by L K Hingey
Splitting the blue in half, were the jet-black elongated pupils, a trait shared by all of the Auroras. This was one of the few characteristics that had carried over from the venomous nature of the African Bush Viper, the snake species that they shared their DNA with. The eyes of their children had collectively been the hardest thing for the Mothers to embrace. They seemed so alien and strange, so different than the round pupils of humans.
The Mothers had quickly gotten used to the bright teal, green, blue, yellow, orange, and red scales that marked their children, but their slit-shaped eyes took years to truly become comfortable with. They were as beautiful as they were eerie. The blue of Kimber’s eyes was exaggerated by the contrast of her red, orange, and yellow coloration. The skin on her face was more subdued than the rest of her body, but it was still strikingly beautiful.
Her face was tough, but not scaly, and was both smooth and bumpy at the same time, fanning out to where tiny scales began on the edges of her face and forehead. Her nose was petite, and she had high cheekbones, both features resembling her mother’s. Her lips were soft and very human, as was her brown hair. Messy brown hair, she noticed in the mirror. She let out a sigh and grabbed her new leather bag. It was time to start getting ready for the day.
Kimber crawled out of her little bunk and examined her shed. It was virtually over. Her body was intensely bright and only a few patches of cloudy skin seemed to linger near certain joints and natural the folds of her body. Her scaly skin was a thing of beauty even amongst the Auroras, and her body glowed like the embers in a fire. She walked down to the far side of the wide room that housed the female Auroras to where the water trough was.
The chamber itself was breathtaking, as were the majority of the cavern system’s vast array of rooms and passageways. Stalactites and stalagmites, illuminated by fire bowls surrounding the perimeter of the cavern, graced the walls and ceiling, occasionally dripping droplets of purified water on the chamber’s residents. The stone floors were smooth under the Aurora’s bare feet and beds were scattered about like colorful nests.
The Auroras were housed higher up than the other citizens in the caverns. The benefit was that this made them closer to the exit of the cave system, but the drawback was that the underground streams did not begin to show themselves until slightly further down in the cavern system. Buckets of water had to be manually brought in and out. This was part of the service sector’s job rotation and everyone in the caverns, human and Aurorean, had to take a turn.
Mirrors had been hung at intervals all around the massive trough, creating small stations. At the stations were the female’s things, each marked with beads or other small trinkets. Toothbrushes and hairbrushes were strewn about everywhere, as were small strips of leather to tie the girls’ hair back. The Auroreans often wore many of these leather strips on their wrists, both for fashion and to have them handy. When Kimber got to her usual station, she splashed her face with cold water and glanced up at her reflection.
They weren’t mandated, yet, thought Kimber with an eye roll, to keep their hair back, but since they were always grappling and exercising during training, having long hair in the way was terribly inconvenient. The surface was even worse. The elements would have their hair in knots before a single sun sank. Kimber knew she had to hurry. The Auroras soon would depart, splitting into two groups: one bound for the surface and one bound for training in the inner caverns. The males would be getting ready same as the females, only much faster.
After Kimber finally coaxed a brush through her hair, she decided to leave it down. She would not be joining either group today. This was the last day of her shed, and she had a specific plan on how to use it. A plan that involved a slight kidnapping. A woman appeared in the cavern entrance with a small bell, and she rang it softly to get everyone’s attention. The sound echoed off every wall and got fainter and fainter until it faded away.
“Good morning girls,” she said warmly.
“Good morning, Susanne,” came the communal and still somewhat sleepy reply.
“We all know what today is. I’m sure I don’t need to remind everyone. Like every year, the address will begin promptly at five chimes in the Rotunda. And also, like always, we will be seated with our work groups. Surface duty will be short today, ending at 3:00 p.m., so help each other to mind your watches so you have enough time for full decontamination.”
