Chapter One There was a crashing sound of wood and metal, chairs and a couple tables fell and scattered, and a thud was heard as a human body was thrown against solid, sturdy wood.
"Manaikos lemnokon ne alkaresh...tek?" <A little anxious to leave, no?>
"Look, for the last time, no hablo whatever you're speaking!"
"Kemnoph-tek eth Laikodaem?" <Do you not speak Laikodaem?>
"Hey buddy! Hands off the leather or else!"
Although it wasn't as if Zed had much leverage in this case...being pinned to the rear wall of the Neonia Café by a couple of Laikosian soldiers wouldn't allow much leverage for pretty much anybody...save for those blessed with the luck to own a bazooka! Laikosians were pretty formidable...especially in their combat ARMOR. Even more so when they're armed to the teeth with machineguns and lasers and God knows what else!
"Kaidikos-eka ne alkaresh...eth lophnokis aito domaelisi eka!" <He can't leave...you know we have to kill him!> said one Laikosian to the other...the "other" being the one holding Zed seven inches above the floor against the wall with one armored hand around his throat. Although untrained in Laikodaem, the accompanying body language made all too clear their intentions...to kill him!
"Hey-ey! I'ven't done anything wrong!" pleaded Zed uselessly. It didn't seem like they understood Common anymore than Zed spoke Laikodaem.
"Hoph shekmenosal Zenestayia vo Laikodias!" <You've insulted the Empire of Laikodias!> shouted the Laikosian holding Zed up. Then both soldiers drew pistols (of all the weapons at their disposal...handguns!?)
Of course, before they could kill him, somebody rose from a nearby table (you see, it would be kind of a bummer to have the protagonist die this early!) and shouted "Tek!" <No!>
The soldiers turned to look at the agitator. You see, up to this point, the café's crowd had taken this unfortunate episode in stride, almost as if they weren't surprised. They left nearby tables to get out of the way, and that basically the entire reaction up until then.
And this agitator was Laikosian herself because, well, no matter how hard much you disguise yourself, you can't hide the large wings sticking out of your back. Yes, that's the mark of a Laikosian: wings. These wings, like many other things concerning Laikosians, were magical and despite that they were much to small to carry even a petit Laikosian (a hundred pounds or so) under normal laws of physics...they magically lifted even hulking, muscular Laikosian soldiers off the ground. A Laikosian ARMOR had its own magical flying mechanisms and so the wings were sheathed in metal casing and affixed with weaponry.
The agitator's wings were powder blue except for the tips, which were bright magenta. Her skin, like most Laikosians, was very white with a hint of pearlescence, and her eyes had golden irises. He build was slim, not that it was very easy to tell since her clothes were so drab and basic, and she bordered on androgynous with flat chest and narrow hips. Her only obvious feminine trait was the long, silver hair that was worn down to the small of her back.
The woman spoke with the soldiers for a while, the soldiers being wary but impatient to kill Zed for whatever insult he had inflicted. The woman switched from Laikodaem to Common (which was a dialect derived from Earth's original English).
"Look, stranger...you've committed a crime against these people. You, ah...well, they tell me you relieved yourself upon a shrubbery sacred to our-to their goddess of fertility of soil and abundance of food...Nemokailek."
"Oh...sorry..." Zed felt really poorly now. It wasn't even a big charge like murder of theft or trying to restore the "Technologies Forbidden to Man"...but taking a leak among a bunch of stupid plants!
"Hey, stranger," said the woman again, "If you want to keep your head, you better offer a better apology than that to these two soldiers.
"Hey, uh...listen...I'm really very sorry for pissing on you're, uh, holy-bush...and I'll never let it happen again, I swear upon...Nemo-what's-her-face that I won't! I'm very, very, very, very..."
Zed continued on babbling. The woman started translating the apology, and when it was finished, the soldier put the man down. The other one protested, but the first ignored him and pushed Zed away.
"You can leave in safety," the woman said, "They accept your apology...you had no idea that it was a shrine."
The soldiers left in a huff, their ARMORs' rumbling steps audible even after they left the building. The woman walked over to Zed, who was kneeling and breathing hard. The rest of the café crowd went on as if nothing had ever happened.
After a moment of silence between the two, Zed finally got up, brushed the dust off his jacket, and said, "Thanks a million! I mean it! I didn't expect my apology to do much...but-"
"Well, I, ah...paraphrased what you said...you could say I padded it with politeness and reverence."
"Well...if there's anything I can do for you as thanks...say, what's your name?"
"My name's Onyashelikai...ah, call me Anya."
"Oh...I see...so you're who?"
"I just said-I'm Anya!"
