by James Gurley
He pressed two small studs on the side of the console and a panel popped loose. He lifted aside the metal covering. A lattice of glowing crystalline spheres floated in a thick, translucent gel that radiated cold that spilled over the sides of the console like a river of ice. He knew instinctively that it was cold enough to damage his flesh. Subtle currents and eddies moved within the gel with flickers of color. As he watched, small crystalline spheres appeared and meshed, growing larger as other spheres shrank in size. They moved on the currents like bubbles, often forming clusters, then splitting apart. There was a kind of hypnotic rhythm to the pattern of growth, as if the spheres were alive. Could this be the Great Book of Learning to which Simios had alluded? Tad had imagined computers as machines with wires and gears and blinking lights, or so he had gleaned from hints in books he had read. If this was the Plin Great Book of Learning, a computer, how advanced was their science? He suddenly grasped the reality of the words his uncle had so often mentioned like a litany of wonders of the past—nanites, polarized heavy water molecules, data crystals. Here, he was seeing these almost magical concepts come alive. A feeling of intense awe swept over him, followed by a chill not brought about by the temperature. The Saddir guard had been right. The Plin do have their secrets.
He slowly realized that he had stayed longer than he had intended. Fearing someone might discover him, he returned to the lift only to find that it had automatically returned to ground level after his departure. He pressed the button and awaited its arrival nervously, his heart almost skipping a beat when the doors clanked open. Thankfully, it was empty. He ascended to ground level and bade the attendant farewell, hoping no one had informed the attendant of his original departure time.
His desire for further knowledge of the history of Delphi was tempered by the fact that he could not impart that knowledge to others without revealing his discovery of the Library. Still, his newfound knowledge emboldened him like a drug. He knew he would make many future sorties to the almost mystical books, absorbing their secrets like an addiction.
17
CATACOMBS
TAD COULD TELL THAT SIRA WAS SUITABLY IMPRESSED AS THE liveried Palace Guard escorted her to his quarters. Her eyes shone brightly with excitement and her lips could barely hold in the smile she tried so hard to suppress. She hardly paid attention to the exquisite tapestries or ancient paintings adorning the walls, much less the ornate furniture and rugs. She directed her gaze at him. Her reaction secretly pleased him. He had hoped to impress her. The guard stopped just inside the door, bowed, and left Sira standing alone.
She wore a dark pantsuit that clung provocatively to her ample curves. Her red hair rose in layers of curls on her head, topped by a pink ribbon. Her black boots were highly polished, reflecting the light of the electric sconces along the walls. Her makeup was more delicate than the last time they had met, allowing more of her natural beauty to radiate. Tad did not think he had ever seen her look more wonderful.
“I’m glad you could come,” he said.
She smiled. “How can one ignore a request from the Palace?”
Tad snickered. “I’m often ignored around here, but I’m glad you’re impressed. I hoped you would be.”
“It’s more beautiful than I ever imagined,” she said, finally looking around at her surroundings.
“I get the cast-offs,” he said. “You should see some of the other rooms.”
She snickered. He walked over to her, took her hand, and escorted her to two wingback upholstered chairs on each side of a small table he had positioned near the window in anticipation of her visit. Her seat offered an uninterrupted view of the City Center and the azure waters of the Great Sea beyond. The day cooperated with a clear, cloudless sky. Blue Cleodora was invisible on the western side of the Tower, but cast its light on the west-facing wall of a nearby building, washing it with a subtle blue tint. Corycia’s golden orb was just short of zenith, still illuminating the eastern side of the Tower. A cool ocean breeze blew through the room, bringing with it the hearty aroma of roasting meats and vegetables from the nearby marketplace. The smell reminded him of the lunch he had promised her. He rang a small silver bell sitting on the table.
“I hope you’re hungry.”
“Famished,” she replied. “They don’t offer many luxuries at the University and the food is, at best, mediocre.”