The Auroras liked Susanne. She was a sweet, plump, and bubbly woman with curly red hair. She was a master in the education trade and had been one of their group leaders for years. Susanne was somewhat clumsy, but her heart was made of gold, and she loved the Auroras, perhaps even more than even the Mothers did.
“Training groups, you’ll be with me all day today. Lucky you!” She chuckled and continued, “But don’t worry, we are going to take it easy today too. After we conduct some strength building, I figured we could... read together a bit.” Susanne turned and walked out of the mouth of the female chamber.
The girls knew what she was not saying. The address had everyone on edge, and Susanne probably had fought tooth and nail to get some alone time with the Auroras. Susanne undoubtedly planned to spend their time reading maps and reviewing long-term survival tips, “just to be safe,” as she would always say. The females also knew that Susanne had already briefed the boys; she always talked to them first to give the girls a little extra time in the morning. Kimber stayed quiet as they all followed Susanne’s red curls down the main hall. They linked up with the boys not far off, and everyone mingled for a moment or two.
The male and female surface groups became one, as did the two training groups, and they departed in opposite directions. Kimber went with the training group following Susanne, trying to remain invisible in the knot of shimmering bodies. Though she was permitted to branch off from the group during her shed, Kimber knew she was pushing the envelope of whether or not she was still actively in her shed. The group traveled together for quite a ways, the passageways already lit brightly for the day cycle.
They wound down and into the belly of the cavern system, passing rooms and corridors left and right, big and small. The caves were a labyrinth, and those that were not born down here still struggled with where and when to turn. The Auroras had developed a knack for the tangled nature of the cavern system and seldom got disoriented. Over the years there had even been occasions when a human would get lost, and a rescue team of Auroras had to be put together to find them.
Before they reached the Rotunda, the gathering room and hub of the city, Kimber silently peeled off into a wide passageway to the left. This corridor was airy and cheery, sloping steeply upwards. It was lined with large, bumpy, yellowish walls. It was the perfect passageway to mark the trail to the greenhouses. Kimber sped up, her heart starting to race. She was used to physical exertion and knew her heart was not beating this hard because of the steep climb.
After about a half of a mile, Kimber came into a large widening of the corridor. Rooms branched off in all directions, and the smell of agriculture became thick. Kimber loved it. The surface did not smell like this place at all. Not only because smells were very enclosed here, but also because most of the moisture on Earth had disappeared. Kimber deeply inhaled the scent of black dirt. She thought she could even smell the worms tunneling around in the soil. It was intoxicating.
A smile spread across her face as she strolled about the farming caverns. The greenhouses glistened in front of her, real glass houses that had been painstakingly assembled with hundreds of small panels. The first few greenhouses were dedicated to mushrooms, which were a staple of the Inannian diet due to the ideal dark and damp conditions for growing. Mushrooms of all kinds grew in the first two houses: white button mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, portabella mushrooms, and oyster mushrooms. More exotic varieties grew in the houses as well, like porcini and maitake mushrooms.
When the mushrooms matured, they, like all the crops, were either immediately sent away for preparation or were laid out in
a dry house for preservation. All food was rationed and though everyone got enough to be content, no one had the luxury of being over-fed. Past the mushroom houses were shade-crop houses where varieties of root-type vegetables were raised. Rows upon rows of arugula, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, endive, garlic, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, leaf lettuce, leeks, mustard, spinach, parsnips, peas, and potatoes grew in the four side-by-side houses.
Workers busily tended the crops, making sure they were given proper amounts of water and pruning. Cultivating the earth was an art here in the caves, and the practice was taken very seriously. The light that these particular crops received was just enough to allow the process of photosynthesis to work. It was spill-over light from a pair of greenhouses nearby, called the “full-light” houses. In one of the two full-light houses, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, peas, beans, and squash grew. The other full-light house was dedicated exclusively to growing dozens of rows of corn.