"Then get off me!" Zed broke into uncontrollable laughter, while Anya sighed and kept herself from smacking Zed. Instead, she picked up her cup of punch and threw it at him.
"Hey! Quit throwing punches!" shouted Zed angrily,"You'll ruin my jacket!"
"You know what, stranger? That looks like an aviator's jacket."
"Right."
"The last humans to fly planes on Enriphos were the final few of the Republic's Gyrfalcon Air Regiment more than twenty years ago. In fact...that blue badge on your left shoulder is proof that that is a Gyrfalcon jacket...say...how did you..."
"How did I get this? Well, ah, my father was a Gyrfalconer...he flew a MFF-119 Vulture Hawk during the final Laikosian advances on Enriphos. The final push to exterminate the Republic from this world."
Anya stopped speaking to Zed as if he were nothing more than a smart-ass brat and allowed some compassion in her voice. "Right...did your father die in combat?"
Zed laughed a little with embarrassment, "No actually...he lived on afterwards...he's still around...he gave me this jacket as a going-away present on my eighteenth birthday. That was...four years ago, and I haven't visited him since."
"So he could be dead, couldn't he?" asked Anya musingly.
"I suppose...but I know he hasn't...I would know."
"Hmm...well...what are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same of you, now couldn't I?" said Zed with a smirk, "A Laikosian who knows Common that sticks her neck out for a measly little human like me?"
"Well, now that you put it that way...I guess I shouldn't be nosy." Anya was smart, and now that Zed had confirmation of that, he could hold a lot more respect for her.
"I will tell you though, that I have been on a quest ever since I left my father. A quest that most Laikosians wouldn't appreciate...but you might. Who's to say?"
"You aren't trying to recover lost technologies, are you?"
"Nah...well, that isn't the principle aim...anyway...why don't I buy you dinner? Or a drink, at least! In gratitude...not too many people-or Laikosians for that matter-would stick out their neck like that for me."
"I think I will."
And with that, the two unlikely friends walked down the avenue amongst the hustle and bustle of pedestrians, horse-drawn carriages, and the occasional car or Laikosian hovercraft.
***** "After years of political unrest, diplomatic failure, and bloody fighting among the colonization forces of both the valiant Empire of Laikodias and the deceitful bandits of the Interterrestrial Republic, the last elements of the human's haphazard and foolish government were forced off of Enriphos and its seven moons.
"The human's chaos that they called 'democracy' was only a thin level above anarachy. This corrupt and chaotic system, which places power in the meek and incompetent as well as the deserving and elite was to atrophy all it touched. Only the heroic legions of the Empire, indomitable and righteous, deserving of the blessings of Zael and Fenith and the conquest of all lands under the gods' eyes, were able to hold back the forces of darkness; the humans' own unwitting folly.
"With New Gaia properly renamed Enriphos after the goddess Enriphae Peacebearer, and the remaining Sons of Edamos (humans) under Imperial rule, it was decided that in order to prevent insurrection and to allow better integration into the great and illustrious Empire, technology would be restricted to humans to a point that they could not rebel nor teach themselves again the bitter wines of Egalitarianism and Entropy.
"These 'Technologies Forbidden to Man' would include but limit themselves to all machines in the image of man's mind, power of the stars or the alteration of light, inorganic flight, weapons of any great caliber, range, or power, and vehicles that need only the blood of the planet to run instead of the blood of the beast of burden.
"These are the decrees of his Holy Imperial Most August Majesty, Emperor Rhelphovio LXXVII. Praise be to the gods."
Zed stared back in amazement. "I remember my dad telling me that...er, not word for word, but in essence, anyway. He also told about when he heard that exact speech given right after the Empire won control of Enriphos and her moons. I'm just amazed you know that same speech word for word."
"I have a good memory," replied Anya. She took another sip of her drink.
"Say, what's in that stuff, anyway?"
"If you must know, it's fermented kimnora...a lot like 'wine'...except with less alcohol."
"Ah, perfect...wine was never meant to get drunk on anyway, I guess...but what would I know, eh?" Zed took a long swig of his own drink, "This stuff though...you drink this when you want alcohol."
"That's one thing I've never understood...the human's need to get drunk...why? It only makes you dumber and slower than you already are. It embarrasses and endangers you both physically and socially."
"Ah, forget it...you wouldn't understand."
Anya stood up with a clatter. "And that's another thing...why do you Sons of Edamos always say that!? Of course I'll understand! I'll have you know I've spent as much time living among men as you have been alive."
"Gee...you don't look that old to me..."
Anya took Zed's bottle before he could take another drink. "Laikosians age slower! I-I thought you were more than an imbecilic pain-in-the-ass, but I guess I was wrong!"
