The Goddess of Atvatabar
Page 15
CHAPTER XII.
WE ARRIVE AT KIORAM.
Between the time of departure of Lecholt and our arrival at Kioram wekept Plothoy as busy as possible answering our questions.
We found that all the soldiers of the king were known as wayleals, andthat all were equipped with magnetic wings. The wings were worked by alittle dynamo supplied by magnicity. A single cell, six cubic inchesin size, produced a current both enormously powerful and constant. Icould recollect no cell in the outer world of the same size sopowerful, hence here was an inventive discovery of the firstimportance. The cell was composed of two metals, terrelium, avermilion metal found only in Atvatabar, and aquelium, a bright greenmetal elaborated from the waters of the internal ocean, which metalssimply placed in contact, without the addition of an acid or alkalinesalt, generated a powerful current. Both cell and dynamo were strappedto the back by a strong leathern jacket, which also supported thesoldier in flight. The weight of a man being only fifteen pounds onthe surface of the interior earth, and no weight at all fifty milesabove it, prevented any fatigue being experienced from flight. It wasthe easiest of all methods of locomotion, and eminently suited to theinhabitants of such a world as Bilbimtesirol.
Plothoy informed us that the government of Atvatabar was an electivemonarchy. The king and nobles were elected for life and no title washereditary. There was a legislative assembly founded on the popularwill called the Borodemy. The king's palace and Borodemy were situatedin Calnogor, the capital city of the realm, which lay five hundredmiles inland and communicated with Kioram by a sacred railroad, aswell as by aerial ship.
The largest building in Calnogor was the Bormidophia, or pantheon,where the worship of the gods was held. The only living object ofworship was the Lady Lyone, the Supreme Goddess of Atvatabar. Therewere different kinds of golden gods worshipped, or symbols thatrepresented the inventive forces, art, and spiritual power.
The king was head of the army and navy and the people were dividedinto several classes of nobles and common people. The Atvatabaresewere very wealthy, gold being as common as iron in the outer world.They were a peaceful people, and Atvatabar being itself an immenseisland continent, lying far from any other land, there had been nowars with any external nation, nor even civil war, for over a hundredyears.
There were plenty of newspapers, and the most wonderful inventions hadbeen in use for ages. Railroads, pneumatic tubes, telegraphs,telephones, phonographs, electric lights, rain makers, seaboots,marine railroads, flying machines, megaphones, velocipedes withoutwheels, aerophers, etc., were quite common, not to speak of suchinventions as sowing, reaping, sewing, bootblacking and knittingmachines. Of course printing, weaving, and such like machines had beenin use since the dawn of history. Strange to say they had no steamengines, and terrorite and gunpowder were unknown. Their great sourceof power was magnicity, generated by the two powerful metals terreliumand aquelium, and compressed air their explosive force.
As we approached this wonderful country we noticed a number ofsplendid ships coming to meet us. Plated with gold and fully rigged,they presented a beautiful appearance. They were each propelled bymagnicity. Plothoy said they were the fleet of Atvatabar coming towelcome us. The royal navy was in command of Admiral Jolar, who hadnever yet seen active service, but was a worthy representative of theking.
Our rapid steaming in the direction of the fleet, which as rapidlyapproached us, soon brought the _Polar King_ within range of theirguns. Plothoy was set free, as we then knew all about Atvatabarnecessary to know prior to seeing the admiral, who could give us moredefinite information.
A roar of guns saluted us from at least one hundred vessels. There wasno smoke, the guns being discharged by compressed air. Each vesselbore the flag of Atvatabar, a pink-colored disc surrounded by a circleof green on a violet field. The disc represented the sun above us, thegreen circle Atvatabar, and the violet field the surrounding sea. Fromthe peak of the _Polar King_ the American flag floated, the first flagof the outer sphere that was ever unrolled in the air of the interiorworld.
The ships approached us in double column and presented an appearanceof the utmost grandeur. It was evident we were the discoverers of apowerful and opulent country, and not a barbarous land. Here werecivilization and courtesy, and, not to be outdone in these qualities,I ordered a salute from our terrorite guns. The explosive shellsdischarged by gunpowder into the sea sent up columns of water and foamall around us to an astonishing height, and it took a considerabletime for the sea to subside, the gravity of the water being onlyone-tenth that of the external ocean.
The Atvatabarese must have been greatly astonished at the explosions,as Plothoy informed us that no such weapon as ours formed part of thearmament of the Atvatabar navy.
The fleet ceased firing, and presently a gayly-decorated magnic launchshot off from the flagship, bearing two officers in brilliantuniforms. Plothoy, as the boat approached us, said the officers wereAdmiral Jolar of the fleet and Koshnili, Grand Minister of thegovernment. The boat came alongside the _Polar King_, and, lowering agangway, the illustrious visitors came on board.
Admiral Jolar was arrayed in an olive-green coat, decorated withoverlapping scales of gold embroidery, and olive-green trousers withan outer stripe similarly decorated. The uniform of Koshnili, theGrand Minister, was of electric-blue cloth covered with serpentinebands of gold embroidery, radiating downward. A small but brilliantretinue accompanied each official. As the distinguished visitorsstepped on deck, the entire fleet saluted us with a second roar ofguns. Plothoy announced their names and dignities. Being able to greettheir excellencies in their own language greatly astonished them.
I learned from the admiral that the Grand Minister Koshnili was sentby his majesty, King Aldemegry Bhoolmakar, as a special envoy to bidus welcome in the name of the king and people of Atvatabar. The storytold by Lecholt had been proclaimed by royal authority throughout thecountry, and the day of our arrival in Calnogor, the metropolis, wasto be observed as a national holiday.
A brilliant programme of entertainment had been devised, calculated todo us infinite honor. I conferred on Admiral Jolar the title ofHonorary Commander of the _Polar King_, and on Koshnili that ofHonorary Captain.
The admiral said that both he and Koshnili would remain on our shipuntil we arrived in the city of Kioram.
The admiral, by signalling from the _Polar King_, put his navy into aseries of brilliant evolutions. A curious feature was the fact thateach sailor possessed wings, was in fact a wayleal, like Plothoy. Thesailors, wing-jackets or fletyemings, as they were called, of onevessel, would rise like a swarm of bees and settle on another vessel.The evolutions made in this way were both majestic and surprising.
The entire fletyemings of each squadron on either side of us weredrawn up in battle array in the space between the ships and foughteach other in mock battle with spears, while the ships dischargedtheir guns at each other.
We reached the harbor of Kioram, in which the royal navy anchored indouble column. The _Polar King_ sailed slowly down the imperial avenueof ships amid the thunder of guns and the cheers of fletyemings.
The sun shone gloriously as we stepped from the deck of the ship uponthe white marble city wharf. Everything was new, strange, andsplendid. We were received by Governor Ladalmir, of Kioram, thecommandant of the fort, and his staff, Captains Pra and Nototherboc.Beyond the notables a vast crowd of Atvatabarese cheered usvociferously, while the guns of the fort, on a commanding height,roared their welcome.