Vestan n.

‘I accept your proposition, Mr. Kenniston!’ Gloria declared. ‘We’ll start for Vesta just as soon as you can get the equipment you’ll need loaded on the Sunsprite.’ ‘Gloria, you’re being too hasty,’ protested Hugh Murdock. ‘I’ve heard of this world with a Thousand Moons. There’re stories of queer, unhuman creatures they call Vestans, who infest that asteroid. The danger—’

‘Bray is beyond saving now,’ Kenniston said. ‘The Vestan parasite will control his body till he dies. The Vestans always like to attach themselves to human beings—they know that a man’s body is more versatile in its capabilities than an animal’s.’

I knew Vestans weren’t so intelligent, but you’re proof that they’re stupid.

Ten years after the First Ship settlers had moved from Outside, they’d begun to cut the true apsedras that now housed most of the colony half a mile high deep within Vesta. Expansion was still going on, the plaque said. Excisions, the ‘nice’ word for controlled explosions, were regularly scheduled for delta shift, and all Vestans were drilled (CC moaned inwardly at the pun) in how to fasten down their belongings and what to do in case of an emergency.

‘All right, what the hell is going on?’ Naomi said, forcing her way through the crowd. Despite the spidery exo that supported the Vestan’s weight in Titan’s relatively crushing gravity, two and a quarter meters gave her a privileged perspective. The Vestan shriveled under her gaze like a leaf left to dry.