Her eyes opened wider as two uniformed servants entered bearing overburdened silver trays laden with two plates piled high with thick slices of steaming duck breast, roasted drissel, a pile of boiled Charybdisian crabs with their dozens of legs and translucent shells whose meat tasted like a dessert treat. Smaller plates bore lightly steamed or raw vegetables carved into delicate flowers and animals almost too beautiful to eat. Smaller side dishes held red, sweet hard cheeses from domesticated elans, a cross between Terran cows and a native breed of small grazers, along with an assortment of fresh fruit and small torts. One servant set down his tray and magically produced a bottle of twenty-year-old wine and two sculpted crystal goblets from beneath a towel draped over one arm. He poured a splash of wine into Tad’s glass for Tad’s approval. Tad waved his hand and the waiter completed his glass and poured Sira’s wine. Both servants vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
Sira looked at the table, sliding one finger admiringly along the edge of a silver plate. “Do you dine like this every day?”
Tad rolled his eyes. “Hardly. Sometimes I barely get to finish a sandwich. It depends on the king’s moods. His store of energy sometimes surprises me. The chef agreed to cook up something special for us. I hope you enjoy it.”
Sira took a sip of wine and smiled at its taste. “How could I not?”
Tad did not tell her that he had not eaten all day in anticipation of dining with her. He was starving and delved into his plate as avidly as Sira did. Partial to crab, he grabbed a large lump of previously shelled meat and dipped it in warm butter. It was so tender and perfectly cooked that it seemed to melt in his mouth. Sira was delighted with the rich duck breast and mushroom sauce, but equally so by the vegetables.
“They’re almost too beautiful to eat,” she said, admiring a carrot rose and a baby yellow squash shaped like a swan.
“I’m sure the chef would be pleased by your reaction, but he would want you to eat them.”
She forked a carrot rose into her mouth and smiled. “It’s so sweet.”
They dined in silence other than a few comments on the food managed by Tad between bites. Otherwise, they devoted themselves to the consumption of all they could eat. A glass of wine each later, Tad was relaxed, stuffed, elated by Sira’s reaction and enchanted by her presence.
“I’m so glad you came. It gets lonely here sometimes. I … I don’t know who to trust.”
Sira frowned. “Is it that bad here? I would have thought living in the Black Tower would be ideal.”
Tad nodded. “At times it is. Other times, it seems like a prison.”
“We could spend more time together, if you wish,” Sira answered, staring at him. “I miss you.”
His heart leapt at her invitation, but he had already sworn to himself not to involve her more deeply in the dangerous intrigues brewing in the Black Tower. By keeping his distance, he had angered her but had kept her out of harm’s way. Even this innocent meal could place her in danger, but he had to see her. That was why he had not gone personally to escort her to the Black Tower. The less others saw them together, the better. His decision broke his heart, but thinking of her in danger hurt worse.
He glanced away. “I’ve been so busy. The king needs me.”
Her hand reached across the table and rested on his. Her warmth flooded though his skin. Her voice was soft and sweet as she spoke. “I need you, too, Tad.”
Tad moved his hand from beneath hers on the pretense of picking up his napkin and dabbing at his lips. Steeling himself, he answered, “Some things are not to be.”
Her hurt frown ripped his insides to shreds. When she folded he
r arms across her chest and turned away, he almost relented – almost. He rang the bell again. They sat in silence as the servants removed the remaining food and dishes. Sira’s continued silence after the servants left drove nails in his soul.
“I asked you here today because I wanted to show you a secret room,” he began, trying to place some sense of expectation in his voice.
It was the wrong thing to say. He saw her face tighten as she bit down on her lips. He knew he could not change the topic now without revealing his true feelings for her.
“It seems to be some kind of observatory deep inside the Tower,” he added.
She looked at him hesitantly. He had managed to pique her curiosity. He knew she was studying astronomy as one of her classes. He had hoped his discovery would be enough to help re-establish some kind of relationship with her, if not the intimate one that had been budding between them. In his heart, he knew his sharing of his discovery was simply a pretext to bring her to the Tower.
