Free FANTASTIC PLANET v2.0 by Stephan Wul

hatching begins, right by the equator. We're not heading that way.'
    'What about
induced hatching?'
    it's rarely dangerous. Of course the prongs are
alive inside the eggs, but they die as they break.'
    'I've heard
cases of survival.'
    it's very brief. They drown very quickly. Perhaps we
should mention it to Sav if you wish, Aedile.'
    Terr rested
his hand on the telecable, hesitated and said:
    'I'll go
find him myself.'
    The
quartermaster saluted and climbed up the ladder leading to the gangway. Terr
went out to the corridor. He made his way to the lower deck, crossed the side
holds where Oms were checking the cables holding the cargo, and reached the
left hand side gangway. A few hundred steps led him to the living quarters. He
entered and was greeted fondly by everyone.
    'Where's
Sav?' he asked.
    'Third
room', someone said.
    He went
through the crowd, dispensing here and there a friendly word or some
encouragement, warmly touching the shoulder of a female Om bent over with
nausea. In the third room he found Sav sitting in a corner, sprawled amongst
maps of the wild continent.
    The
naturalist raised his greying head.
    'Well, the
Aedile! Do you need me?'
    'You don't
have to be so formal in private,' said Terr. I've come to speak to you of
prongs.
    'Yes?'
    'Are they
dangerous?'
    'As dangerous as can be!'
    Terr shook
his head:
    is it dangerous to induce explosions?'
    Sav pinched
his nose.
    ‘It
depends', he said. 'They're too weak. Not as weak as premature Oms, however.
Due to their weight, their movements can be "heavy" in consequences.'
    He winked,
commenting:
    ‘I know how
to pick the right words, eh!'
    'You're very
funny!'
    'Thank you.
As I was saying, according to the headsets a new born prong can move clumsily
as it dies. Last month a pillaging unit brought back some old headsets where I
picked up more information on the matter. Nine times out of ten there's no
danger.'
    'What fun!'
said Terr. 'As we'll come across thousands of them, we'll only have a few
hundred hard blows. Don't you have anything reassuring to tell me?'
    'Yes.
They're too young to swim and they yell very loudly as they sink. Nothing to worry about, apparently. The more they yell, the
faster they sink, you understand? But they really make a racket! Louder than
the sea! I can't wait to hear it!'
    'I really
hope we'll not see it too closely. Do you know of a way of making them totally
harmless?'
    Sav nodded.
    'Yes. Go as
fast as possible. That's what the Traags used to do when they travelled on
small vessels.'
    Terr sighed.
    'Unfortunately
we can't do that, as the hulls will not hold. But... what did you just say? The
Traags themselves feared the baby prongs?'
    'Of course! It dates back to the old days
of navigation. At that time it was quite common for prongs to tie their
tentacles around the propellers. They could easily destroy a ship before dying.
Even if it got away, with its damaged propeller it risked going in circles for
months in the Siwo before smashing into the Ambala reefs. Ray weapons didn't
exist then, and bullets bounced off the prongs and didn't finish them off fast
enough to avoid accidents. But as I said to you before, that sort of thing was
rare. The Traags went full speed ahead and burst all the eggs before the prongs
had time to cause any damage.'
    Terr got
hold of Sav by the sleeve.
    'And you're
telling me all this now!'
    'You never
asked me!' protested the naturalist. 'You told me through Char to focus on
studying the wild continent's fauna and flora! I assumed you knew all that and
had taken all the necessary precautions.'
    Terr let go
of him and shook his head:
    'You're
right', he said, 'it's my fault. I couldn't imagine... it's my fault.'
    'We have
weapons!' suggested Sav.
    'Using them
is impossible. We'd need to mount them on the hull and... it's too late.'
    'Avoid the
Siwo.'
    impossible too. The trip is planned to
last a fixed time. Not going through the Siwo will cost us two days. And the
reactors must be maintained every ten