more air through my nose, which was already sealed over. If I had not been able to breathe, I would have tried to break the seat-straps, no matter how strong they were…but I could inhale without effort despite the guts closed over my nostrils.
It was all very strange indeed—I could feel the stretchy intestines pressed tight against my face, yet when I breathed, there was not the least hindrance to normal air flow. I stuck out my tongue to touch the membrane; it felt solid and rubbery, as though it should be impermeable…yet when I blew out hard, I could not feel the tiniest backwash against my face.
In one way, the membrane was impermeable: I could not see. My eyes were open, but all was in blackness. All was silent too—the intestines had plastered themselves tight enough over my ears to muffle outward sound. Gradually, though, I became aware of a vague hum and a small patch of light, only visible with my left eye…a swath of colors like a rainbow. The colors slowly became brighter, but still only in my left eye; and it did not seem to matter whether my eye was open or closed, because I continued to perceive the rainbow even when I shut my eyes tight.
Then my left ear came awake, hearing a pure musical note that began as a whisper and gradually increased to moderate volume. Its tone did not quaver, not even a little bit. The sound continued for ten seconds…then it suddenly split in two, one half rising quickly in pitch while the other half plunged, high up and low down until both notes disappeared.
The rainbow in my left eye vanished almost as soon as the sounds stopped. A moment later, it reappeared in my right eye, brightening quickly this time and soon accompanied by a musical note in my right ear. The sound split to extremes again, the rainbow blinked out…
…and suddenly I could see perfectly, except that I was not inside the Zarett but out on the city street.
Seeing Through New Eyes
Snow still fell through the hole in the roof, accompanied by a distant roar of wind scouring through the mountains overhead. When I turned my neck, I could see in any direction, even far back to the central square—much farther than I had actually been able to see when I was outside the Zarett. My viewpoint was centered at a level considerably higher than the ground; so I peeked down and saw not my own body but Starbiter’s.
This was very odd indeed. I appeared to have become a Zarett. It was most unpleasant to see myself all stringy and awful, but if I was now a spaceship, perhaps there would be entertaining compensations. In a spirit of experiment, I willed myself to roll forward along the street; and I managed to move a quarter rotation before Uclod’s voice cried, “Whoa!”
“Do not address me as if I were a horse,” I told him. “I am now a Zarett.”
“Wrong,” the little man said. His voice came out of nowhere, all around me at once. “Sorry to disappoint you, toots, but you’re not Starbiter—you’re just linked to her nervous system. You can see what she sees, hear what she hears, feel what she feels…”
“I cannot feel anything,” I said. And it was true. Though snow still fell all around, I could not feel its cold dampness, nor could I sense the solidity of the street beneath the Zarett’s body.
“Don’t worry,” Uclod said, “you’ll likely feel something in time. It’s just a matter of the dear girl analyzing the structure of your brain: where to send which impulses to make you experience the proper input. You shouldn’t be hard to figure out—you’re likely similar to Homo sapiens , and Zaretts can link with humans. I’ll just check…” He paused, then muttered, “No, I’m wrong. I’m looking at your neural readouts, and you got some major deviations from normal Earthling configurations. Vision and hearing are close to Homo sap , but your touch and body kinetics are totally alien. Starbiter can’t even find your basic pain centers.”
“That is good,” I said. “I do
It was all very strange indeed—I could feel the stretchy intestines pressed tight against my face, yet when I breathed, there was not the least hindrance to normal air flow. I stuck out my tongue to touch the membrane; it felt solid and rubbery, as though it should be impermeable…yet when I blew out hard, I could not feel the tiniest backwash against my face.
In one way, the membrane was impermeable: I could not see. My eyes were open, but all was in blackness. All was silent too—the intestines had plastered themselves tight enough over my ears to muffle outward sound. Gradually, though, I became aware of a vague hum and a small patch of light, only visible with my left eye…a swath of colors like a rainbow. The colors slowly became brighter, but still only in my left eye; and it did not seem to matter whether my eye was open or closed, because I continued to perceive the rainbow even when I shut my eyes tight.
Then my left ear came awake, hearing a pure musical note that began as a whisper and gradually increased to moderate volume. Its tone did not quaver, not even a little bit. The sound continued for ten seconds…then it suddenly split in two, one half rising quickly in pitch while the other half plunged, high up and low down until both notes disappeared.
The rainbow in my left eye vanished almost as soon as the sounds stopped. A moment later, it reappeared in my right eye, brightening quickly this time and soon accompanied by a musical note in my right ear. The sound split to extremes again, the rainbow blinked out…
…and suddenly I could see perfectly, except that I was not inside the Zarett but out on the city street.
Seeing Through New Eyes
Snow still fell through the hole in the roof, accompanied by a distant roar of wind scouring through the mountains overhead. When I turned my neck, I could see in any direction, even far back to the central square—much farther than I had actually been able to see when I was outside the Zarett. My viewpoint was centered at a level considerably higher than the ground; so I peeked down and saw not my own body but Starbiter’s.
This was very odd indeed. I appeared to have become a Zarett. It was most unpleasant to see myself all stringy and awful, but if I was now a spaceship, perhaps there would be entertaining compensations. In a spirit of experiment, I willed myself to roll forward along the street; and I managed to move a quarter rotation before Uclod’s voice cried, “Whoa!”
“Do not address me as if I were a horse,” I told him. “I am now a Zarett.”
“Wrong,” the little man said. His voice came out of nowhere, all around me at once. “Sorry to disappoint you, toots, but you’re not Starbiter—you’re just linked to her nervous system. You can see what she sees, hear what she hears, feel what she feels…”
“I cannot feel anything,” I said. And it was true. Though snow still fell all around, I could not feel its cold dampness, nor could I sense the solidity of the street beneath the Zarett’s body.
“Don’t worry,” Uclod said, “you’ll likely feel something in time. It’s just a matter of the dear girl analyzing the structure of your brain: where to send which impulses to make you experience the proper input. You shouldn’t be hard to figure out—you’re likely similar to Homo sapiens , and Zaretts can link with humans. I’ll just check…” He paused, then muttered, “No, I’m wrong. I’m looking at your neural readouts, and you got some major deviations from normal Earthling configurations. Vision and hearing are close to Homo sap , but your touch and body kinetics are totally alien. Starbiter can’t even find your basic pain centers.”
“That is good,” I said. “I do
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