by Matt Snee
“You still think your planet is safe?”
“Mine is hidden,” Plerrxx said. “Nothing can find it.”
“That's not what Jennifer said.”
“She does not understand the Mmrowwr.”
“I've seen the No-Shape,” said Captain.
“I know you have. However, that does not make you the expert on it.”
“I'm not claiming to be an expert, Plerrxx. I just know … I can feel its strength in my heart now, all the time. Even when I'm not thinking about it. I didn't used to believe; I thought the world was the world. I've been thrown around by the things I've experienced since leaving Earth, but it's all nothing compared to the No-Shape.”
Plerrxx waited a moment before responding. “I suppose you could be right. I can't really imagine what it is like for a scap. For everything to be turned upside down. It might give you a unique perspective.”
“I don't know about that,” Captain said. “I'm just saying the No-Shape must be stopped, no matter what.”
“On that, we agree, my friend.”
Jennifer popped her head out of the kitchen, cigarette dangling from her mouth and her hair pulled out of her face. “Just a few minutes,” she explained to them.
“Okay,” said Captain.
“Great,” said Plerrxx.
Then she disappeared again. They could hear the sound of machines and water running coming from her direction.
Captain and Plerrxx were silent, being exhausted and having exhausted what conversation was available. The both of them took deep breaths and eagerly awaited eating.
Shortly, Jennifer invited them into the kitchen, where the smell of food was thick and intoxicating. She sat them down at the table and placed steaming plates in front of them. “There you go, boys!”
Captain quickly examined what was on his plate. It was like nothing he had ever seen, in strange colors like red, blue, and purple, but it smelled so good, like normal food, perhaps roasted chicken, potatoes, and bread.
“What is this?” asked Plerrxx, poking at it with his claws.
“That is meat,” Jennifer responded, sitting and swallowing a large forkful of the food.
“What kind of meat?”
“Just meat.”
“What kind of animal did it come from?”
“No animal. It's just meat.”
“I don't understand.”
“It's synthetic,” Jennifer told him. “Self-cloning proteins, fats, and minerals. All the animal you want without the animal.”
Plerrxx took a deep sniff of it. “It smells good,” he thought to them.
“It is good,” Jennifer told him. “Don't be a coward.”
The Mmrowwr frowned his cat face but then tried the food. After swallowing, he purred. “It'll do,” he said.
Captain nodded and tried the food himself. It was good! The texture was unusual, but he could feel the nutrients immediately on his tongue, and it tasted so good he found himself quickly eating.
Jennifer eyed them as they ate, amused.
* * *
It was all strangely delicious, but afterward a sorrow hung over them. The physical pleasure of eating was now replaced by an ominous feeling.
“Will we speak to the ghosts now?” Captain asked.
“No,” Jennifer answered. “We should rest for a couple hours first. They will want to talk a lot. It will be tiring. I'm tired now. I need to sleep.”
“Okay, I understand,” Captain said.
She got up and took their plates, rinsing them in a sink.
“How did you get all these amenities?”
“My parents, of course,” said Jennifer. “They were here for the long haul. They were here for fifteen years in total. They had me after three, and then they died twelve years later. They knew a lot about this place. My dad built all of this in his spare time with lasers and elbow grease.”
Once she was done rinsing the dishes, she lit a cigarette and exhaled gloriously.
“What happened to your parents?” Captain asked her.
“They were killed in a cave in,” Jennifer told him and Plerrxx. “Exploring the depths of the Devasthanam. Areas that were collapsing. They thought they were invincible. I was there. It was a miracle I didn't die too.”
“I'm sorry,” Captain sympathized. He changed the subject. “Where do you get your cigarettes?”
“My dad. He was a smoker, so he had a supply here. It's still huge. My dad over-prepared. I just started one day when I was thirteen. It reminds me of my dad. Do you want one?”
“No, thank you,” Captain said.
“It relaxes me,” Jennifer described. “I'm nervous.”
“I understand,” Captain agreed.
“Do you want to listen to music? I have a computer that plays music.” Jennifer smiled at them. She went over to a bookshelf and pressed a button on a little blue cube. Vibrant concert strings issued out. “Bach,” she announced.
The music was stirring.
“You can lie down on the couches. I'm going to sleep in my room.” Jennifer disappeared after that.
Captain stretched out on the couch and took off his shoes. Plerrxx sat in the rocking chair again. When Captain gave him a curious look, the Mmrowwr shrugged.
“I like it!”
They all slept, dreaming of strange vistas and impossible cities, rooms that were not rooms, people who were not people, and suns close enough to touch. The classical music climbed up to the ceilings and glided above them as they lay there.
The Devasthanam was alive again.
* * *
Captain woke first. By then the music had ended and a silence permeated everything. He got up and stretched. How long had he slept? He was hungry again. He felt curious. There were more rooms here to explore. He took a quick look at Plerrxx sleeping in the rocking chair and decided to check out the rest of the living quarters.
