Sometimes, I seriously wished that Calis had been kind enough to warn me that I would be traveling in one of my mom's famous spice mixers.
I swear...
The old man has no sense of humor whatsoever.
Traveling upwards so quickly and so fast had both my mind and body reeling. The only thing I was grateful for was a small port window which didn't offer me the vertigo-inducing view of the planet's surface peeling itself away at breakneck velocities--reaching nearly 1,315mph. (In any case. Mmph.)
I could see why the Praetorial Guardsman had me strapped in so fucking tight! No one I knew would've survived the trip intact so carefree.
Not even the suicidal types would go for something like this.
Of course, the majority of my time in suspended transit was spent with my eyes closed and me screaming off and on--especially when there would be an abrupt stop here and there; leaving me to wonder: Would I fall to my death?
But everything transited smoothly and I soon found myself in the gentle grip of the orbiting space complex's tractor-beam system; as it maneuvered me into position for docking and passenger extraction.
My thoughts were awhirl with what I would find within the complex. Stories, myths, and legends...that's all I had to guide me on this trip.
Calis had done his job in the schooling department--filling my head all sorts of nuancing details and information to cover the study equivalent of three discs.
My mom gave me the basics, but that was it.
Calis felt it was up to him to provide the rest, seeing how my father wasn't in the picture. My mother had no objections to the old man giving me a first-rate education--seeing how it was a rarity on the surface.
Through Calis, I discovered that not many people had anything past what he called the '7th grade'. (Based on the ancient measuring system.)
I had no clue what that meant. But the old man assured me that what I would receive would be more than adequate for the road ahead.
"Consider yourself lucky," he told me once--even as the tube car finished its docking procedure. "Not many people are as fortunate as you are, Isis McGowan."
Being seven-years-old at the time, I recall feeling a little guilt-ridden for undertaking the process of being so well-schooled.
"What about my brother?" I recalled asking him in a tiny voice. He was only five at the time, but already showing so much promise. It was hard to believe that it had been a year since my father was taken from us.
And that pain of loss still reverberated deep within me; seeking to fester inside me for all time.
A comm signal interrupted my thoughts for a second--as a voice told me it would be only a few more minutes before they could let me out of my garish imprisonment.
I sighed and nodded nervously, not knowing what to expect.
"What about my brother?" The unanswered question came back to me; allowing me a few precious moments of escape back into a past which I thought I had long since buried under a mantle of premature maturity and wisdom.
I recalled Calis's stern facial expression as he fondled my question with great care.
Which only lasted a few seconds.
"No," he told me. "This is for you, Isis. It's your mother's personal wish."
"And my father's?" I ventured then without thinking. The sudden image of him being led away by the Praetorial Guard left a wound that I knew back then--wouldn't heal.
No matter how much time would pass.
"Your father isn't here, now is he, Isis?" Calis shot back, a little too cold for my immediate tastes.
My eyes went wide--as I remember it--and I had to spin up all the strength to fight back the tears welling in them.
"N-no." I answered back in a small voice. Calis's expression softened upon seeing me in such distress.
"It's nothing personal, little one." He said in his best fatherly voice."This is how the world works: It is neither caring nor understanding of your desires or needs."
"I see." I said uncommittedly, the tears receding for now. But I knew that this respite would never last long--for Calis would later introduce me to a world filled with pain, suffering, and agony.
A world I would have to grow tough and resolute in--if I were to ever survive.
***
The door to my improvised cell snapped up with only the barest hint of air--breaking into my reverie.
I recall looking up in disorientation, which only lasted a few seconds--before I caught sight of a good-looking man with dark hair (bearing the rank insignia of a third-lieutenant)--peering inside my tube car.
“How are you doing?” He asked good naturedly, though there was a noticeable hint of awe in his tone.
I stopped for a second in my struggle to get free--to take in the man's disposition.
For a second, I thought the man was high on something; just by the way he stared at me.
"What?" I recall asking. "You've never seen a girl before?"
"Of course I have," the man replied unabashedly. "It's just that--"
"Would you terribly mind letting me out?" I interrupted him.
"Huh?" Then looked embarrassed. "Oh. Sure." Touching a hand-held controller, the restraints snapped free; releasing me onto the deck.
I swayed back and forth then, a little unsteady. The man reached in to grab me, but I waved him off--telling him that I would be okay in a moment.
But that didn't happen--as I had hoped--and when I did pitch forward, the man grabbed me again (this time for real); steadying me.
"What's wrong with me?" I asked, confused. "I can't seem...to stabilize on my own accord."
The guard then told me that it was just the gravity. Since it was one-tenth of what I was normally used to, it would take some adjusting.
My stomach protested and I fought back the urge to zuke--but the queasiness didn't fail to stop me from thinking some rather dark thoughts back down towards Calis himself.
