by Dave Gordon
I said, “They knew we were coming, they speak perfect English and Boriallen, they knew we had an armed detail, and they knew our names. I do not think they need to bug the place to know what we're saying.”
Tuya gave me an exasperated look and said, “Read the manual, it's standard procedure.”
“What happened back there? I never would have believed anyone could beat you.”
“He had a wondrous technique. He did not so much beat me as he allowed me to beat myself. It was like fighting smoke or water. He hardly touched me, I have no marks or bruises. Yet, at the end, I was defeated. Most amazing. I must learn more about it.”
She seemed unfazed by the events of the day where as my head was spinning. I wanted to talk more but Tuya disrobed and climbed into the bed. “Well, I still think you are the most wonderful creature in the universe and I will take on any who disagree,” I said as I unbuttoned my uniform tunic.
“Then prepare to fight my little Ensign, for I believe it is you instead,” she replied and issued a challenging call. The sound sent waves of chills up my backbone as the blood rushed to my head. I fell upon her. We tussled about laughing and nipping at each other. Finally she pinned me under her. She said, “You have lost the challenge, prepare to suffer the consequences.” She collapsed upon me and we lost ourselves to the night.
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Chapter 8
The next day we awoke with the light and dressed in the garments provided. The material was light and silky but not sheer. It was not immediately apparent if it were animal hair or fiber. The material was woven with wide vertical stripes of yellow, cream, and tan.
“I wonder if they had these already or if they made them for us?” I said. Both Tuya and I had robes that fit perfectly.
“These are freshly made, look closely at the inside of the seams. The material is not frayed, it has been cut but recently.”
Tuya began examining the food. There were several varieties of vegetables and a couple of types of grain. A container of water sat near the steam vent. Tuya selected a grain and scooped two handfuls into a tightly woven basket. She poured a bit of water into the basket, opened the steam vent, and placed the basket over it. She searched for a lid and finding one, covered the basket. She went about systematically tasting all the seasonings and herbs, announcing those she recognized. “Salt ... hot pepper ... savory herb ... sugar...” She selected a couple from the shelf and tossed a pinch of each into the cooking basket. She stirred the mixture with a stone paddle. A few minutes later she gingerly pulled the basket off the vent. She slid the stone cover back into place after tasting the dish. She stood and proudly presented the dish with a flourish, calling it ‘Illistari Chef's Surprise'. When I raised my eyebrows at the bowl she gave me a look that said ‘you will eat it and you will like it'. I took a small bowl from the shelf and scooped out some of the swollen grain. The grain had a light texture and wonderful nutty taste.
“Wow, good job Tuya. This is great!” I could see she had doubts of my sincerity, but she also liked the dish very well.
“Oh yes, this is a fine replacement for ship food,” she said.
Stellant'I entered the door and said, “I'm glad you found something you liked.” Tuya and I jerked around to look at her, startled by her sudden appearance. “I apologize,” she said bowing, “it is not our custom to announce our entry into a house.”
I rose. “Don't mind us,” I said cheerfully. “We're still getting used to the new surroundings. Would you care to try some of our breakfast?”
“Yes, thank you. I am curious how strangers might prepare food that is so familiar to us.” She took the small bowl Tuya offered and tasted the grain. “Oh, very good!” she said. “This is Low Stal, you have prepared it much as we do. The grain next to it on the shelf is High Stal which is a heartier meal.”
She identified all the foods and talked about their preparation. The diet was heavy on grain, low on protein, almost no fat. We discussed cooking wares and food preparation for several minutes. Their meals were quite simple. The use of spices was very subtle but they did have a few very hot dishes. Stellant'I rose and asked us to follow her to the Hall of the Elders. We cleaned our cooking utensils, stored the leftovers in an air-tight sack, and left for the hall.
The streets and houses had a very uniform look. This one had a garden and that one had a sculpture but they did not differ greatly. We would have both been lost in the maze of interconnecting streets if Stellant'I had not been with us.
