Quofum by Alan Dean Foster Read Free Book Online Page A

walked the camp perimeter. Once they were convinced no natives were lying in ambush, they moved on to inspect the shuttle. Even though the sealed craft possessed its own automated defensive devices, the captain was taking no chances. This gave Tellenberg and his companions time to catch their breath as well as to reflect on the extraordinary cacophony of nocturnal noises from which they had initially been insulated within the buildings.
    “Quite amazing.” N’kosi was squinting up at a trio of multilimbed arboreals who were cavorting in a nearby tree. Tellenberg could not tell if his colleague was referring to the outrageous growth itself, which resembled a cross between a giant spiny succulent and a cluster of amethyst crystals, or the softly hooting animals capering aerobatically among its branches/thorns. As unclassifiable as the growth in which they were performing, the animals smoldered with a weird, internal green light. Seeing the watching scientists edging closer to their tree, they fled into the forest depths like a trio of oversized many-armed fireflies.
    “Look there.” Haviti was pointing excitedly. It was almost as if the attack on the camp had never taken place. This instinctive displacement from reality in the face of new knowledge, so characteristic of scientists in the field, was shared by all of them. No exception to the rule, Tellenberg found himself gazing at the slight bulge in the soil where his colleague was pointing.
    The bulge was moving. It approached to within a few meters of them before halting. Dirt and ground cover was pushed aside as a drill emerged from the earth. Made of some dark siliceous material, the drill lay in a slot on the back of a small, flaccid-skinned lump that showed only two front legs. Two more heads popped out of the ground on either side of the drill-bearer. Vestigial eyes regarded the awestruck researchers. Apparently seeing or smelling something they didn’t like, the two newcomers picked up the drill-bearer in their front flippers and bodily turned it around. Following it back into the soil, the three subterranean dwellers once again vanished underground.
    The astonished researchers had observed a new species in the trees. They had encountered a new species that lived underground. Taxonomically, physiologically, none bore the slightest resemblance to the other. Then there was the matter of the natives who had attacked the camp. Heavyset and ponderous, they possessed a unique method of locomotion. Quadrisymmetrical and belligerent, their bodies were adorned with an armory of fangs, talons, and spikes. Tellenberg’s mental discomfort grew. He did not like it when the rules of science were toyed with. This continuously surprising world might well have an ace or two to show them, but so far the local planetary deck seemed to consist entirely of jokers.
    He wondered if anyone else shared his growing unease. Without asking, there was no way of knowing. He considered confiding in one of his colleagues. Haviti, perhaps.
    No. A general feeling of disquiet was not a scientific tenet. Before he could discuss it with someone else he needed to better codify his distress.
    His attention and that of his companions was disrupted by the return of Boylan and the silent Araza. The captain had shouldered his rifle. A good sign, Tellenberg decided.
    “Expeditions are rarely greeted with open hospitality,” Boylan muttered, “but this is first one I’ve been on where I was attacked before contact was even offered.” Araza had walked over to a storage shed and was unsealing the locks. “Some of you might want gloves,” Boylan continued. With one hand he gestured at a gap in the perimeter wiring where the attackers had broken through. “We going to have to put up a full-charged barrier. Salvador and I can do it, but it go a lot faster if all of you pitch in. I not ordering any of you to assist.” He mustered a lopsided grin. “But the sooner main barrier is up and activated, the