Spheria (14 page)

“Impressive,” said Min, approaching him closely.

“Anyway,” continued Max, less animated. “I still believe in this project, but it pays crap. I could’ve owned this Mercedes if I’d sold the technology to the military, or marketed it to big data analytics companies. I would’ve made a fortune. Instead, I accepted the humble life of a crazy scientist. It’s nights like this that a little piece of me regrets that decision. If Graham wasn’t already a billionaire, I bet he would’ve invested and licensed. It’s not fair he had his opportunity to make it big with technology, but he’s depriving me of it.”

They both fell silent for a minute. Then Min spoke in a hushed voice. “Stealing isn't a solution, Max. I’m going to believe it’s your current lack of judgment at play here. Let’s keep walking before security comes by.”

“Sure.”

They made it to the road and walked side by side, heading toward the lower campus. It was misting. The humidity collecting on the asphalt created a bright reflective sheen. The many lights around the Health Center looked like a city when doubled by their reflections in the pavement.

They strolled down the road and around some construction areas. Max stumbled a few times, and Min was more than pleased to help support and guide him. In more time than should have been required, the road ended, and they turned left down Main. The street entered a traffic circle, which they crossed. Then they went a short distance down Dowling Way before exiting onto a footpath.

The small pond was just to their left as the path meandered around it. The surface was dead calm. The trees obscured the lights, allowing Max and Min to glimpse some of the brighter stars. The water appeared to lead into a mirrored dimension through which they could fall into the sky. They came upon a stone bench, and Max plopped down upon it. Min sat next to him.

Max stared up at the sky for an extended time in complete silence. Min stared at the reflections off the pond’s surface. She wondered if they were looking at the same stars but in completely different directions. Then a bright spot appeared as the moon began to creep over the trees.

“See,” said Max. “Take the moon, for example.”

“Example of what?”

“We landed a spacecraft with people on the moon. Multiple times.”

“Sure. It’s impressive.”

“That’s not what I mean. What did we get out of it? America put a flag and some footprints on the moon. So what? Seems like a waste of money just to be able to boast about beating the Russians. But wait. Is that all we got?”

“I don’t know.”

“I do. These are the things I pay attention to. We got a ton out of researching how to land a man on the moon.”

“Like what?”

“CAT scanners, computer microchips, cordless tools, the ear thermometer, freeze-dried foods, insulation, joysticks, satellite television, scratch resistant lenses, and let’s not forget memory foam. Do you have a memory foam mattress?”

“No, it’s too expensive for me.”

“Yeah, me too. But a lot of people have them. And all this cool stuff that helps us live better, richer lives is a product of these scientific missions. I don’t even have time to list all the amazing things that came from the space shuttle program. The point is, if the military had my Qube technology, even if they were using it to develop advanced warships or new forms of weapons, what kind of byproducts would trickle into society and enrich our lives? I almost mourn the lost opportunities. It’s the regret I feel, sometimes, that makes me second guess my decision. That’s all.”

Max quieted down and gazed up at the moon with droopy eyes. When he finally looked back at Min, her face was mere inches away from his. And then, as if magnets were somehow involved, their lips gently locked together.

Chapter 16 - Cliffhanger

“We gain our ends only with the laws of nature; we control her only by understanding her laws.” - Jacob Bronowski

Le∙ma and Sa∙ma walked back together toward the blue mountains, side by side. Still shaken from their terrifying experiences, they weaved through the foliage. They headed in the general direction of the river.

“We’ve both been through a remarkable day today,” said Sa∙ma. “The Lumen Walk is meant to be a transitional experience, but this one has gone beyond any I've ever heard of. Traditionally, as I said before, you're left here to figure out how to get back home.”

“Over the mountains?”

“Not quite. Look at them.”

Le∙ma had been, but she focused her full attention on the mountains now. For some reason, they looked larger than before, and more imposing.

Sa∙ma watched her for a moment, then added, “How will you get over?”

“My plan was to look for an opening on this side, and take the platforms up again.”

“That’s the problem, there is no opening or platforms on this side. The mountain looks different because it's nearly vertical. The way we got here isn't the way we return.”

Le∙ma mulled this over for a bit. “So how long does it take to find an alternative?”

“About three to four days. The reason is there is no way over that you can find. I don’t want to risk having you wander out here that long after what you've been through. So I will assist you a bit. I have a feeling you'll figure it out in short order regardless.”

“If I can’t find it,” said Le∙ma without missing a beat, “then I have to make it.”

“Exactly!” exclaimed Sa∙ma. “You never fail to meet my expectations.”

“Thank you.”

They emerged from the foliage and stood on the edge of a river of red. They could see to the left, further down the river, the bridge they’d built on their journey out here. They headed along the shore in that direction.

“So tell me,” Sa∙ma said. “I mean, use what you know, to find a way to the other side.”

“Aha. You let slip clues through your questions,” said Le∙ma, as Sa∙ma stopped to study her. “There must be a way to the other side that doesn’t involve going over the mountains.”

“Go on.”

“We could dig a passage under the mountains. But if that were possible we’d have arrived that way.”

“Probable theory.”

They reached the bridge and began crossing. Le∙ma stopped in the center, peering at the red rock below. The textures covering it seemed to flow in a slow ooze toward the Rift in the distance.

“If we can’t go over, and we can’t go under, and we can’t go through, then we’ve got to go around.”

“Around?” mocked Sa∙ma.

“Yes, around is the only remaining option. But I can see all of the mountains. They start at the Rift, curve around, and meet the Rift again at the other end, thus enclosing this valley. So the only possible place to go around is at the Rift itself.”