The twin full-light houses looked like one enormous greenhouse until one got closer and could see the very thick wall of glass that both connected and separated them. It was a prismatic barrier specially designed to harness sunlight, amplify it, and then refract it. The glass in this incredible wall was also polarized, which cut down the UV and gamma radiation from the unfiltered atmosphere, to levels deemed safe enough for the human workers.
Looking at the wall, which was such a stark contrast to its darker surroundings, hurt Kimber’s eyes, but if she squinted, she could carry her gaze all the way up to the two natural skylights in the cavern’s ceiling that energized the wall. It was a bright day on the surface and the solar energy gracefully fell into the caverns like two perfect spotlights. The two holes in the giant cavern’s domed ceiling were dozens of feet up and were roughly as wide as a person was tall.
The sight was dazzling. Kimber always felt like she was staring into a frozen crystal waterfall amongst the greenery and all the glass. She could not imagine what the humans, who either had not seen the sun in over twenty years or had never seen the sun ever, felt when they saw it. She imagined they must feel some kind of divinity here. How could they not?
Kimber was high on the beauty and the scent of all the growing things. Her colors even brightened, both from pleasure and from the higher temperature of the agrarian caverns. Fires burned in big ceramic bowls inside the glass houses, causing water to condense, making the atmosphere thick with warm moisture. It was perfect that Caleb would be in this place. She just had to find him.
After passing the crop houses, Kimber came to where the animals were kept. A dozen rabbit pens dotted the ground here, behind which were a horde of chicken coops. Near the chickens was one very large goat pen. Animals in Inanna were food, not pets, and the people treated them with great respect, harvesting only what they needed. They all knew that a delicate balance had to be maintained to keep protein sustainable. The citizens did whatever they could to keep the animals healthy and comfortable, and when they did slaughter for food, the Inannians used every bit of the animal possible.
Dry houses had been built behind the pens, where the pelts were stretched and dried, and near the dry houses stood a cluster of huts dedicated to smoking jerky. Although Kimber enjoyed rabbit jerky, she found it hard to think about when she handled the furry little creatures. They were so precious and sweet. Kimber was glad the humans made a point of keeping the environment cozy for them, and she held one every chance she got. She leaned down and scooped up one of the rabbits.
Everyone was hard at work as Kimber searched the faces of the humans, nuzzling the warm bunny. This one was white and black, looking very fat, happy, and adorable with its long floppy ears.
“I wish you could take him with you,” came a voice from behind her. Kimber’s heart skipped a few beats.
“I could hide him in my new leather pouch,” she turned around with a smile, “and feed him goat milk every day.” She laughed and gave Caleb a one-armed hug.
Caleb was a tall young man with dark blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, and a big crooked smile. He had recently turned twenty-four and looked more handsome than ever, wearing a leather apron from working in the pelt houses. He threw a worn hand towel over his shoulder and beamed down at Kimber.
“So, what brings you to the farm?” he said with a chuckle, putting his hands on his hips.
“I was hoping you would join me for lunch. If your animals would be kind enough to share you,” Kimber replied, setting the little ball of fur back down into its pen.
“I’d love to, but Rafinesque Hall won’t be serving lunch for hours. Although I am hungry,” Caleb added solemnly.
Kimber rolled her eyes. “You’re always hungry.”
Caleb’s eyes crinkled happily as he patted his stomach. “What can I say, I’m a growing boy. Want to swipe a few mushrooms from the drying racks to hold us over?” he asked with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
Kimber was almost laughing out loud. “You mean to hold you over, fatty-patty,” she teased.
Caleb was anything but fat. His physique was lean and strong, and they both knew it. “I’ll take that as a yes!” he replied cheerfully. “Let me put my work stuff up. The pelts will still dry without me staring at them.” He started to untie his apron, turning quickly towards the drying house.
What a goofball, Kimber thought shaking her head with a smile as she watched him go. She self-consciously checked her skin where the last of her shed lingered. Almost unnoticeable, she sighed with relief. She walked over to the chicken houses and kneeled to stare inside. “Hello ladies,” she said, watching their beady eyes.
