THE SPACE PLANT
I had never heard of anything like the Space Plant before it attacked us, therefore I have no better name for it. As a giant spacefaring plant, it seemed to me a botanical counterpart to Budongs, which are giant spacefaring animals. Both are dangerous.
The Space Plant we encountered lurked near the mouth of a wormhole in order to trap its prey. It intercepted debris sucked toward the opened wormhole's intense gravity. I suspect that it usually caught asteroids. This time, it caught Moya.
Having engulfed us, the Space Plant secreted an acid that dissolved the metals in Moya's outer hull. The plant then devoured the resulting liquid. It ate faster when it felt threatened, ensuring that it would receive as much nourishment as possible. Consequently, when D'Argo blasted it with his ship's weaponry, the plant's roots plunged deep within Moya's skin and quickened the pace of its meal. It did not eat organic flesh, so it spared Moya's neural tissue, although her neural stacks suffered some injury when the plant attacked the metal in her electrolyte regulators.
The Space Plant was, thankfully, not invulnerable: Solanterum fobex was the chemical that killed it. Leviathans carry Solanterum in their filter system as a toxin-absorbing regulator. To make it effective against the plant, however, this mildly radioactive substance must be spread throughout the ship and then heated to its critical temperature — a daunting task.
I don't wish to record many details about Moya's encounter with the Plant — she was in excruciating pain and was nearly killed. In addition, she was robbed of her usual senses, meaning that neither she nor I could "see" our surroundings or "feel" where damage was occurring. It was most disorienting and very frightening.
I would have guessed that the Space Plant was not a sentient lifeform, but one fact seems to contradict that theory. The plant attacked me, even though I was of no use to it as food. I must assume that it was attempting to disable me and thereby weaken Moya's resistance. Though that could have been an instinctive behavior, I'm forced to wonder whether the Space Plant was exhibiting a rudimentary, predatory intelligence.
JOURNEY LOG REFERENCES
Natural Election
STARBURST TO ANY LIFEFORM
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