"Wow, you have been living among humans...that's the first I've ever heard a Laikosian cuss...usually you guys say 'Thou art an unholy swine!' or something. But anyway, I don't mean to get ya mad..."
"I could be more convinced..."
"Well...I guess I'm a bit cynical from my travels-say, you gonna give my drink back?-besides, yer not so bright and cheery yourself. That memorized speech of yours doesn't really lighten one's day, does it?"
"It does if you're a-"
"An elitist, hard-ass Laikosian? You bet!"
"That's it!" Anya spilled as much of Zed's beer as she could on his head. Zed sighed, the surrounding patrons laughed to themselves, and while Anya was still fuming, Zed remarked, "At least you didn't throw a punch this time!"
***** After the incident in the bar, the second establishment where Zed had nearly fallen into a violent situation, he felt he needed to ease up a little on the smart-alleck remarks. "Say, Anya...are you headed anywhere?"
"Not in particular, no...why?"
"Well...you seem like good company...I mean, it's awful useful having someone around who knows Laikodaem and all of the Laikosian customs and such. You'll be able to tell me which bushes I can't pee on and which dry cleaners are the best...so what do you say?"
"I say you cut down on the wise-cracks, or you'll get yourself into trouble, and maybe even me. If I'm going to follow you around, then you need to realize that your actions no longer affect just you, but me as well...so I would pay attention to what I do around Laikosians."
"Yeah, sure...whatever you, say, mom."
Anya sighed, "You're never going to stop, are you?"
"Lay off the patronizing speeches and I'll stop."
"Grow up a little and maybe I'll stop patronizing you!"
To that, Zed had no immediate comeback. He thrust his hands in his pockets and slumped his shoulders. He grumbled a little, but he didn't say much else for a while. After a car from the Imperial Viceroy's Office sped by, Anya asked, "Where are we going, Zed Nemokailek Blasphemer?"
"What? Oh...Laikosians...your infatuation with epithets can be amusing...but also pretty annoying..."
"Ah, so you are capable of intelligent speech!"
"Aw, cut the sarcasm! We're going somewhere to rest the night, I ain't sleeping in an alleyway!"
"Ah, you have a room?"
"No."
"Oh...then where are your belongings?"
"I'm wearing them all."
That made Anya stop and think. "I took refuge in a Sanctuary last night, but I doubt any site sacred to Laikosian Gods would allow a Son of Edamos the Betrayer onto the holy grounds."
"I don't want holy grounds, just a bed!"
"Well...the entire sanctuary is considered holy ground to their patron God. No Sons of Edamos are allowed."
"Okay, that's it," Zed stopped walking, which bothered several people behind him when he halted suddenly. "Why are we humans called the 'Sons of Edamos?' I've heard several times now, and I want to know why you guys don't just use the word Manos all the time."
"Oh, well...Laikosian mythos, there was a God of Prosperity and Promiscuity named Edamos who ensured both fiscal abundance and many children. He was also a god of sexual pleasure-actually, obsession-and greed and lust.
"He was banned from Heaven when the other gods saw that he had been too shrewd and greedy, and that he had lain with many mortal women out of wedlock. As a symbol of his banishment, all of godly wings were ripped off-and being a God, he had thirty-six wings-and all of the children born from his fornications were likewise stripped and banned of wings and magical powers.
"When the Empire of Laikodias came into contact with the human race, we saw that you were a wingless, greedy, sexually-obsessed race with magical ability dwarfed by any Laikosian. You so fit the tale that before long, soldiers were calling you 'Sons of Edamos,' like the blasphemous banished children of legend. Of course, clergy believed that humankind-or Manos-were literally the descendants of the fallen god. Most Laikosians don't take it seriously though...it's more of a derisive nickname for mankind."
Zed shrugged, "Well, I can't very well complain...fits us to the letter, I guess. At least I can see why the guys at your temples wouldn't take to any human, and why the soldiers got so ticked off at me..."
"Yes, even being caught among that shrubbery alone-even if you hadn't relieved yourself on them-would make any devout follower of the gods angry enough to hurt you."
"Well, thanks for the fairy-tale...how many gods and godesses are in your mythos, anyway?"
"One-hundred and ten," said Anya immediately. "The doctrines say that Grand God of Gods Zael and Grand Queen of Gods Fenith each have two wings made up of twenty-seven gods, each of those gods having thirty-six wings of their own."
"That's a lot of wings."
"Yes, it is said that there is a species of animal and plant for every one of Fenith's wings, and a type of inanimate element for every one of Zael's wings. It is also said that the stars are the wingtips of Zael and Fenith...of course, we now know there are much more than 2916 stars."
