Free Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony Page A

"Thank you," Herald said. "In addition, visual. Sight. Sight."
    The Weew body grew another projection. An eyeball formed in a socket on the end of a stalk. It twisted around, blinking.
    "Very good," Herald continued encouragingly. "I am Herald the Healer, here to help you. Are you comfortable where you are?"
    "I am Hweeh of Weew. I find the floor rigid and overly conductive of calories, with cracks."
    "It is fitted stone, a poor insulator of heat. If you will form appendages, you may mount this resilient couch."
    Hweeh extruded three pegs, lifted his body high, and dumped himself into the couch. "Much better," he said, letting the limbs retract and disappear into his torso.
    "I am told you are in shock," Herald said. "Are you able to explain to me the nature of the occasion for your withdrawal?"
    The eyestalk shuddered. "I do not remember. Is it a matter of importance?"
    "I presume so, since your Sphere has taken considerable trouble to bring you to me."
    "Perhaps it is described in the manifest." Hweeh writhed, and from his substance popped out a pellet. "Yes, here is one. Do you wish to imbibe it?"
    "In this host, I am unable. Please digest it for me."
    The pellet sank into Hweeh's mass. Herald knew the creature was dissolving it by means of generated acids, and absorbing the fluids it contained. The chemicals of its composition amounted to a refined Weew code. A given message could be brief or day-long. A number of other creatures of the Cluster had learned to assimilate and interpret these code-fluids, but very few Solarians had mastered this particular talent.
    @@@@@, Hweeh said.
    "I do not comprehend the Weew language in this host," Herald said. "Can you provide a Clustric translation? It need not be exact."
    "Sorry. I can as readily provide a Quotes translation, if you wish. You appear to be in a Quote host."
    So the Weew knew Solarian! He was really educated! "That would be excellent, Hweeh."
    "I present the manifest," Hweeh said in quite passable Solarian Quotes. "Bearer is Hweeh of Planet Swees, Sphere Rweer, Segment Weew, Galaxy Milky Way. Hweeh is engaged in the occupation of research astronomy, specializing in Fringe-Cluster phenomena. He is the Segment's finest practitioner of this discipline. He was found in shock amid the tools of his research. The final words recorded by his research computer were @The Space Amoeba is—@"
    Hweeh's aura fluctuated wildly as he stopped reading. Herald whipped his hand out to touch the Weew's flushed flesh, but he was too late; the creature had gone into secondary shock.
    "Damn!" Herald swore in Solarian idiom. "I have compounded his problem." The horn and eyeball sagged back into the graying mass. "I am sorry," Herald said, though he knew the creature could no longer hear him. But what counted was the healing power of his aura, softening the wound, causing the flesh to relax. "Rest, sleep, recuperate, estivate. I will be with you anon."
    Only when he was sure Hweeh was resting quietly did Herald remove his hand. "I blundered. I should have anticipated that the manifest was not for his own perception."
    He looked about. "You may speak now. The Weew has dissolved his ear; he cannot hear you."
    "What is this 'Space Amoeba'?" Psyche inquired immediately.
    "This I must now ascertain. I believe I have prevented him from suffering actual regression, but before I animate him again I must have more information. Does this library contain references on astronomy?"
    "Oh, yes!" she said eagerly. "Kastle Kade has the best library on the planet, except for the King's royal archives." She tripped across the room to the far wall and touched a book. At once a holograph formed in a readout globe in the corner. Herald had not even noticed this before, or realized that these books were holo-keyed; this local culture was not quite as archaic as he had assumed.
    The image showed the Milky Way Galaxy in all its splendor. Quickly the three-dimensional image expanded, the outer coils of the Galaxy