Adjacent to the common area, there was first a study/library filled with piles of books and videotapes. At the center sat a desk covered with papers. He looked at the books. They all seemed to be hardbound, library editions, scholarly stuff, and a lot of them were about astronomy or the planets. He pulled one off the shelf and flipped through the pages, finding equations he couldn't understand. Then he found the title page, which briefly stated the book was about magnetic fields. It was also published on Uranus. Not in New York.
Next to that room was the bathroom and next to that was a laundry room. Captain was impressed by these utilities. Jennifer's parents had obviously been industrious people.
To the side was a bedroom. It must have been her parents' bedroom. It looked untouched, with a big bed, a dresser, and a chest of drawers. There was a long mirror in the corner, old, made out of smooth, carved wood, stained a dark brown like seawater. Feeling like he was intruding on something sacred, Captain left this room alone.
Then there was Jennifer's room, where she still slept soundly. He peeked in to check on her. She lay snoring on a little bed on one side of what looked like a little girl's room. There was wallpaper of animals on the walls and a little white bureau with a mirror. A box of toys stood against a wall. Seeing this also made Captain feel like he was trespassing.
After that he went back to the living area, where he found Plerrxx awake. “Where have you been?” the cat-man asked.
“Exploring,” Captain replied.
“We slept for quite some time.”
“Oh?”
“It's been seven hours.”
Captain was surprised. Had he slept that long? “Is Jennifer still asleep?”
“No, she is in the bathroom.”
“Okay.” Captain sat down on the couch. He sighed and rubbed his hands through his hair. He felt a little groggy. He had overslept; they all had. He thought about the No-Shape and all the beings under threat from it. He was their hope, and here he was sleeping away the hours.
He felt good though and was sure his body needed it. He felt refreshed.
Jennifer came out of the bath
room, her hair wet, and dressed in a new set of clothes, and waved to Captain.
“How did you sleep?” he asked.
“Like a log,” she replied, laughing. “Do you want to take a shower?”
“Sure!”
“How about you, Plerrxx?”
“Most certainly not,” said the Mmrowwr, insulted.
“Okay then.” Jennifer smiled. “Are you guys hungry again?”
Both Captain and Plerrxx said, “Yes.”
“Okay, Lewis, you take a shower. I picked out a set of my dad's clothes for you to wear, if you want. It's in the bathroom. Be my guest. While you do that, I will cook.”
“Okay,” said Captain, glad to have the opportunity to shower. He got up and headed to the bathroom.
Jennifer went into the kitchen, where Plerrxx followed, lighting his pipe and blowing out red smoke. The Mmrowwr sat at the table and watched as Jennifer performed her magic with the Owl-tech.
“Fascinating,” he spoke as he examined her interactions with the machines.
“I guess so,” she said. “All I ever knew, mostly. Real food makes me queasy.”
“That's just bizarre,” joked Plerrxx.
“I know, I know,” said Jennifer.
“So, what next?” Plerrxx asked.
“You know what's next. We talk to the ghosts.”
“What are they really? Data?”
“No. You have to understand, the Tiamatites had no technology. They never imagined such a thing. They were idealistically primitive.”
“But how can they still speak?”
Jennifer didn't know how to explain it to a Mmrowwr materialist. “Part of them is just still here.”
“How?”
“I don't know! Does everything make sense to you?”
“Everything makes sense to someone. That's how the universe works.”
Jennifer raised an eyebrow and shook her head, surrendering. “I don't understand how you think.”
“I think perfectly,” he told her.
She did not reply. He was impossible. “Are you glad you're here, at least?”
“I am. This is most interesting.”
“I'm glad I can entertain you.”
“You and Captain are endlessly entertaining. And I believe important.”
“Coming around to our point of view?”
“Let's just say, my doubts are more centered on your success than your dedication and honesty.”
“I guess that's an improvement.”
“For a Mmrowwr, it really is.”
Jennifer found him exhausting. Where was Captain? Wasn't he done yet? He liked Plerrxx.
Right on cue, Lewis joined them, grinning and vibrant now that he was clean. “Hello,” he said to them and then to Jennifer, “I feel great. Thank you.”
“You look great,” she said and leaned in close to him, inhaling. “You smell great too!”
Captain blushed a little. “Ha, thanks.”
“Well, you guys ready to eat?”
“Yeah,” said Captain, sitting at the table. “Is there anything I can do?”
“You can ingest and digest,” she said, handing him a plate.
* * *
As she washed the dishes, Jennifer thought of the Gita:
The impermanent has no reality; reality lies in the eternal. Those who have seen the boundary between these two have attained the end of all the knowledge.
She wondered, Have I seen the boundary? She shuddered. I have seen clues of it …
“Are we ready then?” asked Plerrxx.
“Yeah,” Jennifer said, turning off the water. “Are you ready?” she asked Captain.
“I'm ready,” he said.
“Okay. Back to the elevator.”
* * *
They left the living quarters and rode the tube for a few minutes farther down into the Devasthanam. When they exited the tube, they found themselves in a copper-colored hallway without reliefs. They were silent as they followed Jennifer and finally came to a set of large double doors that were open enough for a person to fit through.
This led to a huge, dark room, lit by reflecting pools filled with shiny blue water. If it had been silent in the outside halls, it was twice as silent here. The place was vast, with impossibly high ceilings and echoing emptiness that made the soul shiver.