“Your people have a beautiful city, Stellant'I,” I said hoping to start a conversation.
“Its beauty is in its function, not its form,” she replied. “The very simple is the most beautiful to us. For a thing to be solely that thing and purely that thing, that is beauty. Consider that sculpture,” she said, pointing to an oval rock standing on end. “What is its meaning?”
Tuya cocked an eye at me anxious to hear my reply. I tried to get a hint by gently probing Stellant'I's mind but got nowhere. It was a plain boulder without carvings or any sign of embellishment. I thought back to Stellant'I's previous statement. “The rock is a perfect expression of itself, no marks, no alterations. It is perfectly itself,” I guessed.
Stellant'I had a lightly bemused look with a hint of a smile. “Very good Avron Tular, perhaps you will come to understand us yet.” She turned and continued walking slowly towards the middle of town.
A few Illistari were leaving their houses, going this way and that. None paid us any attention. A few made light bows with their palms pressed together as they passed. I returned the bows, Tuya did not. All the Illistari we passed were dressed in very similar clothes. There were no signs of rank, no ornaments other than a colorful sash or scarf. Many were barefoot despite the slight chill. Others wore shoes of fabric or sandals that looked like Earth bamboo sandals. There were no carts, but it was still early. I thought perhaps they might be about later. What struck me was that no one was in a hurry. In fact, they all moved with a slow deliberation. There was not much diversity among the people we passed. They were dressed similarly, all looked pretty much the same, all walked with the same slow, open stride. There was not a whisper of a sound on the street. The loudest noise to be heard was the obvious scraping of our own feet along the gravel streets.
We turned a corner and entered the plaza of the large dome we had entered the day before. This time I noticed more about the structure. The builders had made novel use of stone by integrating it into the clay brick structure in surprising ways. The green arched doorways had keystones that continued up the side of the dome and became part of a circular stone cap. Stone of a different shade of green ran down to the floor and radiated out into the flooring pattern. The floor was heated, probably with steam, and the stones were comfortably warm. The two old men again sat at the stone table. A clay vessel of about two gallons capacity sat on the table. The pot was reddish in color with rudimentary handles and no spout.
We walked up to the table and one of them said, “Avron Tular, what is the most important part of this jar?”
I considered the question. The only parts on the jar were the simple handles, I did not think they were really the most important part. No part of the jar was anymore important than the rest. After reaching that conclusion, I began searching for an answer that was more to do with something not actually physically associated with the jar. “The space inside it,” I said.
The two old Illistaris both smiled slightly. “Very good,” one said. “The form of the jar provides benefit, for a jar is a beneficial thing. The usefulness comes from what is not there.”
“Tuya ‘al Ayan y h!dlay Zhia!tu,” the other one said. “What is stronger, the mighty tree or the slender reed?”
I could sense a trick but before I could get Tuya's attention she replied, “The tree.”
The Illistari spoke again, “That is incorrect. Stellant'I will demonstrate your error.”
With that Stellant'I stepped forward
and faced Tuya. She bowed low with her hands at her sides and assumed a crouching stance with her feet apart and hands at face level. Tuya recognized this was an invitation to spar. She adopted her formal sparing attitude. Her fingers were splayed, her hand chest high, elbows out, knees bent. She began to circle Stellant'I. Tuya sprang and Stellant'I stepped aside, brushing off the blow effortlessly.
“Stop!” commanded one of the old Illistari. Tuya and Stellant'I faced each other, bowed, and then faced the speaker. “Tuya ‘al Ayan y h!dlay Zhia!tu, how did Stellant'I avoid your blow?”
That was something I really wanted to know also. There was not a person on the Triton who would not have been rendered unconscious by it.
Tuya considered the question, then answered, “Stellant'I is a more skilled fighter than I and has superior abilities.”
