“Talk—with the Effature?” I had only ever seen the old man a couple times, and from a distance. He presided over the Great Assembly of Species, when it met in the Dome of the Assembly. People said he ran the Nether, but I wasn’t really sure what that meant.
“Tomorrow night,” Mom said. “We’ll have to get the mayor, the announcer, and the holy one to attend.” She paused. “And let’s try to keep this between us. No Wailimani.”
“No Wailimani,” Majus E’Flyr and I agreed.
* * *
The day after passed in a blur—I could barely wait for the meeting that night. I tried to help Mom out with her experiments, but hardly remembered what I’d done minutes after I finished.
“Did you prepare that slide yet?” Mom’s voice cut into my thoughts.
“Oh…uh, yes.” I looked down to the piece of glass in my hand. It was smudged, but I thought it would still let Mom see what the Grumv’s hair looked like under magnification.
Is it time yet? The light of the walls seemed to creep toward darkness, and our meeting with the Effature. Will he be there? Did he remember us? Will the sphere even work?
“What’s hanging on your wings today?” Avi asked, when we were alone for a few minutes, but I could only shake my head.
“I made Mom promise you could come too,” I told them, “but she said I couldn’t tell you yet. We’re not supposed to tell Wailimani either, because he’s—”
My words died as a shadow darkened the door of the medical cylinder. Wailimani’s feathery crest was spiky with interest.
“Be telling me what?” he asked, showing his pointy teeth. His high-pitched voice grated on my nerves. “Thought I was still to be talking with my new associates? I have concluded those negotiations, and I am thinking your mother will be cursing her ancestors that she did not take the same opportunity I was.” His crest expanded in triumph. “Not all here are liking the idea of ten new species to deal with, but with a little carefully applied negotiation, I am to be bringing their leaders around to trade possibilities.”
I stayed silent, frowning at him. Avi’s eyes were wide. The Grumv wouldn’t know much about relations among the ten species, however, I’d read my history. There had been pretty big fights between the species in the past, some started for less than this.
“Fine, do not be telling me. I will simply be staying nearby until time for this secret.” He plopped down in a corner, staring at his long, curving fingernails.
When Mom got back, she stared daggers at the Kirian, but there was no way we could slip away without him following.
* * *
That night, eight of us met: me, Mom, Majus E’Flyr, Avi, the mayor, the holy one, the city’s announcer…and Wailimani. If the Grumv noticed our discomfort with the Kirian, they politely didn’t say anything.
We were all in the mayor’s home, sitting in hammocks strung together in a circle so we could speak. Majus E’Flyr set the open box down between us, on a little table. “This is a gift from our government to yours—a way to communicate from the top to the bottom of the Nether.”
The Grumv peered forward. “More Nether crystal?” Mayor Kita asked. She didn’t seem upset by the gift, just confused.
“It’s not just any crystal,” I told her. “It’s tuned.” I wiggled my legs in the hammock, wanting to get up and walk around. I’d spent the whole day thinking about this. I’d seen Nether crystal do amazing things.
“It took most of the day,” the holy one said in a shaky voice. I thought he might be even older than Majus E’Flyr. “I heard melodies I have never heard before. It is an incredible piece, touched by many holy ones, all changing the music at once.”
“Tuned to do what?” the mayor asked.
Mom cleared her throat, I think trying to control the flow of the conversation. I watched Wailimani. Unlike his usual manner, he had been silent the whole time, fingers touching in front of his robe, his long, thick nails curving over each other.
“You will be able to speak with the Effature,” Mom said. “He’s our—well, not our leader, exactly. He is a caretaker of the Nether and its people. He presides over the Great Assembly of Species, which is a place where representatives from all ten of the species who live at the bottom of the Nether come together to discuss.”
“Like a moot of the village mayors and holy ones,” Mayor Kita said, and Mom nodded. “There has not been one of those since I was a child. The distances are very great.”
“They will become shorter, once we can create portals between your cities,” Majus E’Flyr said.
Gami the announcer rustled his wings at that. “This will be a change for all of us, my profession especially. I am happy for the benefit these other species will provide us, but there are others here who are not as certain. I hope this Effature can reassure our people.”
Mom looked to me. “What time is it, Natina?”
I held my watch up so it reflected one of the crystals set around the room. “Seventh darkening, just now,” I said.
Majus E’Flyr carefully raised the sphere so it rested on top of the padding in the box. “It’s time,” she said. “Holy one, if you would care to assist?”
Both maji stared at the sphere, Majus E’Flyr’s head-tentacles twitching in a rhythm, and the holy one nodding his head to a tune.
The rainbow of colors began again, like it had when I touched it, and there was a creak as everyone leaned forward in their hammocks—even Wailimani.
The colors mixed, and crossed, and made new colors, until I realized I was looking at the back of a red, stuffed chair. The sphere gave out a sharp chime, and I heard two voices, one deep and warm, the other higher and younger.
“Ah, I believe I will have to cut this meeting short, Sam,” the warm voice said. “There is other business I must attend to.”
