John DeChancie Skyway Trilogy: Starrigger, Auto-estrada com limite vermelhoe Paradox Alley. Aqui está a sinopse da contracapa da minha cópia de Auto-estrada com limite vermelho:
THERE'S NO SPEED LIMIT
ON THE FREEWAY TO THE END
OF THE UNIVERSE
Jake McGraw has accidentally discovered
what may be the legendary Roadmap to the
Big Bang. But how much longer can Jake
keep his battered starrig rolling with half
the galaxy after him--from insectoid aliens
and ubiquitous Roadbugs to the diabolical
syndicate TATOO?
Perpetually, if Jake knows what's good for
him. Because there are no safe truck stops
on the multidimensional highway where
anything goes and only one law prevails:
THOU SHALT NOT OBSTRUCT THE
ROAD.
Então, os personagens principais estão dirigindo um grande caminhão em uma estrada interestelar patrulhada por misteriosos "Roadbugs". Há muitas viagens no tempo: bem no começo, Jake pega uma carona chamada Darla, que já o conheceu antes, mas que nunca a conheceu antes. O personagem não humanóide de aparência engraçada aparece no capítulo 4 de Auto-estrada com limite vermelho:
Suddenly, something crashed through the undergrowth and barged into the clearing.
I have an image of an animal somewhere between a giraffe and a kangaroo, with the head of a very strange dog. It resembled no other alien fauna I had ever seen. Yes, the head of a dog . . . well, not a dog, really. It had horn-shaped ears. Horn, as in musical instrument. Sticking out of either side of the small head. Must have been eight or nine feet tall. And it had purple and pink splotches over its inert yellow plasticine skin. It walked on two legs. and had two prehensile forelegs that dangled spastically as it moved.
Now, this is the part I'm really not sure about at all.
The beast stopped in its tracks when it saw me. It gave a yawp and said, "Oh! Dearie me, dearie me! Oh! Oh! Goodness gracious!"
Then it turned and ran, disappearing into the trees.
Nossos heróis vêem um Roadbug se reproduzir no capítulo 17 de Auto-estrada com limite vermelho:
Our tour of the area continued desultorily. We rolled by several kilometers of empty bays . . . until we found one occupied.
By a Roadbug.
Rather, one-and-a-half Roadbugs.
"It's dividing!" Roland gasped in wonder. "Reproducing itself!"
I yelled for everyone to come forward.
The thing in the bay had developed a deep rift down its back and had expanded to half again its normal width. It was a stunningly simple and effective method of parturition.
"Now we know they aren't machines," John said in awe.
"Do we?" I asked.
Roland shook his head at the immense bifurcated blob within the enclosure. "But complex organisms can't reproduce that way! They just don't!"
"Maybe they're all one cell," Sean suggested.
"Impossible," Roland answered, sounding less than certain.