“Wrong!” the old speaker pronounced. “You are the mighty tree, wrath and power. You come in the rush and rage of a mighty storm, but the mighty trees may be crushed by the storm while it is the slender reed that bends with the wind that prevails. You are the stone in the river that stands firm against all forces, but eventually the water will wear you away. So, Stellant'I prevails by yielding. Those who would conquer must yield. This you must learn in order to understand us, and to be queen.”
Tuya's eyes went wide and she shot me a look. She regained her composure just as quickly. She pressed her palms together in front of her chest and bowing her head, said, “Your words are wise, I shall consider them.”
The other Illistari rose and said, “I am Mehanan, counselor of the city Duhain. This,” he said gesturing to the other seated Illistari, “is our esteemed Emperor. He has traveled many days to meet you in order to determine our course of action. You, Tuya ‘al Ayan y h!dlay Zhia!tu, were chosen in order to learn what you must know to rule wisely.” Tuya shot me another panicked look. “You, Avron Tular, were chosen because of a certain aptitude. You have done well so far and show promise for your race. We have decided that you shall be tutored in our ways. You, Tuya ‘al Ayan y h!dlay Zhia!tu, will learn internal and external arts. Avron will concentrate on internal arts and some practical matters of local custom. You will not be separated by night; however you will be taught different lessons and so will not be together by day.”
The Emperor rose and spoke. “I have hopes this work we begin today will bear fruit across the universe. Tuya ‘al Ayan y h!dlay Zhia!tu, I wish you success in your journey. Avron Tular, until we meet again.” He turned and walked calmly across the room and out the back door. I wondered if he were the ruler of the state or the whole planet. And, why did he say ‘until we meet again’ to me and not Tuya? What was that thing about Tuya being a queen?
Mehanan said, “I know you have much to speak of but time is short. We must begin immediately. Avron, you will go with Stellant'I, Tuya ‘al Ayan y h!dlay Zhia!tu, you will remain here.”
Stellant'I gestured towards the front door. I looked at Tuya. She was a bit shaken but holding up well. I left with Stellant'I. I admired her form as she walked ahead. Very womanly, very strong in a quiet way. Her thoughts were not so much thoughts but more of a force, a river. I got the impression she was not thinking in the way a human might define it, but rather she experienced directly the things we thought about. The light breeze had warmed a bit. I tried to imagine not thinking about the breeze as it brushed my arm while still feeling it. I could only maintain that state for brief periods of time. Stellant'I turned back and said, “You are doing well, you will improve in time.”
I was shocked by the remark. I could usually sense another psychic race immediately but the Illistari gave no such indication. The Illistari were curiously uniform in their thinking. Their thoughts seemed like water coursing this way and that undirected but still forming a river. We walked down a few blocks to a two-story building built like a pyramid of domes, two on the bottom and one on top.
Stellant'I said, “This is the hall of letters. You will learn our language here.”
The building was plainer than the grand hall in the city center. The support columns were unpolished and there were no stone arches. Floor tiles of muted colors formed an intricate design. The inlay seemed to represent symbols or perhaps writing. Stellant'I led me to a low table where a very old Illistari woman stood waiting.
“I am Cogent'R,” she said, “please be seated.” She turned and sat at the table, legs crossed on the floor. Even though her general appearance gave the impression of great age, her movements betrayed none of it.
I looked at Stellant'I who bowed as she backed out of the room. Writing implements and several other tools where arrayed along side coarse paper. I sat at the table opposite Cogent'R. She picked up a rust-colored stone and began scraping it with a rasp while holding the stone over a bowl. When the bowl had a small quantity of powder, she added some water and stirred. She added a little more water until the consistency was that of thin putty. She picked up one of the writing implements and took it apart length-wise. The inside was hollowed out and tapered. She troweled some of the putty into the writing instrument using a broad knife. She handed me the pen and said, “Squeeze the pen softly as you write. We will begin with a basic alphabet lesson. Time is short. We will need to move on before you have learned it but that is your fate.” She began drawing characters and naming them as she drew. The pens were remarkably efficient once I got the hang of it. When we filled a page with characters she would lay the sheaf in a shallow dish of water. She saw me looking curiously at the soaking pages. She explained, “I will wash these clean and lay them in the sun to be used tomorrow.”
