Zollocco: A Novel of Another Universe (8 page)

"Well, that's where we have a problem. That information is secret, and I have no idea who knows the answers. It is said that originally a flutist opened the case with the music from his solid-gold flute, but when he died he willed the flute to one of the Priesthoods, and it has never been seen since. Somewhere in the school, three tuning forks are kept, and they, when struck in a certain order open the case. I think the tuning forks are kept in different places."
"Naturally."
"Now the key, I don't even know what that is."
"This is a charming fairy tale." At this point Raiboothnar crept into the room. "There you are Sunbreeze. What ideas are you putting into the head of this poor creature? Think what you are doing. You should be ashamed. Supposing this creature did manage to work the transporter. Into what kind of world would she land? Who would be there to care for her and protect her? You know how many cultures treat space travelers. They stone them to death. Would you like to be stoned to death, creature?" I felt the stone in my gut burn with internal fire, so heavy, so burning.
"I call upon the Holy ones to settle this dispute, to make you see the wrongness of your action, and in extremis to help this woman escape your maleficent intentions," Sunbreeze raged. The visiting music professor, who I had joined in a meal without speaking the language, entered the room. The small black case was tucked neatly under his arm. Whenever I caught sight of him, he was always carrying that case. I assumed it was a musical instrument. Maybe it was a clarinet.
Raiboothnar snapped, "Oh, Sunbreeze," and then she sneered, "don't bother to finish your holy summons. You imagine wrongdoing, or worse you object because you didn't enter the creature on the List yourself."
"You lying, manipulative -- "
"Calm yourself Professor Sunbreeze. Arguing with Professor Raiboothnar only creates greater discord. We must find another way," coaxed the music professor. He held out his hand. On it he wore a black ring. "Let's go to dinner, the three of us."
"Professor, please count the creature's presence, there are four of us," said Raiboothnar.
"Madame, I was hoping to eat with these two, to see if I could settle their disturbed feelings somewhat."
"You are kind, professor. Yes I will allow the Zitam to have dinner with you. See if you can talk some sense into Sunbreeze, or I will be forced to bar her access to the Zitam." Slowly, in a creeping fashion, Raiboothnar left the room.
The stone was glowing my gut, red like a hot coal, and I knew I had to escape, by the weight of that stone.
"Did you know, Professor Sunbreeze, that that transporter has a unique property?" asked the professor.
"Now don't tell me you believe the magic wand is a transporter," I snarled.
The music professor raised his eyebrows, "It is. How do you think I got here? The entire faculty gets here by way of that transporter."
"And the students, and Sunbreeze's Toelakhan?"
"They come by way of other transporters, but don't call the Toelakhan, `Sunbreeze's Toelakhan'. I imagine she objects to that."
"I sure do!" Sunbreeze said with a shudder, "But what is the unique property you mentioned, Professor."
"That this transporter can be transported while it transports."
"No! There are only three transporters in the whole universe that can do that."
"Well, this is one of the three. But this is just between us, okay?"
At dinner the stone I carried rolled back into its hard, smooth, cold form making me chilly and uncommunicative. But I watched, and I listened. Everyone was chattering about the upcoming holiday. Penitence Day, followed by Immaculate Conception Day, the two were soon to be upon us. On Penitence Day, everyone was supposed to consider the misdeeds of the two past pregnancies (time was estimated in pregnancies rather than years, since the duration of a human pregnancy was the only length of time common to all the different worlds). The day was to be spent in fasting, reflection, meditation, and services for those wishing to observe. According to the busy voices around me, a Priest or Priestess from one of the sects would reveal themselves for spiritual counseling and services. From what the people were saying, this Priest or Priestess was already among us, but incognito for some sort of religious reason.
The people whispered, giggled, looked around; who could it be? On Immaculate Conception Day, observers were supposed to take ceremonial baths, dress as the person they wished to become for the following two pregnancies, and break the fast with a lavish feast. On that day, the Priest or Priestess would be available for giving blessings, for psychic readings, and for counseling. The room grew humid and cozy from the talk, the excited happy gestures, and from the healthful, steaming, aromatic food. I looked down the tables at the colors of the food, clothing, and faces. The people whispered, giggled, looked around; who could it be?
