Robert was enjoying this life. He had purpose and meaning, he had good friends and they were achieving their goals against earthly as well as Gayan objectives. Moreover, this part of California was a perfect blend of business potential, great scenery and perfect climate. It felt good to be a successful young American in Silicon Valley at this time. He had suffered much worse in past lives and had no illusions that things were always going to improve in his futures. He had no particular family ties. These were difficult to develop as a Pointer of Dawn with no set future other than the protean events of his challenging missions. There were no set rules but Pointers of Dawn generally held it to be unfair to make personal commitments to local people they seldom could deliver on. Still, he would miss this place, these people and he decided to mull it over by taking the Porsche out for a sentimental spin up the ridge highway through the hills, north to San Francisco.
He took the silver sports car slowly along Los Gatos’ main street, Santa Cruz Avenue, through the regular cross intersections separating the low-rise eateries and smart shops. The town was busy with mostly young people going about everyday business, and negotiating these crowds safely kept his attention before filtering on to Highway 17 west towards Santa Cruz over the coastal hill range. One junction further along and he could take the off-ramp to the twisty start of Highway 35 that started past Bear Creek Redwoods reserve then rose up to run along a high ridge northwards through pine forest thrown up at some point by the ruminations of the San Andreas fault line immediately to the west. Bright sunlight filtered through the trees and flittered across his vision. Warmth and the subtle scents of cedars and pines suffused through to his very soul. The foothills of deciduous forest sweeping to the line of lakes on the fault line made for great views when gaps appeared between the trees. The sun was brilliant as usual in this part of California between May and October and the little car was eager for the dry twisting tarmac.
Robert was engaged in the atmosphere and the driving, fast but not crazy. There were groups of motorcyclists as well as other performance cars testing their driving skills along the route together with a handful of lumbering SUVs belonging to the local homesteaders. His mind turned to conjecture about his disappearance and the effects that would have on his Pengey colleagues. He did not want his possible demise to be too melodramatic and attract the news stations; better that he just disappear mysteriously.
As he pondered these options he took a tight left-handed bend between trees high on the left upslope, just the tops visible on the downhill side to his right. He braked before the turn to put the nose in before getting back on the juice to get traction round the bend. Critically when he looked across there was a motorcyclist on a lime green racing motorbike emerging from the turn in the opposite direction. He was coming on very fast and leaning right knee down to the tarmac. He was swinging wide and tracking out across the centre line trying to pull the bike back to his own side of the road. Robert turned the car out towards the right edge of the road on his side to make room, the back end of the Porsche fishtailing under the steering influence and the weight of the engine behind. He immediately turned the wheel left again to swing back on track. It was just as he felt the relief of the car responding on the apex of the bend – he was going to make it! – when the truck appeared, trundling round in the middle of the road straight at him. He thought he caught the look of a determined driver in sunglasses staring at him before he turned away again to the right side of the road. This time the Porsche tyres let go under the strain and he sailed out nose first off the road into the tops of tall pine trees rooted in the downhill side of the road. Briefly the raked hood of the car pointed towards the far horizon and Robert was reminded of the weightless sensation of space flight, but this was not under any kind of traction and this was not that kind of vehicle. It porpoised over the first few treetops and then the nose plunged down through pines, breaking off fragile boughs and slim trunks high up but then getting torn apart by the substantial lower trunks before slamming nose down into the ground well below. Robert heard the bangs of flying car on trees and crunched under the percussions. Part of his Gayan soul noted how good these earth human bodies were at sensory perceptions, especially pain, and then he passed out on plunging into the ground.
There was a buttery blank time for Robert of utter nothingness then his next perception was floating up amongst the trees in the shafts of sunlight mildly regarding his mangled car between the pines far below. Motes of dust and plant debris floated alongside him picked out by the crepuscular rays. His car was hissing and popping, substantially in one piece but fenders and a couple of body panels were strewn around the pine straw below. He vaguely thought that it would take some time to find him down there if, as he suspected, the motorcyclist and truck driver were less than eager to report their part in the incident. As he mused on this he continued to rise slowly then he was flying higher above the treetops, the broken car lost, the forest receding below, as he was drawn to the high light in the sky; it was time to go home and rejoin his Gayan friends solely soul.
On the paradise planet of Chamarel in the Pleiades the three Worders met Alron’s returning soul from planet Earth in a palace block on the shores of an achingly beautiful alpine lake. Actinic illumination enhanced the blues of the sky and lake, the verdure of the long views over cedar woods and meadows of azalea and rhododendron. It was only a short time after Keeran and Amilys’ souls had returned from Braganza. All three Gayan agents had been eliminated by Zarnha agents indicating both a heightened desperation on their part and a likely escalation of the stakes over their opposed campaigns on planet Earth. The Worders’ level approach calmed the Pointers after their recent travails and the emotionality of passing through their earthly bodies at their physical peak. This meant that all three Pointers had lost a good deal of their lives in their last mission with consequent wasted investment in time and scarce Gayan resources. Spargar and Omeyn MuneMei in particular had stolen that time from them and they needed to come to terms with that before they could move along with starting new lives over again. The surroundings helped to calm their souls: perfect views across the lake with high mountains to the left and lower hills to the right where other Worder resorts responsible for Gayan campaigns on other worlds nestled in the trees leading down to the shoreline. A few sailing boats tripped across the waters. Looking down the length of the lake, forested peninsulas stepped out into the waters. Mountains and tall cliffs beyond the far end of the lake shore were blued with distance.