“That’s…um…fine, sir,” said the younger voice, and I saw a shadow of dark hair and a green vest rise up and out of view. “Should I shut the door on the way out?”
“If you don’t mind, Sam.” The warm voice said. There were footsteps, and the gentle click of a door handle.
Then the view in the crystal tilted crazily. Avi and the other Grumv started back, and I tilted my head, trying to make sense of the change.
The scene came to rest looking upward into an old man’s face. He was Methiemum—the trader species, and most common of the ten. The face was kindly and wrinkled, a contrast to Wailimani’s. This man was mostly bald, and there was a circlet of crystal on his forehead, a simple curve.
“Greetings, Morvu, Magara. I take it this means you have met with success in your expedition?” The voice from the sphere sounded smaller than ought to, but the words were clear.
I looked to the majus. I hadn’t heard her familiar name the whole time we’d been climbing.
“We have,” Mom said. “And we have someone to introduce to you, if you will come around the sphere.” She opened her hand over the ball of crystal.
The Effature’s figure moved around the edge of the crystal, as if he was walking around it, and then disappeared, but the mayor and the city announcer sat up. Gami the announcer spread his wings just a little.
“Greetings from the Grumv Vugm Mugv,” Gami called in a deep echoing tone. “We are told you have an assembly of different species—ones who are willing to meet and trade with us for benefit of all.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” I heard the Effature say, though I couldn’t see him anymore. “You are correct. We have welcomed several new species in the past few centuries, the newest only fifty cycles ago. The Great Assembly is ruled not by any one species, but by our common interests, building a better society for all. We look forward to learning from the Grumv Vugm Mugv.”
“Then you have no conflict?” Gami pressed. “There are some here with concerns that such a large population, with so many different types of beings, may take advantage of our people.”
I frowned. I supposed that was true, but did
n’t the Great Assembly make rules that helped everyone? I’d have to ask Mom about it later. Beside me, Avi was tilting their head back and forth, perhaps thinking the same thing.
“It is true we have disagreements.” The Effature sighed. “I will not lie. We even make war between us. But the vast majority wishes to welcome all to our society, and learn how those with different opinions can add new and beneficial possibilities. Our progress depends on the species working together, not taking advantage of others.”
“That is reassuring,” Gami said.
“Plagi’s group will resist, of course,” the mayor told Gami. “But I think we can talk them into joining this Great Assembly. They like their profit, after all, and so many different people will have a lot of new skills and tools to trade.”
I snuck a glance at Wailimani, whose eyes had lit up at the mayor’s remark. I was sure he already knew this Plagi.
The talk went on far into the night, but through it all, Wailimani said nothing, his crest rising and falling, his fingers clasped together.
What are you thinking about?
* * *
“Five days until we see your home!” Avi repeated for maybe the tenth time that morning. “I can hardly believe we’ll be able to travel instantaneously to all these places. So many new people to meet!”
“It will take a little longer to get to my home,” I told them, but I was counting down days in my head as well. “We’re going to the Imperium. It’s a city where a lot of rich folks and the maji live. I live on Etan—it’s a completely different planet, and not like the Nether.”
“But you know what I mean.” Avi bounced up and down on their short legs. “I want to see your planet too—everything! Can we help the builders cut the logs, or bind them together? Anything to make it go faster.”
“Then they won’t be ready down there,” I said, pointing at the bowed mat of the house we stayed in. It had become our gesture to refer to the floor of the Nether. “The Effature is planning for our group to arrive in five days, not before. That’s as long as Majus E’Flyr said it would take to build the new platform.”
I thought of my brothers, and of Alondri and Kayla. It had been a long time since I’d seen my other parents, and to be honest, I was ready to go home too. But that would have to wait until after all the festivities about a brand new species joining the Assembly died down.
I peered out the window of the cylindrical house. As always, there was a group of Grumv on the trellis street outside, hoping to get a glimpse, or talk to us. Most of them were really friendly, and seemed to be looking forward to meeting the other species, but there was always a small group who stood apart, glaring at us when we walked around the city. I hoped they wouldn’t cause trouble.
* * *
We were granted entry into the temple of the honored dead on the second day after meeting with the Effature, but only while escorted by the holy one.
The old Grumv led Mom and me almost back to the wall, where a pyramid of six long, crossed beams were covered with a shroud of woven Arach Hanar silk.
The majus wasn’t interested in bones, and Wailimani had disappeared again after crashing our meeting, no doubt trying to seek out Plagi and the others who only wanted a profit. The mayor said she wouldn’t stop any of her people from making private agreements with those from the ground, and I was sure Wailimani was getting a head start while Mom and I learned about the Grumv’s culture.
Avi wasn’t allowed in the temple, and had to wait outside, their wings wrapped close in annoyance. They glared at a couple Grumv who had followed us—a brightly colored male and a female who looked like some of the ones who weren’t sure about us being here.
“Only the most revered of our people are laid to rest in the temple of the honored dead,” the holy one said. “The others are cremated, and the ashes help to fertilize the forest grown from the wall.”
