{"id":79,"date":"2008-07-20T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2008-07-20T04:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/?p=79"},"modified":"2022-12-14T14:05:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T19:05:00","slug":"catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part&nbsp;3"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"serial-posts-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"serial-posts-heading\"><span class=\"serial-post-text\">Read more from this serial.<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"serial-posts\">\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-1\/\" title=\"Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 1\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 1<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-2\/\" title=\"Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 2\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 2<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item current-inactive\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>B<\/strong><\/span>il-Li rode into Rya Delsa late that night. He hitched his sectis up to one of the pillars that held up the town\u2019s only solid structure: a squat, ramshackle building constructed of thin, corrugated metal sheets bent around ground stakes and covered with more metal boarding like a house of cards.<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li cocked his head to the side and ducked in. The place was a den of moist, writhing Skelt bodies, sleek and scaled. They gathered around a network of holes in the ground that were filled with a clear, gelatinous soup, dipping their tongues into the thick liquid as they communed with one another. Bil-Li had to watch his walk to keep from accidentally stepping onto any twisted Skelt bodies or into any of the drinking holes.<\/p>\n<p>The noisome scent of Skelt-thought permeated the air, a stale miasma of chemicals that attached themselves to Bil-Li as he walked past. His brain was swimming in an attempt to remember the pheromonal language. It was so much easier as a child; it felt natural to him then. As a boy, he was so willing\u2014so open to their thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>He <em>had<\/em> to remember.<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li stopped and shut his eyes behind the varicolored lenses of his nocturns. He breathed their thoughts deep inside his lungs, filling his alveoli and passing them into his bloodstream. He opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue like a boy in the rain, tasting the air and letting it soak into his capillaries. Slowly, gradually, their language came back to him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHey Hugh, you lost? You don\u2019t belong in here,\u201d the Skeltie below him said. The viridian creature stood about four and a half feet high\u2014tall for a Skeltie\u2014at least the ones who stood upright. Bil-Li was no longer consciously aware of the chemical odor in the air, but he understood perfectly now the confabulations that were taking place all around him. The tall Skeltie beside him opened several small slits on either side of his neck and vented another message into the air.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou <em>must<\/em> be lost. You understand me, don\u2019t you, Hugh? We don\u2019t want you here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li looked down at him. He thought, \u201cWhy do you keep calling me, Hugh?\u201d The Skeltie sniffed around Bil Li\u2019s torso and nudged its snout into the pit of his arm before it fully understood the man\u2019s question. \u201cThat\u2019s what you are, Hugh-Man. We don\u2019t take kindly to Hugh-Mans coming in here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li was too relieved that the Skeltie understood his chemical-speak to care much about his tone. He now made sure he lifted his arms slightly whenever he communicated his thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI won\u2019t be long, as soon as I find who I\u2019m looking for. You feel like helping me out or do you want me to stick around here with you and your friends all night?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFuck off, Hugh!\u201d the Skeltie told him. His acrid message quickly reached the neighboring groups of Skelties.<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li surreptitiously slid back his jacket to reveal the rayzer on his hip. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>No answer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou look like an Abe,\u201d Bil-Li said. \u201cAbe, my guess is\u2014judging from your attitude\u2014you\u2019re not going to be much help to me. At least not in here. My sectis is outside. I want you to go out there and watch him for me. If, when I leave, anything\u2019s happened to my sectis, I\u2019m going to hold you personally responsible. You understand me, don\u2019t you Abe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Skeltie cackled. \u201cTake a look at where you are, Hugh. You ready to die tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li moved close.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI ain\u2019t near ready, friend,\u201d His aroma was taut. \u201cI already told you, I got work to do. If I walk out of this shack for some reason in a foul mood\u2014and <em>I will<\/em>walk out, Abe\u2014you\u2019re gonna be the first one I come see. So don\u2019t be riling anything up. Just go outside and pray that I don\u2019t run into any trouble while you\u2019re gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Abe stood, the two talons of each hand clicking away in thought. Without a word, he lowered himself down to four legs and skittered out the door. Another Skeltie rose up beside Bil-Li.