I turned my attention to my plate. My gaze drifted and settled on the hands of the music Professor who sat across from me. My vacant gaze rested on his black ring. Smooth most of the way round, it was welded into a design at the place where the stone is usually set. The ring looked to be made out of iron.
"The forsythia wine will at last be ready to drink on Immaculate Conception Day," someone remarked.
The mention of forsythia wine reminded me of the day of my captivity. So the slaughter of the herd of forsythia had been so the school could "properly" observe a holy day.
Two days later was the day of Penitence. Most of the people were going around with solemn faces. The great majority were fasting. A Priest and a Priestess had made themselves known. The fabric of the Priestess's robe was almost exactly the deep green leaf design of the brocades in the assembly room. She was one of the students, and this surprised all, no one recalling from past times anyone other than a faculty member being a Priest.
"Of course," Sunbreeze told me, "there was that time the Priest turned out to be a janitor! What a lesson there had been in that! The Forests always try to teach us a lesson through their selection of the Holy one they send."
"Sunbreeze," I said, "I don't understand. Are the people here tree-worshipers?"
Sunbreeze laughed, and her laugh rippled like a breeze and warmed like the sun. She answered, "That is a strange way to put it, but in an odd way you might say go. Each of the Forests of Ipernia has a distinct personality and consciousness, and so, of course, each of them has a name. The Forest to the south of us is Zollocco, a name the Forest also bestows on his pet creature. I understand that for many, many pregnancies Zollocco has favored a huge male haetrist."
My mind wandered to a reoccurring dream I had had when I lived in the Forest. I had dreamed that the huge, terrifying, ape-like creature I had seen a few times was named Zollocco. I had also had the weird sense whenever I sat quietly in the woods, `communing with nature' I liked to think of it, that I was Zollocco as well, a member as all of the woodland life that surrounded me was a member of Zollocco the Forest. My interest deepened in what Sunbreeze was telling me.
She continued, "To the north the Forest is named Kiappia; that Forest also favors a haetrist, but a female one. Kiappia is the sponsor of our school here. She says she is a female Forest, the twin sister of Zollocco."
"Sponsor?"
"Yes, you see Ipernia -- that is the name of this whole planet -- Ipernia is the collective consciousness of all of the Forests of this world. Ipernia is a personality and consciousness in her own right."
"Ipernia is a she?"
"A hermaphrodite. Anyway, long, long ago, eons really, Ipernia took pity on some people whose planet was dying. There had been an Age of Genocide, and that one planet was one of the few planets where humans were still a viable species. On most other habitable worlds, people were becoming extinct. Ipernia realized that if the people of this one planet were not relocated humanity might well die out completely. Ipernia brought many of these people to live here, as many as the individual Forests were willing to sponsor. Not all of the Forests were willing to sponsor people; Zollocco wasn't, for instance."
"But what do you mean sponsor?"
"To give the people a meadow, a field, or allow the people to make a clearing to live in, and to teach the people which of their native foods they may plant here. About half of the sponsoring Forests even allow the people to enter the Forest to collect agreed upon foods. Kiappia allows us to gather forsythia, kelp, and mirnie. Now, the people of that planet, all the people of that time, manufactured their own food, so only those people who were willing to drastically change their diets to Forest foods were allowed to settle here. This is why we don't ever serve manufactured food here. The group of people who first came here had the responsibility of overseeing the transport of the rest of their people to the worlds surrounding this one. Since humanity had nearly made itself extinct through war and the belief in combative competition, the Forests agreed to teach humanity how to survive. This is why this planet fosters schools and seminaries. The Forests teach some people the Ways of Peace in the seminaries, and we teach ourselves the Ways of Peace in our schools. The students of the schools and the seminaries then go out to the rest of the worlds to teach the Forests' knowledge of the Ways of Peace. Since the people who settled the outer worlds kept their home customs intact, the Forest Wisdom permeates the cultures of people less and less the farther away from Ipernia you get.