“Ah", I said. People on Earth had thrown away so much paper that it was not in use any longer. I liked the idea of reusing the paper. We sat writing and speaking past lunch. I was aching badly and getting hungry.
Cogent'R saw my pained expression. She said, “Please excuse my thoughtlessness. I have neglected your needs. Please rise.”
I tried to stand but my left leg was asleep. I almost fell over but Stellant'I, who had come in unnoticed, grabbed my arm to steady me. “Oh!” I exclaimed with surprise, “Thank you. My leg is asleep.”
The two of them looked at me clearly perplexed. “Oh. No. That's just a saying we use to describe the condition that results from staying in one position too long.” I took a tenuous step and my leg seemed better. “There, all better.”
“We do not suffer from such conditions.” Cogent'R said. “We strive to attain stillness since stillness overcomes action. Many of us in the city have not moved for several days. You see, the universe runs by letting things take their own course; it cannot be improved by interfering. You should feel honored by Stellant'I's willingness to serve you, it is a great sacrifice for her to be in constant motion.”
I thought about how different that was from our way. If you were not doing something, you were not being productive. Here, inactivity seemed to be viewed as productive. I was intrigued. On Earth everybody was very, very busy and the place was a disaster. Here, people spent days in contemplation and it was apparently a wonderful place. Stellant'I brought in a tray of dried fruit, nuts, seeds, flat bread, and water.
I helped myself to the food, and asked Cogent'R, “Do you have crime here? Do you have a law enforcement organization?”
Cogent'R said, “We do not need to enforce the laws, they enforce themselves. There are some matters which must be considered by the wise, but life takes its natural course for the most part.”
We continued eating and talking about Illistari government, or lack thereof, until Cogent'R announced it was time to exercise. She told me to sit in the doorway facing outwards in the most comfortable position I could find. She said, “This is the most important basic exercise. I want you to calm your mind and think of as little as possible. This will be difficult at first. Then I want you to concentrate on inhaling and exhaling. Breathe slowly and deeply.” She continued to make suggestions for a few minutes and then the rest of the afternoon was spent breathing. I found the experience relax
ing but I thought it odd. Cogent'R said there was very little time, but we spent half the day breathing. Still, I sat there all afternoon without discomfort. When the day was wearing down Cogent'R softly announced it was time to stop for today. I bowed and followed Stellant'I out onto the street. I felt refreshed and alert. I could see many Illistaris sitting in their doorways in contemplation.
Tuya was not there when we reached our abode. Stellant'I made her goodbyes saying she would meet me in the morning. I thought about the day, practiced breathing a bit, and that is when Tuya walked in the door. Her face was bleeding and her clothing was torn. I jumped to my feet and grabbed her by the shoulders to get a closer look at her injuries. “What did they do to you?” I shouted.
“I am uninjured, my wounds are superficial, be at ease my little Ensign,” she said with a small smile.
The word ‘ensign’ did not seem right any more. I had only been there two days and already I did not feel like an ensign. “How did you get hurt?” I asked her as I pulled her over to the cushions. I sat her down and dabbed at her with a wet cloth. She endured my clumsy ministrations patiently.
“I spent the day in the company of a teacher who interspersed Illistari teachings with demonstrations of their application. Most educational. Their whole philosophy is different than Earth's or Borial's. We spent a good deal of time talking about what a good ruler needs to know and now I need to tell you why that pertains to me. I am the queen and rightful heir to the throne of Borial.”
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Chapter 9
She sat there calmly as I tried to form a thought. I felt the universe turn about us until we faced an entirely foreign direction. Queen? Heir? “You mean, like, ruler of the planet?”