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat you need, Hugh?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe name\u2019s Trubbull. I can get you whatever it is you came here for.\u201d He browsed over the room. \u201cDon\u2019t pay no mind to most of these louts, they got no sense of hospitality. I, on the other hand, can be real accommodating, for the right fee. Trust me, I\u2019m the Skelt you\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know if I can trust <em>anybody<\/em> named Trubbull.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAw, that ain\u2019t nothin\u2019. Trubbull\u2019s just my <em>middle<\/em> name. Call me SeptichaTan if it puts you more at ease.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li considered it. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll right then. What can Trubbull do for you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m looking for a man, goes by the name of Lomac Zhinn. He may have come through this way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLomac, huh?\u201d Trubbull said. \u201cReal mean-spirited fella, is he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRumor has it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suspect he ain\u2019t looking to be found, neither.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, I don\u2019t expect he is,\u201d Bil-Li said. \u201cYou know anything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlenty. What you got?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li held out his smallest pistol. Trubbull laughed at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s a Skeltie supposed to do with that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could trade it to someone like me, someone passing through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t get too many tourists \u2018round here. The ones we do <em>always<\/em> come carrying so I\u2019m afraid you got the wrong market for that rayzer. Lucky for you I\u2019m flexible\u2014I\u2019ll take either crystal or crystal, but what I really want is crystal. So what you got?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got some, not a lot. That shit\u2019s no good for you, y\u2019know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got one mother already, Hugh. How much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s about five left in the gun. I\u2019ll give you the rayzer and five more if you tell me which way he\u2019s headed,\u201d Bil-Li said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll tell you what, you keep the gun, for twenty jacks of crystal I\u2019ll do you one better and take you right to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before the man could answer, another Skeltie hopped up behind Trubbull.<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li asked, \u201cPith, is that you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s me, Bil-Li,\u201d the Skeltie answered.<\/p>\n<p>Trubbull broke in. \u201cYou two acquainted?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPith and I used to play cross sticks with each other when I\u2019d come down here with my father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen we\u2019d pick the Meloi bushes bare and fill our bellies,\u201d Pith said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly one of us <em>picked<\/em> the berries,\u201d Bil-Li laughed, turning to Trubbull, \u201cPith here would dive in snout-first and scratch himself up something hellacious. Funniest damn thing you ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The odor of Pith\u2019s response had the unmistakable lemon piquancy of sarcasm. \u201cThe Cosmic Mother didn\u2019t grant us <em>lesser<\/em> creatures with perfect hands like you Hugh-Mans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou did all right,\u201d Bil-Li said. \u201cY\u2019know, I used to get such a charge coming down here to see you, Pith.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, well, that was a different time,\u201d Pith said. The Skeltie\u2019s thoughts turned sour. \u201cWhy are you here, Bil-Li? This is not a good place for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhoa now, pull your teeth back Pith,\u201d Trubbull said. \u201cYour friend Bil-Li and I are just conducting a little business, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trubbull\u2019s smile drooped. \u201cRun along, shave tail, this is my show. I don\u2019t need any partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen you won\u2019t mind if everyone in here knows you\u2019re bringing a Hugh-Man to see Lomac?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trubbull covered Pith\u2019s ruffled skin slits before another word could escape.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYoungins are so hasty,\u201d he said. \u201cThis can work out for everyone\u2019s benefit if you just keep your neck shut.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pulled Pith away into an empty corner of the room. Bil-Li could see the two Skelties talking just out of his scent\u2014calmly at first\u2014then with some tumult. When the returned Trubbull said, \u201cThe price has gone up\u2014thirty jacks a\u2019 cris.\u201d He could see the wary look on Bil-Li\u2019s face. \u201cYou\u2019ve got two guides now for a bargain price,\u201d he told the man. \u201cIn case something happens to one of us, the other will be able to take you to the place Lomac\u2019s holed-up in. And Pith is an old friend of yours. That should make you feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThirty\u2019s a lot of crystal,\u201d Bil-Li said.