“There are exceptions to this. My home world, Aridia, is very far out but we follow the Forest Wisdom very closely. My planet, after the Age of Genocide, almost died because we thought nothing of battling the Forest Ways of our World into submission, preferring Human Ways instead. Members of Ipernia's seminaries came to our planet to help us revive our dying world. Legend has it that a secret and psychically powerful sect was responsible for holding the magnetic poles of our planet steady until a natural balance was regained. We were one of the worlds of people that didn't emigrate. Ipernia sensed that if we let our planet die, the delicate balance of health maintained by other planets would be disrupted. Aridia is a very beautiful and serene place because we have blended the teachings we have received from Ipernia with our own spiritual Mysteries. All of the different worlds and all of the different cultures have different religions, and Ipernia doesn't want to change that. Those of us who study here on Ipernia wish to serve as resources of information, in the case of the schools, and as reservoirs of comfort and guidance in the case of the seminaries. It is a privilege to live on Ipernia. I believe that. The Forest World has helped the peoples of the Solar Systems Imenkapur live without war. Ipernia has aided and still guides my home planet toward renewed health. I do believe in the Wisdom of the Forests, the Ways They suggest Peace. So, yes, I guess I am a `tree worshiper' as you call me."
Sunbreeze grinned and then changed the subject: "The Priestess is one of our finest music students. She has an amazingly lovely voice. Why don't you come to hear her sing? She is leading a service by singing."
The priestess in her green robe looked exquisite standing before the lectern in the assembly room. When she spread her arms and sang with the voice of a strong wind in the trees, the robe, her song, and the wand in the cage before her seemed to come alive as a woodland deity. I attended the service, but I did not fast. No one commented. No one even seemed to mind. I wandered around, a few cookies in my fist to torment fasters. This small revenge lightened somewhat the weight of the stone in my gut. As I walked down the all-blue hallway, I clumsily bumped into another person. Apart from my not paying attention, the reason why I stumbled into this person was that he was robed in blue, had his hood up, and his back to me. He was camouflaged. When I walked into him, he turned, caught his balance, and smiled as I blurted out an embarrassed "Pardon me, I'm so sorry. Would you like a cookie?" and instantly grimaced at my theological gaffe.
"I thank thee, no," said the Priest, who, I was astonished to discover, was the music professor. He was still toting his small black case. "I was wondering," said he, "why thou dost not have any curiosity about that scroll Professor Raiboothnar possesses. Why dost thou not look at it? Methinks I saw Professor Raiboothnar going to services, and if thou wilt pardon me, I myself do wish to attend services. Professor Raiboothnar may wish some counseling afterwards, and I must be available to all who seek spiritual advising." Then he trotted down the hall, well camouflaged in the blue passageway and only discernible by the purple belt encircling his waist, the tasseled ends sweeping by his shins like metronomes. I made my way to Raiboothnar's quarters to steal the scroll. I stepped into her room, and to my great horror, there she stood.
"Creature, what are you doing in my room without permission?"
I caught my breath and answered, "I thought today I should put aside my grievance, and we might attend a service together. The priestess of the Summer’s Green is going to be leading a group in singing. It should be nice."
She laughed her dour, ugly laugh, "Religion, the belief in a benevolent Forest Planet teaching us the ways of purity and spiritually is for the superstitious, the naive, and the outand-out stupid. Of which category do you consider yourself a member?"
This seemed to be a good point to leave, so I did. How could I get my hands on that scroll?
Later in the evening I went into the dining room to have yet another round of cookies. The dining room was cozy, empty, half lit. A lovely fire roared in the fireplace so that those who wished to eat might feel welcome doing so. Fasting was considered a very personal choice. Since most attending the school chose to observe the fast, it was a wasted effort to have the chefs cook. Food for simple meals was available in the pantry, which on this one day was left unlocked. Occasionally fasting made some feel weak and dizzy and a sweet drink or a small bite of something sweet soon restored them. So throughout the day a jug of hot cider with cups, and doughnut-like cakes plus cookies were set out in the wood paneled dining room. I sat down at a table beside the fire with a steaming mug and some of the delectables. I had leisurely eaten my piece of cake when the blue robed Priest came in. To my surprise he also got a mug of cider and sat down by the fire. He set down his black case and a small wooden box he was also carrying. He silently enjoyed his cider.