Solbidyum Wars Saga 5: Desolation by Dale C. Musser Page B

boilatees were one of the creatures on Desolation that was edible; no mention was given about their taste.
    One of the more interesting creatures on the planet I had seen but I didn’t realize it was an animal because it resembled a tree.  I had observed these treelike structures about outside earlier, they were not large by most planet standards and most were only about a meter or two tall.  They looked like a barren tree with remnants of dried fruits hanging from the branches; on closer observation, what I had thought was fruits or nuts were more like cowry shells from a sea creature that had lived on Earth.  I had assumed that the hard shells were some sort of dried fruit pits, of nuts that had remained on the tree when the plants had died. 
    What I discovered from the computer was that the shells were actually living animals that survived on a tree by a colony of these shells, they were called Sisoma.  During the day, the creatures that lived in the shells retracted inside where they were safe and shielded from any solar radiation, but once the sun set, the creatures unfurled from the shells much like feathery sea worms from Earth.  After reading this, I could not wait until the sun had set to go out and see them for myself.
    When I first came out of the ship after the sun had gone down, the life forms were still in their shells, but as the light began to fade into dusk, I began to see the feathery leaf like forms slowly emerging from the shells and waving to and fro.  It looked like they were waving in a breeze though the air was still.  From close up, I could see in the dim light that the colors of the leaf like appendages varied from one shell to the next.  Some appeared to be a bright red and others were golden yellow.  Every color of the rainbow seemed to be evident.  I was tempted to run my fingers through the feathery fronds, but I recalled that the computer said that their contact with human skin produced a fiery sensation and left welts that burned and itched for hours.
    As twilight descended I looked across the valley to see it totally transformed as all the trees that in the light had appeared dead and barren were now covered in lush multicolored featherlike foliage.  I was startled to see them slowly begin to glow in all sorts of pastel colors; I inhaled deeply and then nearly gagged; I had expected to smell a luxurious fragrance from these beautiful looking life forms, only to discover that their smell had all the attributes of a deceased Earth rodent.  I was about to go back in the ship when something caught my eye, and I looked to see a flying creature, which had a round body about 200 millimeters in diameter, and two large bat like wings.  As one point, I observed it swoop down and grab one of the feathery creatures on the tree, yanking it out of its shell.  Immediately all the other creatures on the tree retracted into their shells as the ball/bat creature flew away with its prize in its mouth.  I went back into the ship and said to Kala, “You need to come outside and see this.  It’s beautiful!”  Kala looked at me with a concerned expression, and I realized that she had not been outside the ship since it landed.  She looked at Lunnie and Reidecor lying on the bed sleeping and then looked back at me.
    “I don’t know Tib, what if they need me?”
    “You don’t need to walk away from the hatch.  We can leave the inner hatch open, and if they make any sound, we can be right back inside.”
    “Well, okay, just a quick look.”
    As Kala cleared the hatch, I heard her gasp… “Oh, it’s beautiful!”  I exited behind her to discover the Sisoma all over the valley had opened, displaying their light, creating an image that reminded me of Christmas back on Earth with all the trees illuminated up with colored lights.
    “Tibby, I’ve seen lots of beautiful things around the universe, but this has to be one of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen.”
    I put my arm around her