Jennifer led them to the center pool and knelt by the water. She bent and lifted the liquid into her hands, drinking it. “Drink,” she told Captain.
“What is it?”
“A conductive pool. The electricity of the Tiamatites lingers here. This is how we communicate with them.”
“So I should drink?”
“Yes.”
Captain drank, followed by Plerrxx. The water tasted salty and metallic, electricity sparkling on their tongues. It was like the coin, but more pleasant.
“Now they are inside you,” Jennifer said. “You will hear their voices.”
He was scared, but also happy. He couldn't imagine being anywhere or doing anything else. He was thrilled.
Then he began to hear a voice, which sounded like the wind blowing inside his ears. IT groaned, moaned, and finally spoke.
“EARTHLING. YOU ARE THE ONE WITH THE IDEA.”
“Yes,” Captain answered, hypnotized.
“ENTER THE WATER, EARTHLING, SO WE MAY EXAMINE YOU OURSELVES.”
“Enter it?”
“They want you to submerge yourself in the water,” Jennifer explained. “It's okay, I've done it. But get ready for a wild ride.”
“A wild ride?” He looked into the pool. It was dark and not very inviting.
Plerrx watched him, amused. Jennifer smiled. “It's okay,” she said. “We'll be here.”
What will happen? Captain wondered. I'm really in it now. This is really serious. This isn't a joke or an adventure. This is true peril. Anything could happen to me. This is it.
“DO NOT BE AFRAID, EARTHLING. WE WILL BE GENTLE WITH YOU.”
Captain swallowed one last time. “Okay.”
He jumped into the water.
17. Secrets of the Tiamatites
There is more … dimension to reality than you might think. There are directions you can go that you never imagined, points on the compass separate from north, south, east, or west; whole new coordinates in front of you. Embrace it.
Martin Pichon, “Le Système Solaire Caché”
As soon as he hit the water, Captain felt like his brain was exploding like a light bulb, splintering and showering the air, light crazed and dangerous for the briefest of moments, and then … peace. He wasn't submerged in water, but standing in the middle of a dream. Color blasted around him, and he plummeted through millions of years of electric civilization. He marvelled, awestruck, and fell into a new world, voltaic giants haphazardly splashing across onyx night skies, burning jagged rainbows in their wakes. They plowed through its ore-rich depths until it crackled like firecrackers and pierced its green alkaline seas in sizzling rips. The aliens' bodies knew no limits, merging and splitting with each other, their sparkling planet aglow with the enlightened buzz of their carnal experiences.
The aliens' history was suddenly emblazoned across his mind. He knew everything, but understood nothing. It all felt as real and as indomitable as Earth history. It was the past, strange and strong.
Is the symphony's climax merely a fortuitous error?
They looked like us; that is, they had bodies with two arms and two legs and a head. Captain understood that this was no accident, that this was a form that was used by nature, a timeless template. No matter how chaotic things were, certain patterns repeated.
The planet was born electric. But it was not born here.
The Tiamatites came from deeper in the galaxy, closer to the core. It was from here that they fled.
Fled what?
The No-Shape.
It came suddenly, ruining their skies and killing those of them that braved the upper atmospheres and moons of the planet. They had no civilization,
but they invented one now, necessity invents all things.
“WE MUST GO!”
How did they urge the planet to leave its sun? How did they manage to escape? These details are lost to myth.
For a long time they journeyed, looking for a warm sun that was not hot and not too big. A sun like theirs.
They found a new home.
Housing its own family of planets, this solar system found an orphan swimming upon its reefs.
And the system was not uninhabited.
They called themselves “The People of the Cloud,” and they greeted the Tiamatites upon their arrival. This was when the solar system was still young and composed of thick, hot gasses and rocky conglomerations.
Was there a place for them here? The People of the Cloud, suspicious, but full of grace, welcomed the refugees.
The Tiamatites, safe in their new home, shed their civilization and began anew.
* * *
“WE WERE GODS,” said an alien voice, a different one from before. Captain found himself standing upon a rocky hill at nighttime, the galaxy spread above the sky above. He looked to his right and one of the Tiamatites sat on the stone, electric yellow, just a figure: no eyes, no mouth. The Tiamatites only had one sense, but it encompassed everything.
“It's all amazing,” Captain said, delighted.
“IT IS,” said the alien. It turned and looked at the land before them, lit with other Tiamatites dancing and zipping from here to there. Captain watched as the aliens swirled, mated, murdered each other, all with beauty and elation.
Great, violet mountains slithered in the distance.
“Yes!” Captain said. “I've never seen anything like this. It's beyond my wildest dreams.”
“IT IS ALL GONE NOW,” the Tiamatite said.
A cool wind brushed by Captain, and he shivered. “It so much like an Earth sky,” Captain murmured.
“YES. WE SHARE MANY THINGS.”
Along the rock below them, now the aliens lay down and slept as the sun came upon them. Night was their time to play. Day was for rest. Their brash electricity ceased across the land, and their humble shapes crumpled and bent into sleep.
“THE NIGHTS AND DAYS PASSED,” the Tiamatite told Captain. “FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS.”