Page 15 of No Strings Attached

“That’s not the point,” Vi said, still without turning. “It’s an unfortunate captive just like the rest of us. Leave no snail behind!”

Walking on she asked, “What the story with this guy? He looks like Frankenstein’s monster humped the Terminator. Bobby? What’s going on with the thing in the cage between the snail and Kompi?”

Bobby raised his voice just a little to be heard around Mister Beastly, “Um, I don’t know very much. Alved said he’s made up of reanimated corpses held together by cyborg parts.”

What…the…fuck?

“Uhhh…right. Are you serious? Who would do that and why?”

“I really don’t have any idea. Alved said he was for sale to learn, or reengineer, the reanimation process.”

“But he looks quite dead.”

“He’s switched off.”

Vi muttered, “This is the craziest conversation I’ve ever had, bordering ondead parrotterritory,” then added, louder, “How do we turn him back on?”

“Alved said that his limbs are completely disabled and will stay that way until he’s purchased. But he has a wake word that brings his brain functions out of whatever sleep mode he’s innow.” Bobby added after a moment’s consideration, “But I don’t know what that word is.”

“What’s the machine behind him and these tubes?”

“Um…input…and…um…output.”

Vi shivered in disgust, “Ok, we’re going to put a pin in this one. Let’s just all say a little prayer that the tubes in him don’t just form a loop within the machine.” Horrified groans followed from several cages.

Moving forward to Kompi’s cage once again, she encountered the same vacant smile and found she couldn’t think of anything to say or even pantomime. Eventually she said, “Kompi, I want you to sing anytime you feel like it. Any songs you’ve learned from me or any you already know.” She turned and pointed back at the Mineralite, “You see that green guy? Your songs are keeping him alive. He’ll die if we stop singing. Later, I’ll teach you some more songs that we can both sing together, OK?”

Kompi didn’t nod or acknowledge her words in any discernable way, but he immediately started singing a startlingly beautiful song, in a high and clear voice, for which her translator provided no translation. She nodded and walked past Mister Beastly’s cage into her own, to see Bobby in exactly the same circumstances as she had left him, with Mister Beastly’s enormous paw around his throat.

“Now, Mister Beastly. Who can fill me in on this guy?” Vi asked, over Kompi’s singing.

Bobby looked at her and said, “He’s a Garoxian.”

“Do you expect that to mean something to me?”

Acken bellowed, “They’re the most vicious beasts in the habited worlds!”

Vi looked thoughtfully at Mister Beastly, then turned to Acken and asked, “You mean this vicious beast that kept me warm and hasn’t harmed Bobby?”

Bobby said, “We’ve all seen what they can do. A while back, The Zig tried to invade their ice planet. They’re the most terrifying warriors in the galaxy, and the Garoxians took out a whole battalion in less than an hour.”

“Seen? How did you see this?”

“Ogobian Broadcasting.”

“TV?! You watched it on fucking TV?”

Bobby shrugged.

“What’s known about their species?”

“Nothing. Their language hasn’t been translated. The only thing for sure is that anyone who steps foot on their planet dies. Quickly. And gets dismembered. We’ve all seen it.”

Getting nowhere with this, she was about to ask Bobby if he had made up his mind about helping them when she heard the sound of the cage room’s door opening and the abrupt halt to Kompi’s singing. Vi whirled around to face anything coming through, shock stick in hand, but all she saw was a blur before her cage door slammed shut with her and Bobby both inside.

Nine: I Assumed You Had a Smarter Plan Than That

Bahbi felt a doublejolt of relief when he saw Trak enter the cage room. For one thing, here was help—someone who might actually have some idea about what to do for this terrible mess. And for another thing, it was someone who wouldn’t put his ass directly into the nearest sling.

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