Gateway to Astria - Part 1

by Isaiah Gray

  ~*~

  I nearly threw up while we were in the weird machine. First there was a flash of light, then the entire world was swirling, slowly changing and tipping into the new surroundings. When it stopped, the lady started to talk, as if she were a programmed robot. “If you look behind us, you will see the centerhold Statue of Astria, the… Wait, this isn’t right.” She stopped and now noticed we were not anywhere near a statue, but instead in a small market. There were small street vendors desks up and down the street, which I had my feet planted on the sidewalk on the left side. I glanced up and down, this can’t be right. Unless I was wrong about the coordinate idea and he just had an interest in those particular stocks, this had to be the spot.

  That’s when I received a sales pitch from an old lady.

  “Hello there Miss! You don’t look like you’re from around here!”

  I whizzed around. I stood face to face with a stranger, an old woman, wearing brown colored dress and a hand knitted shawl over her shoulders. She looked like she was about mid-eighties. She had long, long pointy ears. Her palm was the base of lengthy fingers with large nails that jutted out from the tips. Oddly enough, She had one distinct feature I noticed, or at least an absence of a feature. No wings.

  “Umm, yes, you don’t either… A-are you Astrian?”

  “Oh good heavens dearie!” she exclaimed. I could feel my entire body tense. I hated being called pet names, but I continued to listen nonetheless. “I am a Ralschez.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  The old woman laughed heartily. “Dearie! We are the traveling salesmen…or women of the galaxy! We take the appearance of our customers.”

  A traveling saleswoman? What could she have to do with the rising dawn? I thought to myself.

  “Would you like to see some of my wares?” The woman asked in a meek kind, voice.

  Maybe this was something. “Umm, sure?” I replied.

  The woman brightened up, like I had just made her day, she pulled back a cloth on her table to uncover all sorts of trinkets. “This week is our “Times of Old” selection. We have a very special sale on the... uh, stuff.”

  I glanced at and bent over and looked closely, some I recognized, like a M14 World war one bullet and casing; others I didn't, like an small rectangular device with a screen on it. I tapped it and it whirred to life. The screen moved with my finger. It was an odd thing, perfectly the size of my hand, a plain logo of a crude apple with a perfect bite taken out of it, and the screen stayed inside it, not popping out like any screens we have now. I surfed through it, using its strange wheel to maneuver through its menus. It could play music, games and use the internet. I noticed in the top left corner it said: “No service!” and a big X next to it. What’s service?

  “Umm, what do you call this… thing?”

  “Oh that’s some…thingamabob from…” She put her hand to her forehead and thought deeply. “Ahhh, about 2010, they called it the Eye-prod or something like that. Those people always had such funny names for anything, but frankly I don’t care to much what it’s called!”

  I nodded and set it back down. If there was something about these trinkets and this saleslady that connected to what I was after, I sure am missing it.

  I must have been thinking in a way I was showing it, because the lady chimed in again.

  “Did you decide on anything?”

  “What?” I asked, confused, then I remembered her wares.”

  “Umm, no, not yet…” I responded, I never planned on picking anything, besides I didn’t have any money.

  The woman twiddled her thumbs and stared at me in a curious way.

  “You didn’t come here for an eye-prod did you?”

  She shook her head. “Well! I have lots of other things!”

  “Sorry, I kind of, showed up here by accident, I’m looking for a place, or someone, I’m not sure.”

  “Who? What?! OOoo I love mysteries!” She responded excitedly.

  This lady was starting to creep me out a little. She was already getting on my nerves.

  “Have you ever heard of the… Golden Voice?”

  “The who?”

  “The.. you know, Golden Voice?” I spoke in a whisper, afraid if I said it too loud I could get in trouble.

  “Uhmm… I can’t say I have though, their probably one of those 22nd century groups… they have funny names, even weirder than an “eye-prod.”

  “So you don’t know anything?” I asked.

  “Nope! I know I want you to buy something though! I’ll give this thing for a percent less than what’s it’s worth!”

  “Sorry… Not today.” I responded.

  “Oh…” She sounded disappointed. “Two percent?”

  “No money, I’m sorry.”

  “What?! You shopped this entire time and you have no money! What did you do? Leave your purse at home?”

  “No, I’m not Astrian.” I’m not even supposed to be here.

  The lady tilted her head down and tipped her glasses off, looking at me up and down and then in my eyes like “Are you serious?” But then she piped up again. “Ah, I see, well, you should go then. Have a good trip! Next time remember your purse so you can take something home with you.”

  Wait, what trip?

  I blinked, and the world around me started to swirl, it twisted turned and did figure eights all over. Stop the ride! I wanna get off! I nearly felt like I was about to lose my stomach contents again. When I gained my bearings, I was standing on a corner at the end of the bridge.

  “Consider this customer service!” A voice inside my head muttered, it was the saleslady.

  A smirk slipped its way onto my expression. I think I did get a hint from that lady after all. I needed to find Resh.