The Luminous Citadel: Chapter 2

A Taco Tuesday snippet

The first part of this, should you have missed out on seeing it, is here.

This segment of the sword-and-planet story is partly prompted by the MOTE weekly prompt challenge. I was prompted with “Excellent. I finally got all my geese in a row.” by Padre, and I challenged Fiona Grey with “He just wants to be a jerk about it.” Being Taco Tuesday, this is also a tale with a romantic plotline. I still think I may keep it to a novella… Hah!

Chapter 2

Wilt discovered very quickly that although the gravity waves were powerful, they weren’t quite enough to support a human body. He also realized that he was heavier than the girl. Finally, as he started to catch up with her, he thought that maybe this had been a bad idea, but idea was the wrong word, he hadn’t thought, he had simply done as she’d done. 

She hadn’t been afraid. She had been purposeful, determined, but not suicidal. 

Her red hair streamed behind her as she fell gracefully and slowly through the air. With a quick look over her shoulder, she saw him, and to his surprise she laughed, then threw her arms out from her body, spreading her legs as well. The loose pantaloons and sleeves she was wearing caught the air, and she all but stopped in her fall. 

Wilt, not having this advantage, fell past her. He rolled and looked up to see her press her hands together and double up, as though she were diving. She stooped on him like a bird of prey, and he yelled in shock as she rushed past him close enough for him to smell the spicy scent of her hair. Just below him, she pulled the same stunt of going spread-eagle, and smacked into his chest. 

“Oof.” He also spread his arms and legs wide. “Are you ok?” 

She turned her head, and her hair fluttered over his cheek. What she said was obviously language, but nothing like anything Wilt had ever heard before. Of course she wouldn’t speak Galactica Lingua. 

They seemed to be falling more slowly, now, and he wasn’t sure if it were her giving him more surface area, him imitating her pose, or both. To be safe, he didn’t move. 

They were nearing the tree canopy of another area, and his squirrel-girl banked, leaning her whole body, and slipping sideways. Wilt leaned with her. They slid, to the side and down, several meters, and into another gravity wave. Now, they were actually rising slightly. The squirrel-girl, as he had begun to think of her, made a rapid flight adjustment, and wound up beside him, extending her hand towards his. 

 Wilt seized it gratefully, trying to move his body as little as possible while he did so. Still, there was more motion than he wanted. He looked at her, and she smiled at him, then squeezed his hand gently. She made a motion, arching her back and letting her arms and legs rise above the midplane of her body and head. At her encouraging nod, Wilt followed suit, feeling the air movement past his ears change. With a look around, he confirmed they were now falling, slowly, again. 

Several minutes later, as he’d followed her lead in every motion, they reached her destination, a small clearing carpeted in short, tufted grass, and ringed with jagged standing stones. She’d put her feet down, and landed with a sharp final descent that she took gracefully with bended knees. Wilt stumbled, and fell flat on his face. He lay there for a moment, grateful to feel solid ground again. When he rolled over, she was looking down at him, her face in shadow, and expression unreadable. Wilt sat up. Putting his hand over his heart, he said slowly and clearly, “Wilt.” 

She nodded, imitated his gesture, and spoke a single word. “Dione.” 

Wilt got to his feet and looked around. The depression they stood in was, he looked up overhead, he had no idea how they were oriented to the door through which he’d entered the hollow world. He was utterly lost. He looked back at Dione, and somehow he conveyed his dismay to her, because she smiled at him, then gestured for him to follow her. He did, and she led them toward the ring of stones. He could see, as he neared them, they weren’t all as closely placed and jumbled as he’d thought from a distance. She seemed to know just where a gap was, and unerringly made for it. As they came up into it, it was apparent to Wilt that many feet had trodden the path before, but in the churned and compacted soil it was impossible to tell if it had been human, animal, or both taking the route. 

The gap in the stones was broad enough to pass through comfortably, but over their heads the stones leaned toward one another and touched, making it briefly dark on the path. Dione produced a singular lamp from somewhere on her, tossing it up in the air where it floated just ahead and above them, giving enough light to make sure of their steps. To Wilt it looked rather like a warm golden orb, and he was disappointed when she deftly recalled it with a little leap to catch it, and tucked it away again so quickly he couldn’t see any details. 

