The cave wound into the mountain. He had not realized that it would be so deep. He discovered that he did not really like such confinement; he knew that the rock above was unlikely to collapse right at this moment, after being firm for perhaps thousands of years, but somehow he feared it might. He hoped to get the job done and go back out as soon as possible.
Something scuttled ahead. The light moved to illuminate it. It was a roach-half again as long as his foot. Darius was disgusted, and actually a bit afraid of it. It wasn"t that he thought it could hurt him, but that he didn"t want it to touch him. How could he get rid of it without contact?
"Can you make an image of a roach-eating creature?" he asked Nona.
"I can-but I don"t think they use eyes as we do," she said. "It might not wo
