I jumped, and the mud tripped me. Shannon fell the other way. The puffball, strung out now like a fuzzy snake, paused a moment, not three inches from my face. I lay still on my belly, choking on my heart.
Shannon moved, and it whipped down across his legs.
He screamed. I could feel the poison from the thing eating into him. I got to my knees and he cursed me and raised something out of the mud. It was Melak's blaster. He fired, between his feet.
The puffball shrivelled to a little stinking wire and dropped away. Bucky said evenly,
"That pays me off. Now it's all your party, Jig."
He fainted. His legs were already swelling. Gow bent over him.
"He's gotta have the croaker, quick."
"You take him to the ship, Gow. If you can get there."
"Me? I'm the zoo-man. I oughta...."
"Do I look like Superman, to carry that big lug?" I didn't know why it was so hard to talk. "Get him there. Then round up everybody left at the ship. Get guns and ropes and torches and come back, quick!"