He had no time to dwell on this, however, because in the distance he could see something very exciting. A network of houses, of a sort, strung through the trees. As they walked through the open forest on more of the springy turf grass, he started to pick out details. The houses were built around the trees, and rocks, with ladders and bridges to connect them all. There wasn’t a specific architectural theme he could pick out, other than they seemed to use logs for walls, shakes of wood for their roofs, and he saw no chimneys. There were thin tendrils of smoke that indicated fires, and when they drew very near indeed, he could smell cooking meat. His stomach growled audibly, and Dione laughed, clapping her hands. 

She called out, loudly, still laughing, and a dozen other calls answered her as people appeared from seemingly nowhere, running to meet them. Dione left his side, running towards them. Wilt stopped, feeling suddenly overwhelmed and out of place. 

Every one of the people had red hair as Dione did, some fairer and some darker red being the only difference. There were women, and children, and one elderly man with mostly silvered hair tied back at the nape of his neck, who came more slowly towards Dione than the others, with a visible limp. Wilt thought he saw a family resemblance in the older woman who hugged Dione, then shook her, scolding in tone but smiling in face. She certainly acted like a mother. He thought of his own, and winced at the memory. 

They were all looking at him, now. Almost all. Dione was reaching her hand to the man, who was looking at her as she was at him. Wilt lifted a hand in an awkward wave, uncertain if he wanted to approach them. It was occurring to him that Dr. Sooma must have known the Luminous Citadel was inhabited, but his mentor had never even hinted at this. They were the people of New Atlantis, of course, escaped from their doomed planet to this verdant refuge. How many centuries had they lived here, among the trees and strange gravity waves which Wilt was certain were not natural? Long enough to use them for their own devices in transportation, at least. He saw nothing with wheels or a hint of beasts of burden in the small town he found himself standing in. He also didn’t see much in the way of technology, at least not as he knew it. The globe-lantern Dione had used was new to him. 

Dione, with the older man on one side, and the woman who could be her mother on the other side of the girl, was advancing on him. Wilt had a shaky moment of panic and the thought that he ought to turn and run flashed through his mind, but he made himself stand tall and wait for them. 

They stopped a bare two strides from him and looked at him closely, from head to toe. He returned the favor. Like Dione, they both wore somewhat loose garments, mostly in shades of green with russet touches, like the sash wrapped around the man’s waist, which supported something Wilt was almost certain was a weapon. 

Wilt repeated the gesture he’d made to Dione, putting his hand over his heart. He said his name, then dropped his hand back to his side and waited. 

Dione said something, quietly. The same lilting language as she’d used before, which Wilt didn’t begin to recognize. 

The older man put his hand over his heart, then, and spoke in a gravelly voice, “Helikon.” 

The woman then spoke, with her hand in the same gesture, “Frita.” 

“Pleased to meet you,” Wilt assured them. 

They looked at one another. Then, in halting Galactica Lingua, Helikon asked, “You with.. Come from? Doctor Sooma?” 

Feeling validated that his hunch had been correct, Wilt nodded, then remembered he could use words now. “Yes. Dr. Sooma brought me here, along with two other students. I, er, was surprised to see Dione and got carried away.” 

Helikon furrowed his brows and looked at the girl. Wilt couldn’t understand what he’d said, but Dione’s reaction spoke volumes as she shrugged and flipped her braid back over her shoulder as she raised her chin a little. 

Helikon looked back at Wilt. “Was supposed to watch, only. Not bait.” 

“Dr. Sooma didn’t tell us there were people here.” Wilt blurted out, and watched the older man raise both eyebrows. “So I didn’t know what she was, at first.” 

“What... she was?” Helikon sounded confused. 

“I thought the red hair was a squirrel’s tail. It’s a small Terran creature, lives in trees.”

There was a ghost of a smile on the other man’s face as he turned and spoke to Dione briefly. She crossed her arms over her chest, which revealed curves Wilt hadn’t noticed before, and tapped her toe against the grass. Her eyes narrowed as she looked hard at Wilt. 

“Sorry, I was disoriented and really, no one said there were people here.” 

“I am uncertain,” Helikon spoke slower than even before. “I am wanting to speak to Dr. Sooma.” 

“So am I.” Wilt assured him. “I really appreciate Dione taking mercy on me for being stupid, but I can’t rely on that, and I’m out of my depth.” 

“Your... depth?” 

“Oh, er.” Wilt thought about it. “It’s like falling and not knowing where the bottom is.” 

As he’d thought, the flight allusion worked better on Helikon, who nodded emphatically. 

“Come. We will give you food, and drink, and summon your Doctor Sooma.” 

