by Andy Kasch
“I’m surprised how light it is in here,” Jumper said. “Even at the ground level.”
Threeclack nodded. “Some of it is artificial, as you’ll see at night when the lights fully come on. But much of the sunlight you see now is a reflection from a natural crystal found in the rock.”
They arrived at a series of small storefronts. Threeclack stopped and looked at Shaldan’s shoulder.
“We need to treat your puncture wound before the poison from the plant propagates. This is a first aid station. My associate here will take you in and apply the medicine. The rest of us will wait for you in the café next door.”
Shaldan followed one of Threeclack’s companions through a sliding glass door. The rest of them entered the small restaurant next to it. The tables and chairs inside were all carved out of the rock. Alan sat down with Jumper and Kayla at the closest open table. Threeclack and his two remaining friends went to the counter in the rear.
“This rock city is amazing,” Kayla said. “I wonder if there’s a place near here where we can take a nap. I’m really tired for some reason. Maybe in one of the parks.”
Jumper grabbed her hand and kissed it. “I’m sure they’ll set us up with accommodations, honey. That’s a good idea. You can take a nap while we …explore.”
Kayla’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know if I’m tired enough to agree to be left alone. And I know what kind of ‘exploring’ you two are apt to embark on. No, I don’t think so—honey.”
Threeclack returned, alone. He held a tray with a pitcher of water and a half-dozen glasses. One of the glasses already had water poured in it. In the center of the tray was a bowl filled with small egg-shaped objects. Alan figured them for nuts of some kind.
“Please refresh yourselves,” Threeclack said. “I’ll return shortly.”
Jumper grabbed the water pitcher and poured him and Alan each a glass. Kayla took the one that was already filled. Alan retrieved one of the objects from the bowl and bit down on it, cautiously at first. It crumbled in his mouth.
“How is it?” Jumper asked.
“Pretty good. Probably a tree nut.” He took a swig of water as Jumper and Kayla each sank their hands in the bowl. The nuts were slightly salty and made the water taste wonderful. As Jumper refilled their glasses from the pitcher, Alan remembered about the water.
“You don’t suppose this is that mineral water we had on The Measure?”
Jumper paused. “It’s incredibly refreshing, or maybe that’s because of the nuts. I feel good, and suddenly have more energy. But I’m not all jittery and hypersensitive like I was on the ship. I don’t think it’s the same water.”
“Yeah,” Alan said. He remembered his heightened senses and rapid pulse after drinking the special mineral water and didn’t feel like that at all now. Just a little more awake and hydrated. “I think you’re right.” He took another drink.
“Shaldan’s shoulder is going to be fine,” Kayla said.
Jumper shook his head. “I hope so. I feel really bad about that.”
“He will be. The nurse just told him so. They finished applying a salve to his wound, and Shaldan said the pain’s mostly subsided now.”
Alan and Jumper stared at her.
“How do you know that?” Jumper asked.
Kayla cocked her head. “You can’t hear them, next door? Threeclack’s in there now, too. They’re finishing up now.”
Alan looked at his glass. “No, I can’t hear them. But the first time I drank the mineral water I had super hearing, too. Maybe Jumper and I have already built a resistance to it. Or maybe females are more susceptible to the mineral.”
“I can hear lots of things,” Kayla said. Her head remained cocked.
Threeclack and Shaldan returned. Shaldan’s corner teeth were showing. He sat down, grabbed a handful of nuts, and poured himself a glass of water.
“Is that regular water?” Alan asked Threeclack.
Threeclack saw the empty glasses and frowned.
“I’m sorry, you don’t know our customs. The small measure—that which was in the glass—was pure deep-cistern water. It is meant for sharing, among those who feel in need of restoration. The pitcher contains water intended for normal consumption. There are traces of magnas.pz in it, but it is heavily diluted with rainwater.”
“Sucks to be you,” Alan muttered to Jumper. Jumper grimaced in reaction, but then raised his eyebrows as if he were considering certain unspoken possibilities.
Kayla turned to Threeclack. “I don’t like leaving my cat alone in his crate for too long. You mentioned something about a facility for him, here in your city?”
“Yes,” Threeclack said. “A miniature zoo. Conveniently close to the entrance we came in through. Shall I take you there now, or would you prefer to be shown to your lodging first?”
Jumper opened his mouth to answer but Kayla beat him.
“Show us the zoo first, please.”
“As you wish.”
Jumper shrugged. Shaldan finished his water. Alan pocketed the last few nuts from the bowl and the four of them followed Threeclack out of the café and into the stony streets.
“I didn’t notice them before,” Kayla said as they walked, “but I see the crystals in the rock now. They’re subtle because they’re the same color as the rock. They reflect sunrays, and the beams then bounce between the crystals, all over the place, losing very little of the spectrum in their many reflections. That’s why we can see normally in here with only an approximate 18% overhead opening allowing sunlight in.”
“Essentially correct,” Threeclack said. “Very good.”
Kayla continued talking, not allowing for more than the briefest of pauses.
“I see the light fixtures now, too, throughout your city. They’re made to look like the natural stalagmites, but have slightly rougher edges. The tops are surrounded by the crystals. Obviously, an artificial light source comes on from the inside, reflecting then off the natural crystals in the rock walls—just as the sunlight does in the daytime.”