She leaned forward over the table. “An observatory deep inside the Tower? But how?”
He smiled. “That’s what I wanted to show you.”
They went to the king’s quarters. King Karal was away all afternoon with the Regents and no one would interrupt them. He knew he should have been by the king’s side, but the Regents had insisted on a private meeting and he was in no position to demand otherwise. He had intended to visit the Library again during the king’s absence, but his loneliness had gotten the better of him.
“This is a beautiful room,” she said, walking around touching the gold-threaded tapestries and hand carved furniture.
Tad showed her the secret door in the wall. She ran her fingers over the wall, but could discern no differences. Her face lit up as he touched the character on the mural that opened the small hole. He pushed the hidden mechanism and the door slid open. They walked along the long corridor to the circular bedroom. Tad and the king had attempted to clean the chamber and the furniture within for future use. Many buckets of soapy water and bundles of rags had secretly passed though the hidden doorway. By the manner in which Sira wrinkled her nose, their attempt had not been as thorough as she would have liked.
“The air is a bit musty,” she said. Observing the curving walls, she added, “We must be near the outer edge of the Tower.”
Tad continued the tour by leading the way down the spiral staircase that descended deep into heart of the Tower. She showed disdain at the confines of the small room and the dust that hung suspended in the air like a fog. However, the device that was the center of the room drew her immediate attention. She crossed the room and stood before it like a supplicant before an altar, her eyes shining with discovery.
“What is it?” she asked.
Instead of answering, Tad placed her hand on one of the adjustment knobs and showed her how to use it to observe objects at a distance. She quickly became an expert at zooming in on people walking the city’s street, laughing at their supposedly unobserved antics. She then focused on the mountains to the south.
“I can almost see my home in Stiringly Astor. It’s almost as if we were there. Even a bird would not have a better view.” She suddenly sighed.
“What is it?” Tad asked.
“I miss my parents.” She turned back to the screen. “It’s too bad it is still daylight outside. I would love to see the Milky Way through this device.”
Tad was ashamed that he had not thought of arranging for her to come at night and using it to observe the night sky.
“There must be some way to clean the air down here,” she said, swiping at a cloud of dust raised as her leg brushed the side of the console. She examined the controls more closely. Tad had attempted cleaning the room earlier, but dust fell from the ceiling and upper walls almost as quickly as he cleaned. After a moment, she observed, “These two knobs seem to be connected to the larger tube running to the top of the Tower.” She turned one experimentally to the right and the room brightened, while turning it to the left made it darker. Tad had also discovered the light control. The second knob seemed at first to produce no results, but holding the button down while simultaneously turning it brought a distant throbbing sound from the upper reaches of the room.
“Fresh air,” she said excitedly.
Suddenly, the dust rose in pulses up the tower, covering them in a cloud of billowing dust. As they coughed and sputtered, the air slowly cleared.
“It’s some kind of environmental control,” she said with glee in her eyes. “It raised the pressure inside the room and the dust was drawn outside. I wish we had this in the University dormitory. It gets stifling at night sometimes. I have to sleep nude.” She glanced at Tad to judge his reaction.
The thought of her naked body, even briefly glimpsed in the pool before their arrival in Delphi, had often entered his young mind. This time it burst upon him like a full-blown wet dream. His manhood hardened reflexively. Before he could turn away, Sira caught a glimpse and smiled.
“So it’s not a preference for men that keeps you from me.”
He was not certain how to answer; then decided that the truth was best. Slowly, he replied, “No. I often think of you—your delicate laughter, your scent, the sparkle in your eyes, even that you’re smarter than I am. I want to cry out for you but I cannot.” His voice rose in anger. “I care for you very much. I have never felt for anyone as I do you, but to keep you near me selfishly places you in great danger from which I cannot protect you, not yet. There are people in Delphi who would harm the king and me with him. Until I learn who they are, I am helpless.”