I traded looks with Mom and wiped my hands on my pants while the holy one wasn’t looking.
At least now we know where the dirt comes from.
The temple was small and smelled musty and stale, as if—well, as if something had died in here, but a long time ago. A few crystals were placed to light the inside.
Many of the bodies still had skin, and hair. The coloring on the males was faded until it was hard to tell the difference between them and the females, except by size.
“Back here, you will find what you are looking for.” The holy one hobbled forward on stumpy legs, flaring his wings out every few moments.
I don’t think he’s thrilled we’re here.
In the back were the skeletons. They were smaller than I thought they would be. The Grumv were not large, but without the webbing connecting their arms and legs, the skeletons were tiny.
“I wish I could take a sample of the bone, but I promised the holy one and the mayor I wouldn’t,” Mom whispered.
“It would help if we could at least touch them,” I said. The long skeletal arms were wrapped around the bodies, making it hard to tell which bones belonged where.
Mom leaned closer to a particularly old set. “Wait a moment.” She looked back to see the holy one staring at us, and put her hands behind her back, bending so her nose was almost touching the skeleton. “I’ve seen these before.”
“Seen Grumv skeletons? Where?” Avi said they didn’t go past the clouds.
“I’ve dug some up, in remote sections of the Nether, near the wall.” She straightened, and went to another skeleton. “Yes, I’m certain. They were very broken and disjointed, but I was able to reconstruct most of one, about ten cycles ago.” She straightened, and looked at me. “I thought it was an extinct species of bird.”
“It is, sort of,” I said. “Falling all the way from the top of the Nether would break anyone’s bones—” I stopped, looking at Mom, who stared back at me.
Flailing arms and legs, reaching out to catch him…
I shook the thoughts away, and Mom put a hand on my shoulder. We stood there for a moment.
“I wish I could take just one skeleton back,” Mom whispered as we left the temple. “It would prove Alondri and Kayla’s theory right.”
“None of you ever told me about this theory,” I said, pushing down my irritation. I’d helped my parents with their research since before my little brothers were born, and this expedition was the first time I’d heard anything about it. “Why didn’t I know?”
Mom sighed. “It was nothing to do with you. Your other father, Jonduri, originally came up with it, but he was ridiculed, and after he died, we kept it secret that we still worked on his hypothesis. We never told you about it because Alondri and Kayla wanted you to have a chance at a fresh start, if you chose the same career we did. There was plenty else to research.” She looked around the temple at the decaying bodies and the skeletons, as if building up courage. “Jonduri thought there had been meetings between those who lived on the Nether floor and beings who lived near the ceiling, many cycles ago. Even the idea there were beings up here was controversial.”
“And that’s why the Effature gave you the crystal spheres?” I asked. Mom nodded. “Well, we can prove now there are people here. But if there really were meetings, wouldn’t the Grumv remember?”
“Not if it was a one-way trip,” Mom said. “Maybe not all those skeletons fell to the ground. The Grumv are gliders. It’s possible some could have survived the fall, and met members of the ten species.”
“Then why don’t we know about it?” I can see why people thought this idea was crazy.
“It could have happened before the Aridori war,” Mom said. “That was a thousand cycles ago, and many records were destroyed then. There might be lost stories of the Grumv, hidden somewhere.”
I could find them, one day.
“Did you learn what you wanted?” Avi asked as we exited. They tried to peer around the holy one as he closed and sealed the timber hatch over the entrance. Thankfully the other Grumv were gone. Maybe they’
d gotten bored.
“I think we might have,” I said.
* * *
As anxious as I was about finally getting to go home, the next two days passed quickly. Avi helped Mom and me out with the tests she was conducting on the crystals and the Arach Hanar silk.
“You’ll get to do this later,” I told Mom. “Why are you rushing to do so much? Whenever I do that back home, I make mistakes.”
“I know, I know.” Mom pulled her hair back. The moment her fingers left it, it sprang forward. “But anything I discover now is mine.” She looked at me. “Ours. Once we get back to the Imperium, there will be hundreds of other naturalists and explorers who want their own discoveries.”
“But you’re the most famous of them all,” I said. That’s what I was always told, growing up. The idea that my mother might not be the best explorer the ten species had ever seen ricocheted through my brain.
Whether or not it was true, it calmed Mom a little. “Thank you, Natina,” she said. “However many discoveries I’ve made, there’s still Wailimani to contend with. He’s a powerful voice in naturalist circles, and he can legitimately claim partial credit to everything we’ve discovered.”
“Not this stuff,” I passed a hand around the crystals and silk strewn about the medical bowl. “Anyway, the majus will probably back up your claims. I don’t think she likes Wailimani any more than we do. The Grumv will help too, won’t they?”
“Most will,” Mom admitted. “Save for those who don’t want to join the Great Assembly.”
“It’s a small group, and growing smaller,” I said. I’d watched the unhappy crowds shrink over the last few days. I’d tried to talk to as many Grumv as I could, so they would get used to at least one new species.
Tales of the Dissolutionverse Box Set Page 58