<\/p>\n<p>Trubbull unzipped a toothy grin. \u201c<em>Bil-Li<\/em>, I know you didn\u2019t come all this way for nothing. Whatever reason you\u2019ve got to find Lomac is probably worth a hundred times that much. Just because I\u2019m being reasonable with you don\u2019t mean I\u2019m a fool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil Li looked into the Skeltie\u2019s dead, pupil-less eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe go now then,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He flashed some crystal and Trubull\u2019s eyes somehow came alive. The three of them stepped outside. \u201cYou get paid when we get there, not a drop before, savvy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever you want, Hugh. You\u2019re the big boss,\u201d Trubbull told him. Bil-Li\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n<p>As they emerged from the shack, Abe was there cleaning the sectis\u2019s chitinous plates with his tongue, to the animal\u2019s considerable delight. He saw Bil-Li approach with Trubbull and Pith and handed over the reigns. Bil-Li chalked it up to the pusillanimous spirit of most toughies. He tipped his hat to the Skeltie and mounted up. Through his glasses, the night lit up in front of him. He set off with his two guides leading the way and the trio soon faded into the inkblot horizon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow far are we headed?\u201d Bil-Li asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLess than a day,\u201d Trubbull said. \u201cWe\u2019ll make camp in a few hours and start out again first thing. We\u2019ll be there just after nightfall tomorrow if that suits you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li wanted to argue. He wanted to insist they ride straight through. He knew that each stop increased the probability that dark events would befall him. But he was far too wayworn; he\u2019d never make it another night without sleep.<\/p>\n<p>The Skelties were sidewinding up ahead of him about thirty feet on their stumpy legs, leading him like bloodhounds. They would mutter covertly to one another. Bil-Li could glean remnants of their conversation in the air\u2014but they smelled none too iniquitous.<\/p>\n<p>After a few hours, as promised, they stopped. Bil-Li welcomed the simple comfort of Exoterran dirt and a warm blanket while Trubbull and Pith rested as all Skelt do: standing motionless with their eyelids pinned open. Bil-Li left his glasses on and dropped his hat down low, shadowing his face. If he <em>had<\/em> to sleep beside Skelties, he would keep them guessing just as much as he was. He left his fingertips tucked inside his belt, thumbs perched atop the cloudy, faux mother-of-pearl gun handles. The position was not unfamiliar to him.<\/p>\n<p>The fire had worn down to neon orange embers. Bil-Li\u2019s face was shrouded behind his nocturns and hat and a barely audible snore was escaping his lips. He awoke at once to a sharp spike of pain in his right hand and the sound of scampering in the darkness. The Skelties were gone, leaving Bil-Li with two puncture marks in the soft flesh inside each wrist. The pain ran hot through his arms and his right hand\u2014his shooting hand\u2014burned intensely. He brought the wounds to his mouth and extracted as much of the venom as he could, spitting the pink toxin onto the ground beside him. It had been only seconds and he hoped to suck enough of the poison free from his veins to allow his escape. He tore a swath of sleeve and tied it off at his bicep, tightening the makeshift tourniquet with his teeth and twisting it still tighter with a stick he\u2019d inserted underneath the strip of cloth.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t working. His right hand had swollen up on him like a hothouse tomato, the skin of his engorged fingers had split and gone to stone. The two Skelties were still nowhere in sight\u2014waiting, no doubt, for their vile juices to incapacitate him completely. A short time passed before Trubbull sauntered out from behind the curtain of night and beelined it for Bil-Li, his fangs still leaking mixed strings of poison and saliva. Bil-Li managed to pull the sluicer from his belt and fumbled for the trigger, but his fingers had grown too large to slip in front of it.<\/p>\n<p>Trubbull slinked closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook at Bil-Li Badass now,\u201d he said. \u201cYou thought you were going to ride down here and tell all us poor Skelties what for\u2014you think your perfect hands give you some divine right, just like all Hughs. Well, those hands don\u2019t look so perfect anymore. We can figure things out too, Bil-Li boy, like you can\u2019t use that cannon you got in your hand unless you got a finger small enough to pull the trigger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li tried to jam his pinky inside the trigger guard without success. He dropped the gun. Trubbull smirked and made his approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m gonna crack your pretty skull with my jaws,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>A somber Pith appeared on Bil-Li\u2019s left, his teeth still glistening. \u201cSorry brother,\u201d he said. Bil-Li clenched his teeth in anger.<\/p>\n<p>Pith turned to the Skeltie. \u201cI <em>am<\/em> sorry for this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trubbull watched with vexed contempt as Pith motioned to Bil-Li\u2019s hands. Bil-Li raised both arms and found his left hand to be red-blotched and patchy, like the right, but slightly less swollen. As quickly as he realized this, Bil-Li drew his holstered rayzer with the left hand. Trubbull watched the man\u2019s index finger slide into the loop in front of the trigger.