Whereas the rabbits did not seem to mind the Auroras, the chickens had decided long ago that they did mind, very much. Kimber couldn’t exactly blame the terrified birds and made no effort to befriend them. She kept her distance, just wanting to see their eggs. Eggs were almost as much of a staple in Inanna as were mushrooms, and Kimber loved that neither food source harmed animals. “Keep up the good work, girls,” she told the hens as she spied a few perfect eggs laying in their corn husk beds.
Caleb had come out of the little house and was watching Kimber as she checked out the coops. “Want to hide one of them in your pouch too?” he joked.
“I’m pretty sure only one of us would come out alive in that scenario, and my bet is on the chicken!” Kimber continued in a speculative voice, “And besides, she’d eat all of your mushrooms...”
Caleb looked appalled. “Ah. Good point. No chickens at our picnic please, I’m way too hungry to share!”
They began to walk the short distance back towards the mushroom houses, passing by the full-light greenhouses. “Do you ever get used to that?” Kimber asked Caleb as she looked at the prism wall.
“Oh,” he shrugged, “you mean that towering wall of cascading glory? The one sitting in the middle of the darkness and gloom of living underground? Psh, I see stuff like that all the time.”
Kimber waited until Caleb was mid-step and pushed him sideways. Caught off guard, he stumbled for a few steps before recomposing himself. “That’s what you get for being a smart Alec,” she told him, laughing.
He smiled back and suddenly drew close. “Actually, I don’t think any of us can get used to it. It’s the closest thing we will ever see to freedom.” Kimber was taken off guard by his honesty. Perhaps it was his way of returning the blow, knocking her off balance mentally, if not physically. She didn’t say anything and they strode a few paces deep in thought.
“Remember when we were kids and we took that field trip here to the skylights, at night?” Caleb asked her suddenly.
“Of course,” she replied without having to even think about it. “That was the first night any of us had ever seen the borealis.” He stopped walking and looked back at the wall.
“When I see the prism wall, I think about that night. The way the borealis replaced the sunlight and reflected rainbows instead of sunlight throughout the chamber.” It was Kimber’s turn to draw i
n close as he spoke. Caleb continued to stare at the shimmering wall. He was never this serious. “That night, the three most beautiful things I’ll probably ever see, were in the same room.”
Kimber flushed. He had never said anything like that to her before. She flushed again for acting so nonchalant about the borealis. They both knew she had seen countless skies aflame with the magnetic phenomenon. She had witnessed the heavens flirting with the horizon as the sun sank low and the colors of the magnetosphere came to life. She had seen terror and beauty on the surface in a world that had once belonged to men. Caleb would never, could never, see those things.
He spoke without looking at her, and she shyly reached for his hand. Even this small contact felt like a lightning bolt to Kimber. The warmth derailed her, and her heart went wild. He broke contact with the skylights and looked at Kimber with an equally shy smile. Kimber’s eyes were reflecting the shattered white light making it almost impossible for Caleb to look away.
There was so much that he could only ever dream about, like what lightning looks like when it rips across the sky, what treasure a sunrise holds, or what the tormented energy of a storm feels like. Here though, in Kimber’s eyes, Caleb could see everything. He felt like he was witnessing the dawn of time... or instead maybe the dawn of the Elyrian apocalypse. He felt like the beauty of the borealis could only ever pale in comparison. Both the human and the Aurora were spellbound. They felt closer than ever, and yet, deep down, Kimber couldn’t help but sense that their differences were also more magnified than ever.
Kimber was the first to look away, smiling down at her hand in his. Her cheeks were on fire. With a squeeze and a grin, Caleb let go of her hand. He reached up and momentarily touched her cheek. The gesture was so gentle and so fleeting that Kimber was hardly sure if it had even happened. The lingering warmth from his fingertips was her only proof. “You’re distracting me from mushrooms,” he chuckled, returning to his lighthearted self.