Helikon gestured, and without waiting to see if Wilt was following directions, he turned and spoke to Dione and the woman Wilt thought of as Mother Dione. Wilt decided he had better do as he was told. The other people had been keeping a polite distance, but there were more of them than there was of him, and they knew their way around better, even if he ran off. Flying, he suspected, was not so easy as all that when you were thinking about it before hurling yourself into the air. 

Besides which, he wanted to talk to Dr. Sooma as much as Helikon did, and it seemed that on this, they were in perfect communication. Dione ran lightly in the direction of the tree village. The woman turned and gave Wilt a friendly smile, a gentle waving motion to come along, and then she also hurried towards the houses. Helikon waited until Wilt had walked next to him before pacing with the younger man. 

“Wilt?” 

“Yes, that’s my name.” Wilt agreed, “I’m an ecology student.” He wasn’t certain how much vocabulary these people had, but he didn’t want to talk down to them. They weren’t stupid, just learning. 

“Ecology, ah.” Helikon nodded. “He spoke to us of students. This is not, ah, not a surprise.” 

“I wonder if he just meant to surprise us,” Wilt mused. “I mean, as sort of a joke?” 

Helikon grunted softly but didn’t make a proper answer. They reached the houses and Wilt looked up and around, his face showing his awe at them. 

“These are beautiful.” Wilt told his host in a reverent tone. “Really, I’ve never seen anything like them. So organic.” 

“What are your home like?” 

“Mostly concrete.” Wilt gestured loosely at the forest around them. “We only have trees in parks, I lived twenty stories above street level, and there were six stories underground in the complex I grew up in. We didn’t even have houseplants, mother said...” He bit off his sentence. It wouldn’t do to start complaining about his mother. “Well. Anyway, this is really great. So green and alive.” 

“You will have to explain to me concrete, but not now.” Helikon led Wilt to a table and chairs which stood under one of the houses. There was a ladder nearby that could be climbed for access to the house, and as Wilt sat while his host indicated, he saw that they had a dumbwaiter system which ran up and down. A platform perhaps a meter square lowered in a framework of ropes, holding glasses, a pitcher, and covered dishes. 

Dione swarmed down a swinging ladder, while her mother descended the trunk ladder with decorum. The two of them brought things to the table, and Wilt found himself facing a glassful of a light green liquid which shimmered as it swirled into the clear vessel. Then, there was a plate of bread, cheese perhaps, and definitely sausage. His nose told him that, and his stomach agreed loudly. 

“Please, eat. I must go to commune with Doctor Sooma.” Helikon made a complicated gesture and then walked away, around the gigantic treetrunk and out of sight. 

Wilt found himself alone with Dione and her mother, who could not speak with him. Dione had her own plate of food, and as he looked at her, she gathered a bit of bread, cheese, and sausage and ate it with exaggerated care. Just like she had done while teaching him to fly. 

Wilt laughed, and told her, “I know how to eat.” 

Still, he picked up his food in the same way, and enjoyed it very much. He had eaten his fill, learning that the green liquid tasted like melon, only tarter and more refreshing, and was awkwardly sitting while the women cleared up when Helikon reappeared the same way he had gone. 

“Soon.” He said to Wilt. Then he switched to his native tongue and spoke to the women. 

The older woman nodded, and did something Wilt couldn’t quite make out to send the platform upwards. Dione, on the other hand, frowned and spoke back. 

Helikon, shaking his head, pointed, clearly indicating she should go up into the house. She got louder, stamped her foot, then turned and flounced over to the table and sat with emphasis right next to Wilt, whose first instinct was to lean slightly away from the obvious feminine fury. Even if she had basically made it clear she was on his side, whatever that was. 

Helikon looked upwards, but not at the house. Wilt heard it, then. The whine of a badly adjusted flitter engine. 

Wilt started to get to his feet, but Helikon made a sharp gesture. “Stay here.” He ordered, then strode off. 

Wilt would have followed him, but Dione put her hand on his arm, startling him. She tugged, gently, pointing at the chair. Wilt, thinking that doing as she did had gotten him into this mess, looked into her big blue eyes and sat down again. 

She nodded, and smiled. Wilt decided that he could wait a few moments more to get a chance to demand answers from Dr. Sooma. He smiled back. 

Helikon came around the tree, and with him he had Wilt’s silver-haired mentor. The slim coveralls he was wearing with their drab grays looked very odd in this place. 

“Ah! Wilt!” Dr. Sooma hurried towards his student. Then, he looked at Dione sitting next to Wilt, and came to a stop on the far side of the table, rubbing his hands together and grinning. “Excellent. I finally got all my geese in a row.”