<\/p>\n<p>His smug grin melted away.<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li squeezed off a bolt, point blank, that threw the Skeltie\u2019s entrails across the plain. He then fixed his aim on Pith.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t bite you hard, Bil-Li,\u201d Pith said, his arms raised. \u201cI could\u2019ve and you\u2019d be dead now, but I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Skeltie\u2019s words settled into Bil-Li\u2019s head and the man lowered his rayzer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou two were never taking me to Lomac, were you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSure we were, Bil-Li, but it was more like <em>delivering<\/em> you to him. Trubbull thought it best to kill you and split the crystal instead of just getting a cut from Lomac, if anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pith shrugged. \u201cI didn\u2019t agree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you\u2019ll take to me Lomac?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow why would you do a fool thing that?\u201d Pith asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe took something, and the people he took it from are in a bad way. I don\u2019t want to kill the man. I just want to retrieve the property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood thing,\u201d Pith said. His words were salty. \u201cDo you know what Lomac is?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s an outlaw.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what he wants you to believe\u2014that he\u2019s a Hugh\u2014no different from the rest. He\u2019s Skelt right to the core, Bil-Li, but he\u2019s not like any you\u2019ve seen. He\u2019s like you\u2014his legs, his arms, even his hands\u2014but he\u2019s one of us. He walks on two as well as he does on four; he can shoot a rayzer just like the Hugh-Man, but he has the speed of a Skeltie; he sees the same in night or day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s impossible,\u201d Bil-Li said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI haven\u2019t even gotten to the scary part yet, my man. He\u2019s also vicious and he\u2019s hateful like you Hughs have forced the Skelt to become. Did you think you could keep pushing us out of your way\u2014murdering our fathers and mothers without reprisals? He says he\u2019s going to deliver us from the Hugh-Man scourge and free Exoterra forever of your kind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you believe him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter much what I believe, Bil-Li. It is of prime fucking importance that you believe me though because if I take you there, he <em>will<\/em> kill you!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe won\u2019t talk terms?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t want to talk to him. He\u2019s an abomination, Bil-Li. Even though he\u2019s on our side he still scares the shit out of most Skelties I know. We tell him we\u2019ll hide him away in the mountains for his own sake, but I think we do it just to make ourselves feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAren\u2019t you at all afraid I might kill him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pith didn\u2019t hestitate. \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen there\u2019s no harm in taking me to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe harm will be your own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo be it,\u201d Bil-Li said. \u201cI\u2019ve been forewarned. It\u2019s not on your head, Pith.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are one crazy-ass Hugh, Bil-Li Kay. You must owe someone double big time to be out here chasing down the devil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s something like that,\u201d Bil-Li said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not like any Hugh I ever met, Bil-Li. That\u2019s why I like you. You were always a friend to Pith. I heard about what happened to your folks and I want you to know my family had no hand in it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know they didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome Skelt just see a thing and think its evil\u2014the same way you Hughs seem to look at us. I ain\u2019t saying it\u2019s right, what happened and all, it just is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes this mean you\u2019ll take me to Lomac?\u201d Bil-Li asked.<\/p>\n<p>Pith fell to four feet. \u201cGive yourself time to fight off the poison in your blood. You\u2019re going be real stiff tonight but you should feel a whole lot better in the morning. We can head out then, but that\u2019s the only way I\u2019m taking you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you,\u201d Bil-Li said.<\/p>\n<p>Pith burst out. \u201cAnd he thanks me for it! Crazy-ass Hugh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>T<\/strong><\/span>he pale face of the rock bluff was freckled with iron deposits embedded beneath its surface. It bulged out of the soil and pushed upward, to the sky. Pith led Bil-Li along a clandestine trail zigzagging up the side of the giant stone mountain, in between crevasses and sidestepping pitfalls. Near the top, they came to a triangular entrance that had been formed by two great slabs resting upon one another. Darkness obscured all but the first several feet of the cave\u2019s interior. Pith stopped at the threshold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not too late to go back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m afraid it is, Pith.