“The mountains,” countered Sa∙ma, “flow into the Rift, so there is no ledge to stand on.” Le∙ma could see, even from this distance, that the mountains tapered toward the Rift. They hung over the edge like giant fingers. Scanning the Rift around the world sphere, she noticed for the first time that the mountains resembled gripping claws. They looked like a massively contorted creature pulling the Rift apart.

“I see. But I suspect there is some way to solve this, using what I've learned on this journey.”

“What have you learned?”

“I've gained a deeper understanding of the properties of the rock. And how the different colors react. In the Colony and valley around it, we have brown rock and green plants, and a river that we never approach. So the extent of our experience is that they just are. They don’t react, other than the green plants growing during a green Source. We’re told the mountains are impassable, and until now, I believed it. So I never had a reason to approach them. We’re also told the river is dangerous and never to approach it, so I always stayed away. It's not until now that I understood the exact nature of why these rules are in place. So I've learned that the blue rock repels everything and that the red rock attracts everything.”

“Good. A simple lesson, but one reserved for us Lumenaries. The common Polyans never question the rules of nature that we lay forth.”

“Why’s that? Why is this knowledge reserved for us?”

“Tradition.”

“Tradition? Like throwing the yellow shard into the Rift? Or the Polyans with the largest number of legs getting to feast first? We do these things because of tradition. But why?”

“We’ve always done these things,” countered Sa∙ma, as if there was no other necessary explanation.

“If that’s your answer and the extent of your knowledge, then I think we have forgotten why we do these things.” Le∙ma leaned toward Sa∙ma as if trying to peer into him. “I think there was an actual reason sometime in the past, but we’ve lost that, and still continue to do these things. The reason we started them might not even exist anymore, or even worse, might be wrong now.”

Sa∙ma considered what Le∙ma had said. Never before had he heard a Polyan question the rules, and it gave him an uncomfortable feeling. Still, it reinforced his belief that there was something special about Le∙ma. Her mind could quickly grasp things as they are, then take them a step forward, one that even he rarely took.

He countered the only way his training would allow. “Tradition exists to protect us. To allow us to operate without having to relearn lessons of the past.”

“But that’s my point. We need to know the lessons, or they may not be correct anymore. Like how the mountains can rise, the rivers can widen, and the plants can grow. The one thing we know is true is that everything changes. Our culture, habits, lifestyle, are changing. We used to be nomads, now we live in a Colony. You and I are changing. We need to question, to move beyond restraints of the past.”

“Who’s teaching who here?” asked Sa∙ma, shifting his weight between his legs.

“Sorry, Master. If I'm overstepping my bounds, please let me know.”

“Between us, you may say anything. But be careful when among the others, especially the Leaders. They’re stricter in enforcing the rules than I am.”

“I bet with some creative persuasion the Council could bend the rules, as well.”

“You may be correct,” said Sa∙ma. “But nobody has tried that, as far as I know, and certainly I haven’t.”

“Maybe you should? Maybe our Colony could improve with some creative interpretation of the rules.”

Despite his age, Sa∙ma had a surprisingly open mind. But even still, he was getting uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. He decided to get back on task. “So, speaking of rules, how can we get around the mountains?”

“Okay, the only special rocks, as far as I can tell, are blue and red, mountain and river. The one thing you didn’t show me is what happens when these two meet. The blue should repel the red. But at the same time, the red should attract the blue.” Le∙ma looked at Sa∙ma for comment, but he didn’t react. “I can see you're not going to tell me, but you already did.”

“Really?”

“Yes. In your creation story. The river god Pi∙ro, who today you met, stuck his red rock to the blue rock of Ju∙ro, who created the mountains. And the red rock didn’t turn the blue to red. We need to bring red rock to the mountains.”

Without pausing, Le∙ma grabbed a stalk of plant and laid it on the shore so that only the tip of one end touched the red river. Like before, it turned red along the length. Le∙ma touched a segment of the former plant with one of her legs, and it stuck fast to her. She yanked back, and the red piece broke loose from the other segments and remained as a chunk on the end of her leg. She touched the ground with it, and it didn’t stick. “Correction, red attracts everything except brown.”

She played with the red stone for a while. There was more to it than she expected. She found she could move it to various parts of her body. It was hard to unstick, but not impossible. When it stuck between two parts, such as two of her legs, pulling them apart would dislodge it from one. And she found that if she tipped it a certain way, she could control which one it detached from.
 

Le∙ma repeated the whole process, this time salvaging seven more units of red rock. She attached four of these chunks to each of them, one to the side of each leg. Sa∙ma just watched in silent amusement. She was still unable to read him, but she took the lack of feedback as a good sign.

“Come on,” she said, “let’s go to the mountains.”

She took off in as straight a line as possible toward where the mountains met the Rift, and Sa∙ma followed. On their way, they did encounter a trail heading in roughly the same direction, which made movement faster. By mid-day, they’d reached their goal.

Le∙ma removed one of the chunks of red rock from her leg. She reached toward the blue rock of the mountain wall next to them but hesitated a short distance before reaching it.

“Do it!” commanded Sa∙ma. He wobbled with anticipation.

She pushed her leg forward. There was no feeling of repulsion from the blue, and then the two stones met. Immediately an audible sound emerged, something between a crackle and a hum. The point at which the two rocks touched pulsed with a pink glow. Startled, she yanked her leg back, but it stayed stuck. She watched the pulse, which continued, but the blue didn’t turn to red. She found that with some effort, she could slide the red rock over the surface of the blue. She grabbed another red piece with the tip of her leg and attached it to the mountain. Sliding them up, she hung from them. Then she positioned the remaining two so that she was now connected to the mountain with all four legs. Using a combination of pressure and sliding, she worked out how to move, and was climbing up and along the mountain. She made a circle, coming back facing the ground where Sa∙ma stood looking up at her.