THE THREADS’ SHUTTLE was nothing more than a narrow metal chamber, similar to the vessel in which Cherry had traveled to the creatures’ underwater city. Only the entire hull was opaque, leaving her with no view of the outside. Cherry had never felt claustrophobic, but the experience of being transported up to the threads’ seeding ship was becoming more and more unpleasant and she couldn’t wait for it to end.
When she’d emerged at the edge of the forest, she’d been surprised to see no ship awaiting her. Then she’d seen the shuttle, half hidden in the long grass. Disbelievingly, she’d walked over to the metallic tube and discovered that it was open, revealing a slim padded mat at the bottom and two handholds.
Cherry had no direct channel to the threads via her comm and so no easy way of ch