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going in with you. I\u2019m afraid he\u2019ll kill us both.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat will they do to you in Rya Delsa if they find out you brought me here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one\u2019s going to find out, Bil-Li. Once you walk into that cave, you\u2019re never coming out. I don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got planned, but take my word, it won\u2019t work. You\u2019ll never beat him and you can\u2019t reason with him. Lomac hates everything Hugh-Man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re right, then he\u2019ll eventually find out it was you that let me surprise him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou won\u2019t surprise him either.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A frisson of fear ran cool through Bil-Li\u2019s bones. He started into the cave, but turned back after a few steps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if I\u2019m better than you think?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhat if I told you that my walking out of here will change Exoterra forever\u2014will make it human?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pith thought for a moment. \u201cBil-Li, if that\u2019s true then I\u2019d say you weren\u2019t meant to walk out.\u201d He dropped to the ground and shuffled away.<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li affixed his glasses, curling the thin wire behind his ears, and stepped through the sheet of darkness at the mouth of the cave. He could see clear to the back wall a hundred feet or so away. The cave looked empty. He eased forward with gingerly footwork, checking for booby traps and trip wires as he moved. He found none. At the back wall of the cave, a ghostly amber luminescence hung in a corner just above the floor. Nearing this corner, he discovered that the cave had been excavated; a squared hole opened in the floor and steps led downward into the bowels of the bluff. Bil-Li navigated this stairway for what seemed to him hours, changing course, descending and climbing and descending again\u2014the entire route dully lit by the yellow light of striped phosphorus rock that lined the interior of the mountain. The steps finally spit out into an enormous stalactite-encrusted cavern, the far end of which contained ever smaller semi-circular layers of bedrock, stacked one atop the other, jutting out from the cavern wall itself and rising up to a craggy throne. Upon it sat a lone figure, his hands resting imperially over the arms of the stone chair. He had thin, bulbous-jointed fingers and spiny Skelt nails that wriggled with portent.<\/p>\n<p>Bi-Li quickdrew his rayzer.<\/p>\n<p>Light splashed against the walls of the cavern and Bil-Li raised the stump of his gun to his eyes. The barrel of the rayzer had been shot off at the front sight and plugged with the molten remains. It was useless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSix inches up and I would have hit the chamber,\u201d the figure told him.<\/p>\n<p>A voice. An <em>actual<\/em> voice. It took Bil-Li a moment to turn his ears back on. \u201cYou can <em>speak<\/em>?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The thing seemed to glide from its perch, its powerful legs carrying it down the huge slab steps with a danseur\u2019s grace. It alighted upon the cavern floor with nary a speck of soil disturbed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I would have hit the chamber, pieces of you would be sliding off these walls now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen it\u2019s a damn good thing you missed,\u201d Bil-Li said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t miss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li\u2019s stomach tightened. \u201cMy name is Bil-Li Kay. I didn\u2019t come here to kill. I came to negotiate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou come into someone\u2019s home uninvited, Bil-Li Kay, and the first thing you think to do is jerk that ray.\u201d He shook his head. \u201cManners, manners. How can I possibly trust your words now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI came for the Starway Pass. That\u2019s the truth. You have it, don\u2019t you? You\u2019re Lomac?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am Lomac Zhinn and the Starway Pass will never leave this mountain while I live.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cName your price,\u201d Bil-Li said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, that\u2019s going to muddle up negotiations a bit. But everyone has a price. What do you want most?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lomac had his rayzer instantly under Bil-Li\u2019s chin. \u201cI want the Hughs off Exoterra. I won\u2019t allow wave after wave of your kind to travel that starpass and settle here, claiming it as your own. You have no right to it. The Skelt were born here, it\u2019s where our spirit lies. Where were the Hugh-Mans born? Your people can\u2019t even remember\u2014you\u2019re nothing more than soulless nomads.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li felt a tremor of the gun barrel on the hair bristles of the underside of his jaw. Lomac was getting edgy, getting closer to ending these negotiations, badly. He wants to pull the trigger. Stay his hand, give him pause, Bil-Li thought. He\u2019s part Skeltie, but at least some part of him is human . . . yes, <em>human<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>He asked Lomac, \u201cIf you have no blood of man inside you, how do you explain what you are?