Lion loose, p.8
Lion Loose, page 8
Quillan slid the Miam Devil into its holster. "Sorry," he said. "Force of habit, I guess. Actually, of course, I've understood for some minutes now that I wasn't … well, what's the other reason?"
"I'm afraid," Klayung said, "that you offended it with your remark about its appearance. Hlats may have their share of vanity. At any rate, it seems to be sulking."
"Oh," said Quillan. "Well, I'm sure," he went on rather loudly, "that it understands I received the description from a prejudiced source. I'm quite willing to believe it was highly inaccurate."
"Hm-m-m," said Klayung. "That seems to have done it, major. The wall directly across from us—"
Something like a ripple passed along the side wall of the vestibule. Then the wall darkened suddenly, turned black. Quillan blinked, and the Hlat came into view. It hung, spread out like a spider, along half the length of the vestibule wall. Something like a huge, hairy amoeba in overall appearance, though the physical structures under the coarse, black pelt must be of very unamoeba-like complexity. No eyes were in sight, but Quillan had the impression of being regarded steadily. Here and there, along the edges and over the surface of the body, were a variety of flexible extensions.
Quillan stood up, hitched his gun belt into position, and started over toward the wall.
"Lady Pendrake," he said, "honored to meet you. Could we shake hands?"
The End
Also available on Feedbooks: "Makers", Cory Doctorow
"Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom", Cory Doctorow
"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass", Frederick Douglass
"Uncle Silas", Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
"Oliver Twist", Charles Dickens
"The Sorrows of Young Werther", Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"The Divine Comedy", Dante Alighieri
"Cabbages and Kings", O. Henry
"Password Incorrect", Nick Name
"Fantômas", Marcel Allain
www.feedbooks.com
Food for the mind
James Henry Schmitz, Lion Loose
