Chroniech! (38 page)

As he watched, Ken saw several small villages pass beneath them. Birds (or at least animals capable of flight) could be seen flying over the tree tops. The trees themselves were tall and full-leafed. A small city soon became visible and the transport headed directly for it.

Before reaching the city, however, they slowed and dropped lower in altitude. A series of small, cottages arranged in three concentric circles could be seen in a clearing. The transport dropped into a clear area at the center of the cottages and settled into the grass.

A single Kyrra approached and said through a translator, "Welcome. These dwellings have been prepared for you. Each will accommodate up to four people. There are fifteen dwellings in this area and everyone except Falnath may choose to occupy any one of them. A special dwelling has been prepared for Falnath which will better suit her needs. These accommodations are yours for as long as you remain with us. Your guides will be arriving shortly. Until then, please do not leave this area. Falnath, please follow me."

Holding hands Stricklen and Tasha walked toward the nearest of the cottages. Scarboro came up from behind and asked, "Mind if I room with you two?"

"Not at all!" Tasha replied before Stricklen had had a chance to say anything.

The inside of the cottage consisted of a large central room with several smaller rooms accessible from it. One of these appeared to be for preparing meals. Another had a table and several well-cushioned chairs in it. There was a sun-room which could be quickly converted into an open porch.

Stricklen found an alcove with four sets of stairs leading into an underground portion of the cottage. Each stairway led into a private room where Ken found a large, comfortable bed, a properly equipped bathroom, and storage for his personal belongings. A small study could be accessed from the room. In the study was what appeared to be a computer or a communications terminal.

After making a quick tour of the room he had chosen, Stricklen returned to the central living space and discovered a small Kyrra waiting for them. "I am Silstras, and I will be your guide," he said in greeting. Ken noticed that Silstras spoke to them without a translator.

"I am Ken Stricklen. How is it that you know our language?"

"I recently learned your language. We are able to… "

"That's right! I forgot," Ken interrupted. "No need to explain further. The Kyrra we recovered from stasis told us about your phenomenal memories. But, I seem to recall that it took them awhile longer to learn our language."

"We have advanced," Silstras said matter-of-factly.

"The rooms are wonderful!" Tasha remarked as she joined them. "Much better than what we have been sleeping in for the last few weeks."

"We have learned that your species requires sleep and have therefore provided you with suitable sleeping arrangements. Are the accommodations adequate?"

"They most certainly are!" Doug exclaimed as he entered the room. "This sure beats sleeping on my cot on the ship!"

"What did you mean by ‘your species requires sleep'?" Ken asked. "Don't Kyrra sleep?"

"No. Fifteen thousand years ago it was discovered that a change was taking place within our people. We had apparently advanced in biological complexity to the point where sleep was needed less and less. Over a period of several hundred years this change eventually resulted in our people no longer requiring sleep. Our brains have developed the capacity to process and sort the information as it is received and therefore sleep is no longer needed. We rest our bodies, but unconscious sleeping is no longer possible or necessary for us."

"Good Lord!" Doug exclaimed. "Imagine the amount of additional work that could be done if we did not have to sleep."

"It would give a whole new meaning to working overtime," Tasha remarked.

"It has improved our efficiency," Silstras replied. "It also resulted in many changes to our society. Some of the changes were not easy."

"Have you taken a close look at how this building was constructed?" Doug asked Ken.

"No," he replied with a matter-of-fact, I don't really care, sort of voice. "Looks like a regular cottage to me."

"The corners are rounded; there are few, if any, seams; and, unless I miss my guess, they were all recently built."

Ken's eye's widened as he glanced around the room to confirm what he had just been told. "Amazing! How do you do it?" he directed the question toward Silstras.

"The building is constructed from a fast setting plastic which can be quickly formed into virtually any desirable shape. The material is easy to work with and is our primary construction material for simple structures. We have machines which can build one of any number of structures in a matter of hours. Robots complete the assembly by installing the internal components. I am not sure how they work but if you wish to know I can find out for you."

"Not at the moment," Stricklen replied.

Silstras explained some of the appliances included in the cottage. The data terminal in each person's room was programmed to respond to spoken commands much like the computers of the Alliance. By simply making a request, the terminal could provide the answer to virtually any question or function as a communications device. A similar terminal was located in the kitchen area. Silstras demonstrated its operation by asking Ken to provide the device with a food item.

"How about if you pick something," he deferred to Tasha.

After thinking for a moment Tasha said, "How about a piece of apple pie?"

"Assembling components," a voice replied. After two minutes the same voice said, "Apple pie equivalent is ready, please remove from processor."

Silstras opened a door and removed what appeared to be an apple pie. Stricklen's eye's grew wide and his jaw dropped. Doug reached out and broke off a chunk of the crust. After examining it closely, he popped it into his mouth. "It's not like any apple pie that I've ever tasted but it's not bad."

Tasha picked up a fork and tried a bite. Her eyes squinted as she chewed. "You're right. It might look like apple pie but it sure doesn't taste like it. But I like it. How is it done?"

"We have received a large database of information from your ship's computer concerning the foods you eat," Silstras explained. "This database gives us basic information concerning your food but does not give us the molecular structure of the item. Our computer will extrapolate from the information available to create food items using our own foods which should hopefully please your tastes. The pie you have just eaten is probably based on the molecular structure of a fruit which we call chinfla."

"But how did you make the pie?" Doug asked.

"We can manipulate matter on a molecular scale within certain limits. There is a supply of the basic food elements stored within the food preparation machine. The bulk of this device is located beneath the cottage. The proper elements are combined and manipulated to create the requested food item. As we learn your tastes we can provide you with actual fruit and food items which you can prepare although you are more than welcome to continue to use the food dispenser."

