Outward Borne by R. J. Weinkam

rooms. She was
surprised at how large the irregularly shaped building was.
Fortunately, there were only a few openings and these Pok tried to
block by tying them shut. It might not prevent the ObLaDa from
getting out, but it would slow it down. The air was hot and
strangely heavy. It made her skin hurt.
    A file of six Sticks flowed into
the laboratory as Til was detaching the portable lights and piling
them onto her cart. Surprised, she spun around to look at them and
knocked her head against an overhanging rack. The Sticks formed an
ark around Til and followed her every move with a series of
coordinated dips and bows. She ignored her fan club and pushed the
heavily laden cart to the double doors. She readjusted her mask and
propped the doors open to get the cart through the air lock. The
Sticks followed, they could breathe the air, it seems, and the
stink did not affect them, but the foul stench and hazy atmosphere
of the ObLaDas chambers bothered Til even through her breathing
mask. She pushed it around on her face trying to make a better seal
while looking into the dark hallways to locate Zep and Pok. There
was no sign of them. Her eyes began to water. She thought it was
from the smelly oils. She fumbled her way through the dark
corridor. As she was about to reach the conduit, the Sticks spread
out in front of her, bodies low and parallel with the floor and
with an exchange of clicks they formed up in a wedge and went
across the hall and between the buildings opposite. Til had no
better option than to follow.
    Once in the next corridor, she
could see Zep and Pok outside of the ObLaDas’ old building. She ran
as fast as she could with the awkward cart, leaving the Sticks
behind. Pok and Zep considered blockading the ObLaDa within the
complex. They were reluctant to break in to find who-knows-what
waiting there, but when Til arrived, they saw that she had only a
few small air tanks. Time would be limited. They decided to enter
the building and lock the door behind them. There were only three
of them in the maze, so they had no choice but to turn their backs
on any threat from beyond and take their chances with whatever was
inside.
    They exchanged their spears for
short picks that would be more effective in confined spaces and
went into the darkness. Pok held up a light to see what she could.
They were in a small empty entryway with connecting narrow
corridors, all streaked by the slimy ObLaDas. The oils, or whatever
was on their body, had turned black with age giving the place a
grimy decrepit look, but nothing in there moved. They knew that
their every step could be watched. With no ability to surprise and
being unprepared and probably outnumbered, Pok decided to use a
full speed rush against any force they encountered. All or naught!
Hopefully, the effect of their full weight concentrated on a narrow
front might carry them through. They would move side-by-along the
hallways until they found the Hag.
    The Cathians moved deep into the
interconnected rooms, taking chances, bypassing doorway after
doorway. The floors were sticky and the walls too scrummed to
touch. It was becoming clear that the Da was not going to stand
against them itself and would probably rely on its robotics. They
had fought against the bots often enough and had beaten them, but
the real weapons they feared were the flybots and their darts. It
was, in fact, the only effective weapon the ObLaDas possessed. None
of the robots carried any real arms; they were workers with
worker’s tools, still they could do damage if they got close enough
to use their short limbs, sharp blades and strong clamps. The
farther the Cathians moved into the complex, the more certain Pok
was that the Da had gone to the far end of this nest of rooms and
was hiding behind as many protective bots as it had. They kept
moving, with every step increasing the risk of being attacked from
behind. It was an obvious strategy, hide a few bots in rooms along
the corridor and wait for them to