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am the harbinger of Skelt freedom, heralding in a new Exoterran age and sounding the death knell for the Hugh-Mans. I was born as I am now, touched by Braam, the Sky God. I am Skelt, but my kind lack certain physical gifts,\u201d he raised a hand to Bil-Li\u2019s face, \u201cand the insidious barbarity that you Hugh-Mans possess. And so I was made this way. But do not be confused, I am Skelt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd your children? Will they be Skelt?  How about your children\u2019s children? They\u2019ll be superior to the old race. Eventually that race will die out . . . because you exist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will have no children,\u201d Lomac said. \u201cWould that I could burn this Hugh-Man impurity from me when my work is complete and live as all Skelt do, I would. I am <em>more<\/em> than Skelt. I am <em>more<\/em> than Hugh-Man, but I am not superior, I am merely necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li hard swallowed. \u201cYou\u2019re not more than human,\u201d he said. You\u2019re part Skeltie, and that makes you less than human in my book. Less than me. Prove to me that you\u2019re <em>more<\/em> than a human. Prove that you\u2019re better than me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m smarter than you, too. The only proof you need is right under your nose.\u201d Lomac pushed the barrel of the rayzer up into Bil-Li\u2019s jaw, tilting his head backward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not so sure yourself, are you?\u201d Bil-Li asked, awaiting a red plasma death.<\/p>\n<p>Lomac lowered the gun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOpen your hand,\u201d he said. Bil-Li held out his palm and Lomac gave the gun to him, lifting both his arms into the air in mock surrender. Their eyes never strayed from one another. Bil-Li closed his fingers over Lomac\u2019s rayzer and felt the familiar machinery. It was sideways in his hand and he would have to maneuver it around before he could get a shot off. The two of them locked in a staredown that stretched out like the cosmos. This was his chance, his one chance, Bil-Li thought.<\/p>\n<p>In a furious burst of energy, the man\u2019s fingers worked in perfect synchronicity to wrap themselves around the gun handle and carry the barrel forward, leveling the blaster on Lomac. Before he could squeeze the trigger though, the Skelt snatched the rayzer with one of two shorter arms that were hidden under his vest. He wheeled it round to its new target lickety-split. Lomac uncoiled a smile. He was faster. He was better. There could be no doubt.<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li focused on Lomac\u2019s trigger finger. It whitened under the nail\u2014a sign that he was beginning to put pressure on the crescent-shaped metal. Bil-Li immediately drew the sluice gun from his gunbelt in one swift, effortless motion, but Lomac had pulled his trigger a second ahead of the man.<\/p>\n<p>Click. The hollow sound of Lomac\u2019s rayzer echoed in their ears.<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li half-shrugged and eased back his index finger. The sluice gun fired. A scattershot hit Lomac all at once. The main stream burrowed through him, spreading and dissolving outward from his center. Bil-Li kept it on him, nearly lifting the Skeltie off the cave floor and stewing his innards. Even after the sluicer had stopped spitting plasma, the laser soaked through Lomac until only a steaming, browned exterior remained. His body ruptured and fell. The starway discus clanked, unharmed, in front of Bil-Li\u2019s feet while the puddle that was Lomac Zhinn slowly glubbed its way down through the cracks in the floor.<\/p>\n<p>Bil-Li picked up Lomac\u2019s gun. With a grin, he un-locked the safety catch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just made you immortal,\u201d he said, watching what was left of the mutation disappear between the rocks. \u201cThey\u2019ll be waiting on your return millennia from now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He picked up the discus, shook it clean, and put it in his coat pocket.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan\u2019t be waiting forever though,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen the time comes, you do whatever you got to.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"serial-posts-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"serial-posts-heading\"><span class=\"serial-post-text\">Read more from this serial.<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"serial-posts\">\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-1\/\" title=\"Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 1\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 1<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/catch-the-starway-pass-put-it-in-your-pocketpart-2\/\" title=\"Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 2\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 2<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item current-inactive\">Catch The Starway Pass, Put It In Your Pocket\u2014Part 3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In part 3 of L. Christopher DelGuercio&rsquo;s three part serial, Bil-Li tracks down and confronts Lomac Zhinn. <em class=\"nobr\">&mdash; ed, N.E. Lilly<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,5],"tags":[118],"media":[299],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1149,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/1149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"media","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}