Human Company | Page 3

by throwing pebbles at her until she retreated down a dark tunnel.
However, she was too dumb to realize that no one wanted to share her misfortunes. A few minutes later, I saw her across the cavern, peeking out from a small tunnel set well above the main floor.
#
Soon my nose wrinkled as oily fumes wafted into the cavern. It's the human girl, I thought, casting her baneful spell over us. But then a sudden silence drew my attention back to the cavern where a pale white mechanical crept onto the floor.
They say the mechanicals are gentle and intelligent. Even though they couldn't speak, they once piloted ships between the stars. Still, the crowd backed away: the mechanical was the ghost of every insect you ever stepped on, come back to get you.
First, it was big: the rectangular slab of its body was about the size and shape of a freight wagon. And it was unreal: gray shadows, moving under the white, translucent surface, hinted at mysterious forces. And like an insect, the legs seemed too thin and too long. Four straight shafts emerged from each side and angled upwards to tower over the body. At the top, the shafts formed a sharp 'V' before extending to footpads on the ground. The insect like appearance was heightened by manipulator arms extending from the front and by the two sensors setting on stalks rising from the top.
Axeblade stood near the ledge with her arms raised. "Come, White Mech, Come," she commanded.
A complex shuffle of legs glided the ghostly insect smoothly enough across the cavern; however as it neared my alcove, its mechanical nature was revealed. A trail of acid droppings sizzled on the ground behind it, and seeping oil created yellow stains around the leg joints.
Axeblade made White Mech lower its torso to the cave floor, and when assistants brought steps forward, Redblood helped Apogee onto the mechanical's back. She laid him down on a cushion and strapped him securely in place. Afterwards someone pulled away the steps and the mechanical rose.
Everything happened too fast. Expecting a speech from Axeblade, I sat on the ground to wait it out. But Axeblade simply raised her hand and White Mech stepped forward and disappeared over the edge.
I didn't even get to see how the mechanical converted its legs into wings. By the time I inched over to the edge and looked down, white fabric was already billowing between them. They now formed the ribs of rectangular wings that extended from either side of the body. I did see the leg-ribs moving to tension the fabric and to adjust the shape of the wings until they caught the air.
The mechanical soared out from the cliff face, and as it leveled off, it began beating the wings against the air to gain altitude. It rose quickly, and soon it was above us. When it reached a nearby peak, it wheeled about in a tight circle and immediately headed back, coming straight at us in a shallow dive.
The landing was something. At the last moment, the mechanical spread its wings wide and braked sharply. With a loud crack, the fabric parted from the rear set of legs, and as they sprang down to the ground, the mechanical bounced and fell forward. Two more cracks, following in rapid succession, freed the other legs to catch the body before it hit the ground. The wing fabric -- it happened too fast to be sure -- seemed to get sucked into the legs.
As the women swarmed to the mechanical, I realized the show was all over. The flight, the whole ceremony, had lasted less than five minutes. I didn't spit when Redblood took Apogee off, but I wanted to. What was he thinking? The women might never let him have another ride, and he hadn't done anything.
He looked pale and seemed unsteady on his feet, but Redblood seemed not to notice. Instead of shaking his hand properly, she covered it with hers and bowed so low she was practically kissing it.
"Rider," she called him.
#
I stayed in the alcove as the procession departed. The Mech Card had promised me adventure, but all I had gotten was to watch Redblood slobber over Apogee. That little human rodent was going to get it good for ruining my luck.
Crouching down into the darkest shadows, I settled down to wait. Slowly the noise from the procession faded, and the cavern became quiet except for slight echoes and whispers coming from the bowels of the garage. I began to fidget with growing impatience: I couldn't wait all day for her.
I resolved to leave, then changed my mind when my ears picked up a new sound. Never loud, a scraping and brushing got closer and closer until, finally, I saw her emerging from the tunnel where White