As Sata walked beside Boro along the carpeted corridor, she was aware that she, at not quite thirteen years of age, would be the primary representative for Nebador to these people. Ilika would not be arriving for several days, and even then, he would seem to be just another citizen of the planet.
Kibi was the acting captain of the Manessa Kwi, but they were no longer on the ship, and she didn’t yet speak more than a few words of the local language.
Sata was the mission leader. She was absolutely sure that Arantiloria, and possibly Melorania herself, would be listening to every word she said. She could feel herself shaking inside, and hoped it didn’t show.
Sister Nancy entered a small conference room, switched on the lights, and gestured for her guests to make themselves comfortable. “There’s a small team trained to handle these rare visits, they’re on their way, and will bring refreshments.”
Sata translated as she tried to take a seat off to one side, but Boro poked her until she moved to the head of the table. She frowned at him for a second, and he smiled. At that moment, five more people entered the room.
An elderly woman moved slowly, helped along by a slightly younger man.
Her eyes sparkled with experience and curiosity as she took the seat at the other end of the table.
The man, graying but still in his prime, received trays from those who came behind and spread them out on the big conference table. Rini and Mati
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leaned forward to look over the goodies.
The remaining three people, all not much older than Kibi, tried to find places to hide in the corners of the room, but the man motioned for them to take seats at the table.
Once the door was closed and everyone was settled, a long moment of silence passed.
Sata looked at Kibi, and Kibi looked back and said You! with her eyes.
After another moment, Sata took a slow breath. “Hello. My . . . my name is Sata. I am the . . . leader of this mission, and the . . . navigator of our ship.”
“I am Sister Rebecca,” the elderly woman began, her eyes moving from Sata to Kibi, her face showing slight confusion. Eventually her eyes settled on Sata. “You are welcome in this humble place, Sata and her companions. I must remind all Lyceum members present that everything about this visitation is strictly confidential . . . no, strictly secret. It is a great honor to have contact with people from . . . outside . . . and we will lose that honor if we do not handle it with complete discretion and wisdom.”
She made searching eye contact with each of her people, then continued.
“This is Brother Jacob, also highly trained in these matters. Sister Nancy and these three young ones are our pilots, and must be trained for these events in order to run the Lost Forest Heliport.”
Sata nodded, and noticed that Kibi seemed to be following the emotional tone of the conversation, if not the words.
Sister Rebecca looked at Sata again. “How may Lyceum be of service to you?”
“We . . . do not know. We are here to help with . . . something very important, maybe save someone . . . or something. We are supposed to know it when we find it . . .”
Sister Rebecca placed a thin bracelet on each visitor’s right wrist that would open any door or buy anything for sale. The crew of the Manessa Kwi followed Brother Jacob and Sister Nancy out of the conference room.
At first, Kibi had a worried look on her face, glancing back and forth from their simple and comfortable flight clothes, to the complicated suits and dresses the Lyceum people wore.
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But as soon as the corridor brought them to the first large room, she relaxed, seeing a wide variety of clothing among the people waiting on couches, or standing in little groups talking.
“The heliport lobby isn’t always so busy,” Sister Nancy explained, “but a flight is about to depart for the international airport.”
While Sata translated, Mati and Boro pressed their faces against a glass wall that looked outside. A couple of children were doing the same from the floor nearby. A large pale-green helicopter sat on the landing pad, its silver rotor gleaming in the bright lights. As they watched, two people with clipboards finished their inspections and waved to someone in the cockpit. A moment later, twin jet engines on top of the aircraft roared to life.
“Wow,” Boro said. “Manessa’s not that loud even with space thrusters going!”
Mati chuckled. “I wonder how it flies?”
“I think those silver blades turn and beat on the air.”
“How would it . . . get into orbit?”
“I don’t think it can.”
Mati became aware that the children were looking at them. “What language is that? ” the boy asked.
Mati and Boro just smiled.
Ambling along behind their guides, the five newcomers made their way down a glass-lined corridor with lighted ornamental gardens on both sides.
In one, water trickled from pond to pond as ferns dripped and orchids opened their colors to the late evening sky. In another, roses climbed wooden trellises around neatly-trimmed lawns with stepping stones and benches.
It’s almost like, Rini began a thought, they’ve had a glimpse of a star station.
Maybe they have, Mati silently replied. Maybe they visit us, just like we’re visiting them.
Entering a round room even larger than the heliport lobby, the guides waited for their visitors to gather. “This is the recreation center,” Brother Jacob began, “with a gymnasium, ball courts, a pool, and a performance arena. Those doors lead to outdoor play fields.”
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But this isn’t like Satamia Two and Ubalora Three, where we visit each other openly, Rini continued their silent conversation. This is hush-hush.
Arantiloria said that if anyone else on this planet found out, they’d burn this place to the ground.
That’s sad, Mati replied. And I bet their religions pretend to worship the powers of the universe.
After walking along another glass-walled passageway, the group emerged into a huge indoor space under a high ceiling supported by soaring wooden beams. Archways led to other corridors, or directly outside, in six other directions. An elaborate metal sculpture, roughly spherical in shape, towered five or six meters high in the center of the room. Arrangements of couches and potted plants contained several small groups of people.
“The main lobby,” Sister Nancy announced. “The green arch, you should notice, leads back to the recreation center and the heliport.”
Sata made sure her shipmates memorized the color of their arch.