The Pointers of Dawn spent a relaxing few days debriefing with their Worders. The resort was a masterclass in understated elegance and the service was impeccable. Staff were neither intrusive nor subservient. Cuisine and wines were as interesting as artworks; they were novel and challenging when the Pointers were feeling adventurous, reassuring as home cooking when they desired familiarity. The meetings with Worders were informal and therapeutic. They all shared the same goals so their discussions were positive and relaxed whether reporting past events or planning future missions. Eventually it was clear that the Pointers had transferred all they knew and the Worders had obtained all they needed to know. The Worders required the three Pointers to return to Earth quickly but they also knew a period of rest before going would be a great help. The Worders invited Keeran, Alron and Amily for a few days’ rest and recreation on a soul sabbatical in a resort area on Chamarel called Snowscape before their next mission commenced. This would allow them to move on from dwelling over their immediate prior lives and the failure of their sortie to Spargan. They could grieve briefly for their previous life and place it in the context of the ones before that, nested lives that faded into the mists of time within each other like Russian dolls, and then ready their minds for the next mission back on planet Earth.
SIX
The three Pointers of Dawn had set off early in the day to hike up to the ski resort from the Worders’ resorts in the valley far below. They could have transported directly to the m
ountains in the distance from the Worders’ retreat but they chose to enjoy the challenge of the journey there together on foot. They had followed herders’ trails that started as wide tracks but soon became tight and steep. It wasn’t mountaineering exactly but was a serious scramble as the trails were intimidating and at times vanishingly narrow, clinging to steep slopes of mottled brown stone that crumbled in parts to loose scree of stones mottled the colours of curlew eggs where the colleagues had to be careful to avoid slipping over the long drops to the narrow streams and waterfalls way below.
As they climbed, the various small stiff bushes in their winter starkness started to thin out and the hills grew taller and wrapped more tightly round them. The trails tightened as the inner walls curved with encircling slopes and then switched back above them so they had to clamber with hands and feet to ensure good purchase on the difficult terrain. Occasionally they would encounter a grizzled goatherd with a flock of bouncing animals seemingly grinning at their difficulties and making easy-going progress across and down the same trails. Small scampering boys accompanied the goatherds with ready smiles and shrill voices, leaving Keeran’s ego chastened for bouts of nerves that built up subconsciously on the awkward sections over the long drops. Truth told, Keeran had always been nervous of precarious heights but didn’t talk about it much; he thought his colleagues were unaware of this weakness.
Soon the horizon of the path above merged into the first tendrils of snow crusting the loose rocks and north-facing folds of the terrain, blending to form the actual snow line where water simultaneously froze and dripped. They climbed further into the deepening snow fields where the azure of the sky met the trail and promised more gentle slopes beyond the higher horizon. As they crested the ridge the slopes indeed broadened out into the upland pastures now covered in snow, reflecting sunlight burstingly to their eyes. They each donned eyewear that diminished the glare and highlighted the subtle contours of the snow cover. The claustrophobic enclosure of the mountain walls and tight trails on the trek up now opened way out and up in a fabulous snowscape to a cluster of large wooden buildings in an alpine style that was both their destination and resort for snow sports for the following days.
The colleagues had been craning their necks looking upward for so long already it was surprising that they still had to climb further to reach the resort. The last section was at least an easy slope after the steep hike. The resort itself led to a giant open bowl that was just the starting point of the lofty peaks beyond. The sun enhanced the contrast of snow and shade; the fine outlines of at least two large half moons were vaguely visible as dim crescents in the blue sky. Even in the full light of day there were two bright points piercing through that showed the powerful lumen of the two giant stars Maia and Alcyone that would bathe the resort in starlight later when the full splendour of the Seven Sisters star cluster would be on display.
It took a while to trudge up the field of snow but a short time later the colleagues arrived at their chalet hostel and were welcomed by the host and hostess who had been expecting their arrival. They fussed over the colleagues and speculated they must be exhausted and how easy it was to catch the transport up rather than endure the long hike. These young people are just too adventurous nowadays, apparently. The colleagues were shown to their rooms on the first floor, each sparsely furnished with cot, wardrobe, chest of drawers with reading light, plus doors to bathroom and balcony. All were furnished in dark cedar, and the timbered walls and sloping roof were architected on a grand scale giving an impressive sense of height and space.
Amily was pleased to feel the underfloor warmth of her room and then opened the glass doors straight out to the balcony where snow had blown against the outside walls creating mini drifts. The view from this side of the chalet faced up the grand bowl of the mountains. Right underneath was a small square of shops, restaurants and bars and beyond that were the impressive skeletal lifts giving access to the upper mountain area. In the far distance lofty blue-grey ridges and spires of mountain peaks framed the vista in all directions.
