based publishing company that’s completely revolutionizing the
stodgy world of traditional publishing. 

Check out her other books on Amazon
at:
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!

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