Threeclack nodded. “They’ll be coming on soon and you’ll see for yourself.”
They arrived back at the atrium near the entrance tunnel, but turned right before it. Kayla’s speech only became faster.
“This underground city is an incredible feat of architecture. I can see where the original stalactites and stalagmites have been preserved and incorporated, and also where artificial ones have been created as support structures. I’ve never seen any construction that utilizes its natural environment so beautifully and functionally. And there’s no industrial odor—you must have developed an advanced fuel for your hover vehicles. Clean burning, no doubt, otherwise the accumulation of fumes would be problematic. That train stop on the second level above us must be near a retail store district. I hear your delightful throaty laughter, only softer and feminine-like. Those must be female Sulienites shopping. I’ll have to go visit those stores. After I see the zoo, of course. The animals I’ve seen here so far are stunning. Those colorful birds in the atrium sure love the rain. Looks like it let up some, but I still feel the drop in barometric pressure. Rain from white clouds, imagine that.”
On and on it went. What started out as amusing quickly became annoying. Alan was glad when they arrived at the zoo.
So was Kayla. She was all prepped to be their uninformed tour guide. Fortunately, the big cat pen was near the front, separated from the public walkway by a wide mote. There was only one animal in it, plus a female native who looked to be a trainer. She ran with the cat and shouted directions at it. The cat was responsive and seemed to be having a good time.
“Oooooooh, he’s beautiful,” Kayla said, mercifully stopping her narrative to worship the animal.
“She,” Threeclack said. “This is a female laviel. Not native to this planet. One of the few we have left in captivity of the breed that was originally brought here from Salom by our ancestors. Come into the pen with me. You can meet the cat and the trainer.”
Threeclack led them through several archways and eventually to a cage door. A guard stood there. Threeclack spoke with him in a low voice. The short native guard eyed the aliens standing behind him with a concerned look before finally nodding and opening the door. Jumper, Shaldan, Kayla, and Alan followed Threeclack inside.
The noise of the closing gate caught the big cat’s attention. When she saw the visitors, the laviel broke into a full speed run towards them. Alan looked back to the closed gate in a panic and then braced himself for possible impact.
A feminine voice shouted something. The cat came to an an abrubt stop and sat, not ten feet before them. The laviel looked up at them curiously. Alan could tell Jumper and Shaldan were just as relieved as he was—especially Shaldan. Threeclack and Kayla, however, were both laughing.
Kayla was right. The animal was beautiful. She had golden fur, lots of whiskers, and sparkling dark eyes. This cat was maybe two-thirds the size of Casanova, which meant she was slightly smaller than Alan. But she was all feline, with a mouth full of shining teeth and paws hosting claws you never wanted to meet. Her fangs were kept inside her mouth, making for a considerably less fearsome impression than those overgrown “saber tooth” things Casanova lugged around.
As the trainer approached, Alan noticed her feminine features: a larger chest, curves around the hips, longer hair, and a lighter purple pigment to her skin.
“This is Fardo,” Threeclack said. “A trainer here at the zoo.”
Fardo was thrilled to meet visiting aliens. But she admitted she had no idea where Tora or Mpar were.
“It’s been a long time since I was forced to study astronomy,” she said. “And I’m sure I was drawing pictures of animals during the lectures.”
Kayla couldn’t take her eyes off the laviel. Fardo noticed.
“Her name is Kush. I can tell she likes you. Go ahead and pet her.”
Kayla needed no further urging and was instantly on the ground getting to know the cat physically. Soon they were rolling and wrestling together. Alan noticed how quick Kayla’s reactions were. She was an even match for Kush in her current heightened state.
Threeclack and Jumper then explained to Fardo how they had brought a large, tame cat from their own world and were looking to house him for a few days. The news excited Fardo. When she learned the cat was a male she suggested penning him with Kush. There couldn’t have been a more thrilling proposition as far as Kayla was concerned. Fardo was soon accompanying Kayla outside to retrieve Casanova. Jumper, Shaldan, and Alan followed Threeclack out of the zoo for a tour of the surrounding area while they waited for them to return.
“Do you have any continuing relationship with your ancestral world?” Alan asked Threeclack. He saw Shaldan shaking his head before Threeclack answered.
“No, not for a thousand years now,” Threeclack said. “Their last communication to us was an offer to take us all home, as they were discontinuing the space program in favor of more beneficial pursuits. We declined. At that time we had our own space program, so we could still visit Salom if we so desired.”
“What happened to your own space program?”
“Within another hundred years we disbanded it as well, when we came to realize our ancestors were right. Space travel is ultimately unbeneficial for our culture.”
“It brought you here,” Jumper said.
Threeclack glanced through an opening in the rocks above. “Perhaps it would have been best if our people returned to Salom at their last opportunity. We came from a large, lush world. A good home.”
“You have no further communication with them at all?” Alan asked.