The colleagues settled into their rooms, bathed and relaxed for a couple of hours. They had previously arranged to meet in the chalet lounge and then work out dinner arrangements. The hosts continued to fuss over them and provided blonde beers that had been close to freezing on the balcony outside the lounge. Chamarel was famous for its beer; a benefit of voyaging the known galaxy for thousands of years was the opportunity to taste and refine literally the best beverages known to man. The impossibly cold beer was the ideal counterpoint to the day’s exertions and each took a deep draught before admiring the colour of the beer through the crystal glass dripping with condensation.
Later, sunlight was fading as they chose to dine at one of the local restaurants in the square. The host called on ahead and booked them a table in the restaurant he recommended. As they crossed the square they paused to appreciate the full lights spectacular of the Pleiades star cluster coruscating across the velvet vault of the spangled night sky. One large moon was now in the middle of the lower sky, the other moon having set. The brightest stars were brilliant blue-white, Maia with her illuminated ‘angels’ of nebular dust tracing ethereal skeins like illuminated spider webs in white tinged with pink and blue between the long tendrils. Sterope had also risen and provided a third blue giant star shine to add to Maia and Alcyone; across the rest of the heavens a hundred other close stars of the Pleiades cluster leant their brilliance to the overall display such that the resort and mountainscape were rimmed with silver gilt on snow. Only the deepest shadows of the buildings were truly dark. From planet Earth four hundred or so light years away the Pleiades were known as the Seven Sisters due to the largest seven blue giants in the star cluster. Here in the middle of the thousand-strong star cluster a few light years across, it was clear there were more than ten massively bright stars plus a thousand others in the relatively close star cluster neighbourhood. The result was a firmament of blazing light undimmed by atmospheric effects in the thin mountain air. The Pleiades stars were a flotilla plotting a course together across the heavens through thin dust clouds throwing veils across the starlight in mysterious swirling patterns, many of which had their own fanciful names according to Gayan legend.
The colleagues crossed the square over snow so bright it seemed to positively glow in the starlight. The three major stars threw triangular shadows from their feet, which were still not dark due to the overall illumination of the wider starry host. They entered the doorway after stomping off loose snow on the step. The building was of a similar style to the chalet but more ornate and with mountain memorabilia to entertain the guests. There were gleaming antique farming tools amongst faded photos of the high pasture in pre-tourism days, aeons past. Hunting trophies of strange horned beasts large and small adorned the high walls. Inside was warmth and lamplight. The restaurant owner welcomed them warmly; it was a family-run enterprise with his wife as head chef and children filling out the other cooking tasks and waiting at table. The place was about half full, and they were shown to a table by the window. Amily was full of energy and trotted to the chair with the best view of the restaurant, not wishing to miss out on the potentially interesting behaviour and conversation of the other patrons. Keeran was suddenly pensive and followed more slowly to his seat. Alron was cheerful and bouncy with a frisson of fragility over not quite knowing how the evening’s mood would play out in the context of the failed mission to rescue Kyra.
While they were considering the menu the owner came over and explained a few specials for the evening. Amily decided on a locally caught tarnfish served with a cup of ceps and other treats in saffron sauce that she could fish for with a long spoon. Alron chose a substantial wayak steak au point and Keeran the speciality goat curry. As they awaited delivery of the food they decided on a Chamarel Riesling wine for Amily and more local beer for the boys. The evening was going well in comradely fashion when Keeran decided it was time to confront the larger issues befo
re them.
“It’s time for me to apologise for dragging you both into trying to save Kyra.” Keeran opened the serious part of the conversation. The other two listened, Amily leaning forward, Alron fidgeting. “I wasn’t just going to leave her on Spargan and had to get out there and do what I could to get her back. We got close, just didn’t quite make it.”
Amily was exasperated, “Worders preserve us, Keeran! Charging into Omeyn MuneMei’s capital city was hardly a winning proposition. It put paid to my work on Spargan and your and Alron’s work in Silicon Valley and all because you were overconfident and emotional and thought you could overcome any number of opposition.”
Alron sought to lift the mood a little, “Well there is always a chance we can overcome any number if the plan is right,” he offered.
Amily turned on him, “And don’t you start giving me the big white teeth smile and hoping that it will make it all get better. You know Keeran was out of order.” Alron spread his arms silently in a peace-making gesture. Amily lowered her head and looked accusingly at Keeran with pinched eyes and lowered eyelids.
Keeran was the most personally affected by recent events and had led the rush to try to save Kyra and had come so close but Amily and Alron were also personally involved and he had raced in carrying them with him but without considering their views especially. “Look, I know I had little chance but it was the only chance! We would never get agreement to mount an official rescue into Spargar’s capital. We would never be able to negotiate Kyra out of there because they would never admit the kidnap in the first place. At least we know for sure where she is now and I will not forget.” Keeran subsided somewhat after this justification and admitted, “This isn’t the place we should be right now and that’s down to me. I said I was sorry – you know why I had to try.”
Star Matters Page 12