He turned away. Her insistent hand on his arm turned him back to face her.
“Do you love me?”
With tears of joy and sadness brimming in his eyes, he nodded. “Yes, I do.”
She dropped her hand and stared at the floor. “Now I understand.”
He tore his eyes from her and stared at the walls. In the increased light, through blurry eyes he saw a mural identical to the one above on a far wall. Dust had previously obscured it from view.
“What’s this?” he asked. He touched the mural in the same spot as above and a second door revealed itself, sliding back silently.
Sira walked to the opening and peeked into the inky blackness. “We must be well below sea level. Where could this lead?”
Glad for anything that distracted his thoughts from her, he said, “Let’s find out.”
Tad removed one of the lights from the wall. He had discovered earlier that they operated with no wiring much on the same principles as the levitating lights in the Library. The corridor was shorter than the one above and surprised them by ending in a second stone spiral staircase. They descended another forty meters by Tad’s reckoning. The staircase ended abruptly in a small chamber lined with dusty portraits, statues and crates.
“Perhaps it was used for storage,” Sira suggested.
Tad shook his head. “It is a strange place for a closet. Bringing these objects all this way down those stairs must have been laborious and it seems like a lot of work went into its construction for such a small space.” Perhaps they were brought in through another entrance.”
He shone the light along the wall. An arch-shaped area seemed different from the rest of the wall. “This looks like a doorway that has been sealed.”
“How mysterious,” Sira said with a twinkle in her eye. “After a moment, she said, “I feel a slight breeze.”
Tad examined the small room more closely. Behind one large wooden crate, he found stone rubble and a pile of dirt. He, too, could feel a moist wind blowing across his cheek. “It’s coming from behind here,” he said, tugging at the large crate. With Sira’s help, they slid it across the room, revealing a jagged, irregular hole in the wall.
“That’s no doorway,” she said. “That’s where the wall collapsed, perhaps during an earthquake.”
“Or someone broke through,” Tad suggested. “That’s odd. Why would they do that?” He poked the light into the narro
w crevice and peered inside. “I see an opening beyond.” He looked at her. “Are you game?”
She returned a smile. “Let’s do it.”
18
SANCTUARY
SQUEEZING LIKE A MOUSE THROUGH CRACK, TAD SCRAPED his still tender back on a protruding stone, but ignored the pain in the wonder at discovering a vast, empty darkness beyond the wall. The echoes of his footsteps spoke of voluminous unseen spaces around him. The air was moist and dank with the odor of centuries of accumulated dust and filth. His nostrils picked up a hint of sea salt and, in the far distance, the steady drip-drip-drip of water reminded him how deep beneath the city they had penetrated. The sea, with its unimaginable volume of water, lay somewhere above his head waiting to pour down upon him. The icy fingers of claustrophobia clutched at his chest. The tremendous weight of the ceiling and unseen walls pressed in on him inexorably. His chest heaved as he fought for a breath of air, certain it would be his least. Panic swept through him like a wildfire, growing as he lingered. He needed to see the sky, the sun—open spaces. He began to back up, turning to leave, and bumped into Sira.
“Let me see,” Sira urged from behind him, pushing at his back. Her voice was almost lost in the emptiness, but it had a calming effect on him, reminding him that he was not alone. He took a deep breath of air and willed his heart to slow its wild galloping beat. He hoped that Sira had not witnessed his moment of panic. Calmer now, he picked his way carefully down the pile of rubble.
Tad held the light out before him and gasped at the size of the chamber they had discovered. The beam of the torch could not penetrate the murkiness to the far wall and barely illuminated the vast cathedral ceiling at least a fifty meters above their heads. He drew in his breath as he gazed at the ceiling. Stalactites grew like rows of sharp teeth from the living stone, the source of the steady dripping sound. Looking down, stalagmites erupted from shallow pools of water, reaching for their counterparts above them. They glistened jewel-like in the torch’s steady light.