Threeclack shook his head. “We no longer retain the capability. Also, our species has a tendency to become reclusive, even among ourselves. This city is self-sufficient, so we who live here have no need of camaraderie even with other communities on Sulien. As such, we neglected maintenance on our communications systems until they finally stopped working altogether. No one really cares. It is something that saddens me personally. I was in charge of keeping trading arrangements alive with our cities in the east, but those efforts have dwindled and finally died. Caravans rarely come here now, and the last two delegations I’ve sent out have failed to return. Our leaders seem unconcerned with such matters. Their trade interests have only been revived with the arrival of the Mparians, in hopes of obtaining more efficient mining equipment.”
Alan found Threeclack’s revelation to have a sobering effect on him. It killed some of the awe from the continuing tour. As Alan looked about now, he saw the magnificent underground city in a slightly different light—that of a lonely catacomb. At that moment, he became aware of a rhythmic noise echoing in the distance. It struck him as the sound of drums at a funeral procession. But it was probably coming from excavation equipment echoing up through the cavern depths somewhere.
They walked under an archway and came into what looked like a modern arcade. The machines lining the walls could only be video game terminals, softly lit, some making enticing noises. But the room was empty. Jumper was noticeably interested in it.
“This is a public game room,” Threeclack said. “Some of our younger children visit it from time to time, but usually lose interest after a short while. If you wish to spend time here during your stay, I can issue you an all-access key.”
Jumper nodded enthusiastically and looked at Alan. Alan shook his head and pointed upward.
The arcade had an adjoining room.
“More games in there?” Jumper asked.
“Yes, but a different type.” Threeclack stepped towards the open doorway. “An alien game brought here many years ago by a trading caravan from the eastern cities. It was once extremely popular with our residents—adults and children alike.”
They followed Threeclack through the opening. The adjoining room was huge, like a vast banquet hall built for a massive crowd. But its size wasn’t the most astounding thing.
“Polwar!” Jumper said.
Forever-stretching rows of tables with chairs on opposite sides filled the elongated cavern. There were hundreds of polwar games set up, maybe even thousands, with no one playing them.
“Six years ago,” Threeclack explained, “you were lucky to get a seat in here. Five years ago, it was as you see now. No one has come back since, as far as I know. Our people were at one time consumed with this game. It took over much of our lives. All industry and production suffered as a result. Food supplies began to wane. Then, suddenly, it was as a light turning on. Within a week, everyone stopped playing and returned to work.”
“How is that possible?” Jumper asked.
“We realized it was unbeneficial,” Threeclack said.
While Alan wondered at the scene, and also at the Sulienite’s apparent ability to suddenly change deeply-ingrained habits, he noticed the drum-like noise becoming louder.
“Is that sound I hear coming from the mines?” Alan asked.
Threeclack shook his head. “No, it is our society’s latest obsession. Come and see.”
They followed Threeclack through several winding tunnels. As they did, the sound of drums grew louder. Finally, they came out into a wide clearing. It appeared to be an outdoor stadium carved in the rock. Directly overhead, a large opening revealed a reddening sky. Several trees grew in the flat circular terrace where they now stood. Surrounding them, rows upon rows of stone steps provided enough seating for thousands. Several hundred Sulienites sat on the steps in concentrated spots. All seemed to have a brass tube of some sort held to their mouths which was the source of all the noise.
“This is our civic arena,” Threeclack said above the drum sound. “Our leaders make speeches here. But it’s also a social gathering place, and, as you can see, has been taken over in the last year by the amateur musicians you see above you.”
“What is that they’re playing?” Shaldan asked. “It has the appearance of a wind instrument, but emits a percussion sound.”
“Yes, the tupinx. This was last item brought
here from the eastern cities. A miracle of sound engineering, due to the wave conversion box that transforms wind notes to percussion beats. Alien in origin, we’re told. Our scientists were able to dissect the conversion box, so we now reproduce the instruments—albeit at a slower pace than the current demand. ”
“This is what my dad would call a drum circle,” Jumper said as he slowly spun around.
They listened. Alan now recognized that the beats from the tupinx players were really quite harmonious. How strange. When they first arrived here, it was all just a bunch of uncoordinated noise. But the more Alan listened, the more he could appreciate the subtlety of the music. None of the players seemed to be out of tune or veering off into their own rhythm. Hundreds of amateur musicians couldn’t possibly be so tight and rehearsed. But the drumbeats all worked together somehow. And it was soothing. Alan felt himself wanting to sit down and lose himself in it, perhaps for hours. He glanced at Jumper and Shaldan. They both appeared mesmerized.
Chapter Seven
Brandon studied the object in his hand. It appeared to be a brass flute, except for the black rectangular box near end of the tube.
“Please don’t think me unappreciative of the gesture, Emissary—but the last gift we received from an Azaarian delegate was a game called polwar. A complete decimation of society on one of our worlds directly resulted. Not to mention the governmental division of Tora. So forgive me for being leery of such things.”
“The tupinx is merely a musical instrument,” the Azaarian emissary said. “Not a biological weapon. Music is a symbol of peace and cooperation. I’m sorry if your personal feelings about polwar are so bitter they make you suspicious of every oblation. Does your star system not now host the largest annual gathering of polwar players in the known galaxy? Perhaps you are in the minority in your views.”
