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Truzenzuzex was not upset by the disparaging of his chosen field. "So, Flinx,
as little as we know of the Tar?Aiym, we know even less of the Hur'rikku. And
yet ... your alien talks of them."
Flinx turned disbelieving eyes on the humming Ab. "You think that Ab might be
...?"
"No." Truzenzuzex was quick to correct a blossoming misconception. "We do not
think your Ab is a
Hur'rikku. The last Hur'rikku died five hundred thousand years ago. What Bran
and I believe is that he j more likely to be a very old member of some race
living on the periphery of the Blight, a race that retains memories of both
the Tar-Aiym and the Hur'rikku and their exploits. The legends of the
Hur'rikku and the collapsar are known. It is part of one legend that the
Hur'rikku threatened to use on the Tar-Aiym worlds the device which had
stopped their rogue. If true, that would go far to explain the unprecedented
panic among, the warrior Tar-Aiym."
Flinx turned to watch Ab's juggling act. Noting the smoothness of the blue
skin, the supple arms and legs; the clearness in the four limpid blue eyes, he
reflected that the alien didn't look old.
He reminded himself than he was judging Ab's appearance by human standard..
Among Ab's race, smooth skin and bright eyes might be signs of advancing
senility.
"The legends seem to imply," Truzenzuzex went or, "that beside this Hur'rikku
device, something like the Krang is a larva's toy."
Flinx was pacing the floor worriedly. "Couldn't we try to use the Krang
against this new rogue?"
Thranx laughter spiced with sarcasm preceded the philosoph's response. "Just
how would you move it" Flinx? You'd have to move the entire world of Booster,
on which the Krang is located and from whose core it draws its power. Besides,
if my initial supposition is correct and the Krang does generate a
Schwarzschild discontinuity it would not harm a collapsar. Quite the
contrary."
He leaned forward and stared hard at Flinx. "Then there is the question of who
could operate the
Krang. I recall your saying that you had no idea how to operate it.
"Well, that's true also," Flinx almost panicked, trying to cover his mistake.
Truzenzuzex had always been suspicious of Flinx's abilities. He hid his
concern in wonder. "Something that would
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atter.txt make the Krang seem to be a child's toy ... incredible."
"An ultimate weapon." Truzenzuzex nodded slowly.
A sharp laugh sounded from nearby. Ultimate weapons indeed! You and your tall
friend are madder than this alien. No such thing as an ultimate weapon can
exist. If it did, it would have destroyed everything in the galaxy by now,
once it had been activated."
"Not if in activation it neutralized itself" Truzenzuzex argued charmingly.
"You can't convince me with semantics."
"I know, young lady. You require physical proof." More Thranx chuckling, a
sound like seashells sliding against each other. "We think it worth trying to
locate such proof, if it does exist. We have nothing to lose except three
worlds."
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Chapter Eleven
After a moment's silence, Flinx pointed back at Ab, "How do you know Ab knows
anything more about the Hur'rikku than he's already said?"
"He appears to be a limitless fount of information, Flinx. or haven't you
noticed that he never repeats the same rhyme twice?"
"'That may be so," Flinx conceded, "but he only talks nonsense."
"Much of it probably is nonsense that will always remain incomprehensible to
us." Truzenzuzex was agreeable. "But some of it is not."
"How do you propose to get any more Hur'rikku information out of him?"
Truzenzuzex sighed deeply, an eerie whistling sound in the near-empty chamber.
"We've chased him across two planets now so that I can do just that. But why
don't you do it, Flinx?"
"Do what, sir?"
"Ask him. Ask him about the Hur'rikku."
"I ..." Flinx noticed that the philosoph had switched on a tiny recorder
attached to his thorax vest. The insect was serious about this. Well, he could
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