"Okay." I finally managed to tell the guard, but that's all I could muster for the moment. My guts were still wanting to expell themselves the hard way--and I needed some time to compose and steady myself; which the guard allowed me out of both privacy and abject curiosity.
It wasn't all that hard to sense him still staring at me like I was some kind of long lost public exhibit.
"Is there some reason why you have to continuously stare at me?" I asked with unconscious annoyance in my voice.
The guard took a step back, but didn't relinquish his post. Admirable, to say the least.
"Sorry," he apologized right off. "But you're the first surface dweller to come up here in 50 years."
His statement took me off guard.
No way could that be right!
I even said so directly to his face a moment later.
"It's true!" The guard bleated excitedly.
"But what about the others that I saw down at the terminal?"
"Under special circumstances, do we allow anyone from the surface here to the city." The man said. "But usually, the tube cars just crisscross the planet from one point to another--after each positioning."
I knew that to be true, but it still didn't explain how I got here unmolested.
"So how come I'm here and not somewhere like Gorge Run?"
"You carry a special pass card which gives you the highest security clearance. The others have green or blue ones which designates them for point-to-point transport. Red means immediate access to the space complex--no questions asked."
I dug out mine and sure enough, it was red. (Like I didn't know this before? lol)
"Weird." I muttered nonchalantly, then pocketed the item in question. Glancing back at the guard, I asked: "So where do I go from here?"
"Down the hall, then right, and down the staircase." The guard told me.
I mulled it over in my head, pretty sure that I got his directions down pat--and then left with a smile in place; making sure I thanked him as I left.
A quick glance back told me that him and his friend at the receiving terminal had a lot of news to discuss in my absence.
I smiled--thinking and imagining what the result of that would be.
***
It didn't take me long to find my way around this giant terminal. The few pluses in my book were that this place was even more sparsely populated than any terminal (or small hamlet on the Barren Wastelands), and on top of that?
I had a whole babygrand to myself.
No crowds. No pushing. No long lines.
I could see why Stratos City was such an idyllic jewel which so many people on the surface sought to chase after all this time.
Still the impulse to act childish didn't escape me and I spent the next few minutes taking in the sights and just acting like a complete goof.
Like a kid in a candy store. I remember my mom telling me once--upon the very first time I laid eyes on my own personal auto-frame: The Viper X-1.
This was no different.
It was huge. It was gargantuan in size--with its open spaces and skylights...everything which spoke of the highest possible opulence imaginable.
Naturally, it didn't take me long to find the exit. But I was still plenty wound up by my experiences--so I did my best to not appear so flustered as I approched the card reader and the guard manning it.But what stopped me was the sanguine voice asking me to slide my card into the reader--before I could be granted with an audience from the city itself.
"Why?" I asked, looking around, but finding that no one spoke to me.
The guard tapped me on the shoulder and directed me towards the reader's HUD display.
There was this pleasant face of a woman in a strange red get up, with a cap on top of some equally blonde hair of hers.
"Oh-kay..." I bit out in confusion. "And who are you supposed to be?"
"I am the terminal's computer. You may call me Darci." The gen'd image told me.
"So--Darci--" I asked politely.
"The reason why I am asking for you to slide your card through, is so that
we have you registered here as a visiting civilian. If you wish to fill out a permanency residential claim form, they are located at the Information Center on Level 2057.” There was a momentary pause in the terminal's programming. "Would you like me to show you were that is?"
"No," I quickly (and politely) declined. "That won't be necessary." The stupid thing buzzed me three seconds later--when I didn't move.
"What did I do now?"
“Please move forward and swipe your card.”The guard looked at her silently, but said nothing.
I did as I was told.
“Thank you. You may exit through the doors in front of you. Have a nice day.” Darci called back to me.
I left the terminal and found myself outside.
Outside!
With a gentle breeze blowing past me, I got my first real look around: Seeing nothing but chalk-white/gray walkways--sandstone--with beautifully designed marbled railings and light fixtures which held crystalline gas-light bulbs.
But a look closer at one of them showed that the “light” inside it wasn’t really fire, but a form of high energy plasma that I had never seen before.
Not even in my mother’s (or the old man's) study history discs.
Wonder why neither included that in my schooling? I thought to myself--even though I was still very much impressed by what I had seen so far.
I continued my study of my new digs--approaching one of the railings in the process. But I wasn't...well...prepared for the enormity of the whole place itself.
A literal city in space, but so well defined and kept apart that I couldn’t tell where it ended and where it actually began.
But the brick-red building in front of me told a completely different story, with its eye-level window displays, draped in blinds or curtains, but occasionally a window would be drawn open to allow fresh air to filter through.
But in the distance--in the far distance--I found myself staring at what was perhaps the tallest set of entwined crystal spires I had ever laid eyes upon.
“Holy shit,” I breathed in complete amazement, wondering who would be the first person that I would encounter in this magnificent city.
Isis
No comments:
Post a Comment