Was this the world’s secret… it was alive, a vast single organism consuming all hapless visitors who made the mistake of landing on it? Was he passing through some vast silicon-based life form’s digestive system, following his friends into its gut? Suddenly, the invisible field gripping him seemed to tighten, the rock flowing down around his scalp, pressing in hard. His machete was still in its hand, but locked in place, immovable. This was it, then. He was going to be absorbed, his bones ground into dust and his flesh dissolved into minerals for the world. Calder went cold, bitterly icy. A series of images flashed through his mind. Hesperus, his primitive, formative years as prince of a lost society, collapsed and pre-machine age; losing his brothers and father, losing the war, losing his kingdom before his final, bizarre exile to the stars. So, it was true, then? You really did see your life flash before your eyes as you… were gobbed out onto a hard stone floor? He came up holding his machete, only to find Skrat, Janet Lento and Momoko arrived before him.