"I'll be damned!" Doug exclaimed. "Artificial food from thin air!"

"Not quite correct," Silstras replied. "The elements incorporated into the final product originate from actual food items. In the instance of the pie, the original fruit has been converted into an easily manipulated form and compactly stored. We normally prefer unprocessed foods, however, this form of nutrition is both convenient and fast. It will serve you until we learn your tastes."

"On my world," Doug said, holding up the pie for emphasis. "This would be called fast food."

After being shown how to work the bathroom fixtures and other items in the cottage Silstras offered to take the Humans on a tour of the city. "I would like that very much," Ken replied.

A few minutes later a small egg-shaped craft landed lightly near the cottage. Stricklen did not recall seeing Silstras call for the taxi. When he mentioned this to him the Kyrra replied, "Each of us has a small device implanted within us that allows us to communicate with any nearby data terminal. I simply told the terminal we needed a small conveyance and it responded."

"We have such technology," Ken replied. Turning to Tasha he added, "It's like Sorbith's biolink implant."

As they boarded the egg, Tasha asked, "I hope you don't mind my asking, but — how old are you?"

"In your measurement system, I am 37 years old. In our society I am considered a youngster. I have not yet chosen my occupation."

Silstras slowly cruised through the streets of the city, if one could call them that. The egg floated without a sound and easily maneuvered between the widely spaced buildings. The city was unlike any the two had ever seen. No structure over eight stories tall existed and all the buildings were surrounded by parks and vegetation. The typical concrete landscape of a Human city was not present. There were no roads, as all travel was accomplished by floating eggs. There did not seem to be very many people about and Stricklen asked about their absence.

"Throughout our history, our population has grown very slowly. We have become accustomed to open spaces and uncrowded conditions. We have no lack of space within the worldship to build new cities or additional housing. All of our manufacturing complexes are located in the industrial areas which are on the levels below us. There are large portions of the worldship which remain unoccupied or unused."

"You seem to have created a paradise," Doug remarked.

Silstras showed them as much of the city as he could from the air. It appeared clean and well organized with a large number of parks and open spaces located throughout. Silstras then took them to a large air purification plant which drew in enormous amounts of air to be purified. This plant was responsible for a steady breeze which blew across the entire area.

On their way back to the cottage Ken remarked, "It's easy to forget that you are living inside an artificial world. Don't you ever worry that some unforeseeable disaster could occur and your entire race will become extinct?"

"No. Every conceivable danger has been anticipated and guarded against. There are hundreds of backups and thousands of safeguards in place. This structure has existed for tens of thousands of years and it will remain here for tens of thousands of years in the future."

After a full evening of exploration, the three travelers returned to their cottage. Doug tried to order a steak from the kitchen but instead received a bland tasting plant substitute. The Kyrra, he remembered, did not eat the flesh of other animals.

Tasha requested a selection of real fruits. They arrived by egg within ten minutes of her request. She retired to the common room to try each one. Ken used his data terminal to contact the ship. After ensuring himself that all was secure, he stretched out on his bed. He had intended to lay down only long enough to relax but before he knew it he was fast asleep. He dreamed of his sailboat on a calm ocean, only this time, he was not alone.

22 - Kyrra History

After almost nine hours of sleep, Stricklen woke up, used the bathroom and shower facilities, and changed into a clean uniform. He checked in with the ship and was surprised to learn that the repairs to the damaged hull were almost complete. He then started up the stairs.

Halfway to the top he stopped and sniffed the air, the unforgettable smell of bacon and eggs filled his nostrils. As he entered the large central room, Ken saw Doug sitting in a chair with a plate of bacon and eggs in his lap.

Doug looked up and through a mouthful of food said, "Well hello there sleepy-head! You just missed Tasha, she left a few minutes ago for a walk. Get some breakfast and have a seat because I have got a story to tell you."

Stricklen could not believe his senses. "Is that real or does it just smell like it?"

"While you slept, I did some research using the data terminal," Doug replied setting his plate down. "I got tired of drinking coffee that tasted like warm root beer so I asked the machine if it would be able to reproduce our food if it had samples. When it said yes I told it to send someone to the ship to collect as many samples as they could carry back to their lab for analysis. I then called the ship and told them to expect company.

"Later on, I found out that instead of a person, a machine had arrived and asked to see the food storage area. One of the guards escorted it to the food stores and, following its directions, pointed to each item and named it. The machine took a small sample from each item and then left. After a couple of hours I was told that the food duplicates were ready. Now when I order bacon and eggs I get bacon and eggs."

Stricklen walked into the kitchen and ordered a steak and egg breakfast with fresh coffee. Five minutes later, he walked back into the room carrying his meal and happily chewing on a perfect steak. "I could get to like it here," he said between bites. "How long did I sleep anyway?"

"Oh, about eight and a half hours," Doug replied. "If I remember right, you had been up for a long time. I, on the other hand, had just woke up since I had taken the late watch. I was still wide awake when you zonked out. Do you know that the sun, or whatever the hell that thing is that looks like a sun, never sets here? They don't have a night!"

"They don't need a night because they don't sleep," Stricklen said. "What's this story you said you have to tell me?"

Doug scraped the last bit of egg off his plate with a piece of toast and popped it into his mouth before continuing. "Like I said, I did some research using the data terminal and I found some very interesting information. I asked it to give me a brief history of the Kyrra starting with the time period just after the Hess were created and launched. I learned a lot more about them than I really cared to but I let the machine ramble on. Let me condense it as much as possible for you."

The Kyrra had spread themselves over many star systems. The space habitats in which they lived were capable of interstellar flight and the Kyrra used them as giant spaceships to explore the galaxy. If an interesting cosmological event was occurring somewhere, then one or more habitats would be there to conduct research.