“The red arch goes to the gift shop and clinic,” Brother Jacob added. “Gold leads to the cafeteria and dining room.”
Boro turned in a slow circle. “No cyan arch,” he mumbled to Sata.
“Maybe they can’t see that color,” she speculated. “Remember, we didn’t know about it until Satamia. All the avians love it.”
Kibi approached the center of the room and gazed up at the sculpture.
When she tilted her head one way, the globe seemed to be made of intertwined tools and instruments, like a scientist would use. Leaning the other direction, candles, scrolls, and fancy goblets came into view, things more suited to churches.
Turning back to the group, she noticed Sata and Sister Nancy chatting in the local language, so she scanned the room.
One group clearly included a king, or some other high leader, judging by his clothes and manners. Kibi was pretty sure she could tell who his trusted advisors were, and which of the three women was his wife, or at least his favorite. The remaining men were probably guards.
She continued scanning. A group of five men in black suits, all pretending to have nothing to do with the king’s group, were his real guards.
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Occasionally one of them would say a word or two into his shirt sleeve.
Her eyes kept moving, not wanting anyone to think she was staring.
Two women and a man conversed about something technical, not paying attention to anyone else in the room.
The next group Kibi spotted almost made her shiver. Four men in casual clothes were acting very nonchalant, but glancing up just often enough to reveal, to her deeply-intuitive mind, that they were keeping an eye on the king’s group. The signs were too subtle, she judged, to be noticed by the king’s guards.
She glanced at two other small groups, didn’t sense any connections with anyone else, and walked toward Sata.
“The garden walkway lights stay on all night,” Brother Jacob was saying.
Sata
translated.
“I think we could all use some fresh air,” Kibi said assertively.
Sata noticed the implied command in her acting captain’s voice. The other three also heard Kibi’s tone and gathered quickly.
As they walked with their guides toward the white archway that led to the outdoor plaza, Kibi glanced at Rini. From the way he moved his eyes, she knew that he, too, was aware of the many things going on in Lyceum’s main lobby.
After describing the seven gardens, each based on a different continent or culture, the two Lyceum people said good-night and left the visitors alone to explore.
Lots of sevens, Rini shared with Mati. It must be a sacred number to them.
The helicopter had five blades, she pondered silently. Maybe they like all the odd numbers.
The pair wandered into one of the gardens, as close to tropical as could survive the temperate climate. They passed three men in suits, at different points on the wide path, all pacing and looking quite bored.
When they came to an open area, Mati knelt down to examine some stone sculptures that reminded her of something in the tropics of Sonmatia Three during their basic flight training. Rini noticed a faint animal track that led
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into the trees, and crept along it to see where it went.
He soon came upon a small clearing at the end of a path of stepping stones, where an old man sat on a bench with his eyes closed. Only one walkway light illuminated the space.
Rini immediately sensed the man was a religious leader of some kind, and judging by his robes, a respected one.
Even though Rini had approached as silently as anyone but a mouse could, the old man opened his eyes.
Rini bowed his apologies and started to back away, but the old leader motioned for the lad to sit beside him on the bench.
Rini smiled and came forward.
“It is not often that my protectors let someone get this close without being searched and background-checked,” he said in a kindly tone.
Rini shook his head and shrugged.
The old man tried four other languages, but Rini responded the same way each time.
“Well,
you
are from somewhere far away!”
Suddenly, all three men in suits burst through the trees with guns drawn.
Rini’s heart pounded, but he remained seated beside the important religious leader.
It took Mati about two seconds to understand the situation and stride down the faint track Rini had followed. Put them to sleep?
No, wait.
“Put those away!” the leader ordered. “Can’t you tell an innocent lad from a dangerous terrorist?”
“But Your Grace, we’re supposed to . . .”
“Yes, I know, you’re supposed to keep me from meeting anyone who hasn’t been processed to death. Our Lord Himself couldn’t pass your background checks. Now put those away before his friend teaches you a lesson.”
The three men did as they were told, but also began looking around with guilty expressions for the person they hadn’t seen.
Mati waited until the men in suits left the clearing, then crept forward.
So you could put them to sleep, could you? the religious leader asked with his mind.
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Rini turned and looked at him with wide eyes of surprise.
Mati nodded, her eyes also wide.
How interesting, he continued. You, who speak no language of this world, would put them to sleep. They, who work for the spiritual leader of half the people of the planet, would riddle your bodies with bullets.
Mati and Rini both shrugged, understanding the old man’s thoughts, but not knowing how to respond.
Eventually the crew of the Manessa Kwi gathered back at the outdoor plaza and returned to Lyceum’s main lobby. Only one small group was relaxing on the couches, talking quietly in a language Sata didn’t know.
With midnight at hand, the five visitors found the cafeteria, selected some things that looked familiar, and showed their Lyceum bracelets to the cashier.
The recreation center was very quiet at that hour, with soft music playing, one attendant on duty, and a couple of men in shorts emerging from a ball court.
No one waited in the Lost Forest Heliport, and a sign on the desk announced, Sata figured out, that the next flight would be early the following morning.
Kibi’s new bracelet opened the locked door to the hanger beside Pad Three, but it wasn’t until they were safely inside the ship, with the hatch closed, that everyone started talking at once, eager to share what they had seen, heard, sensed, and experienced in this mysterious place called Lyceum.