"Two-thousand nine-hundred and sixteen!? You know that off the top of your head?"
"Well, many people do...it's supposedly how many wings there are if you add up all the gods. Besides, I did mention I had a good memory. Anyway, it would be 2880 wings now...no Edamos."
"I give up," said Zed, and the duo resumed walking, "Save me some theology lessons for some other time...sorry, but I'm pretty atheist."
"You don't even believe in your own God?" sneered Anya. But Zed had a comeback for this one.
"Do you?" he snapped angrily. "Now, do you have any suggestions on a place to stay the night?"
Anya acted nonchalant, "Actually, yes, I do."
***** "Welcome to the sanctuary of Keldathio Darkskies...how may we be of service to fellow Laikosian?"
"We would like room and board for the night."
"Ah, but he...isn't he a Son of Edamos?"
"Could we speak to the temple's mistress, Stellazia?"
"Just a moment." The temple guardswoman grudgingly left and brought another, older Laikosian woman to the door.
"Ah, I see you have returned Onyashelikai Brokenhearted."
"Hey! Please, be careful! You know I hate that epithet!"
"The Manos cannot understand our tongue, can he?"
"No, but I hate it just the same...can we stay here for the night, Madam?"
"You know the laws...the Sons of the Fallen are not allowed within holy grounds."
"Oh, come on...you know as well as I that they aren't laws but mere superstitions! The church is separate from the Empire, and has been for centuries, why should you be so stringent about laws that needn't apply here? Aren't the gods lord of this realm? Have not they good and bad fortunes for all who dwell on Enriphos, Manos and Laikosian alike?"
"I must say, you put up a remarkable argument for your human-friend...but he will unnerve my clergy and, dare I say, he will bring suspicion and rumor to this holy place. This sanctuary will not be tarnished by human hands!"
Stellazia adjusted her cloak and shroud. They were deep violet and indigo and inlaid with tiny pieces of garnet and jade. Her robes had a hole in the back to let her dark red wings through. Zed priced the garment in a very high range, Laikosians made no small investment in their beliefs. Zed had no idea what was being said, only that it seemed Anya was losing to Stellazia's strong will.
"Madam Stellazia...I know all this...about the banishment of Manos from holy grounds, but I came here because I figured out of all the clergy, the Mistress of the Temple of Keldathio Darkskies would be the most willing to lend a sympathetic ear. Also, this will not be the first Manos to enter these grounds. So, for the last time, I plead that you give me and my human-friend shelter."
Stellazia sighed. "Fine...you will not let him drink or eat of any of our holy meals. He will not approach the inner sanctums. you may only leave him alone in the bedchamber...everywhere else he must be escorted by you. Lastly, you will not sleep in the same bed. I don't have any suspicions that you wish to sleep with a human, but just deny the gossip any outlet..."
"I understand completely, Madam."
"Lastly, I need to cleanse this human for entrance into our temple...like we do with known blasphemers and criminal refugees."
Stellazia turned towards Zed. "Hello, what is your name?"
"Z-Zed!" said Zed, astonished that Stellazia knew Common.
"Mine is Stellazia, and I am the mistress of this temple. It is my duty to cleanse so that unholiness does not corrupt the faithful within these walls. I have allowed you and Anya to stay the night...with the proper restrictions that I'm sure Anya will explain later. for now..."
Stellazia undid her veil. She had deep, penetrating blue eyes. Blue like deep skies, like clear, still spring water, like the Gyrfalconer patch on Zed's flight jacket. Her face was very beautiful for being more than a bit older than Anya's. She had rouge on her cheeks, and lilac-colored lipstick. There was silvery glitter spread about her face, and a crescent moon design on her forehead, much like a large rhinestone. He eyes were loving and sympathetic, like someone who knows you're in mourning. He smile was slight but brimming with motherlike care. She bent slightly (for she was much taller than Zed) and kissed Zed on the bridge of his nose, between his eyes.
Zed wished dearly to rub off the lipstick before it irritated his eyes, but he didn't want to make a move and desecrate the rite somehow. So he stood rigid and still as Stellazia said, "May all who live under the Gods' smiles enter this holy place."
Stellazia redid her veil and lead Zed and Anya to the bedchamber. She bowed and bid them good night. Once inside, there was little conversation as the pair went to sleep in their separate beds.
***** The first thing Zed noticed when he woke up was that Laikosians slept on their bellies. They had no choice, of course, because of their wings, but Zed had never thought about that before. But Zed found it amusing, the sight of Anya's sprawled body, her head turned and pressed against the pillow. Her left arm came up and scratched her nose.
"Are you already up, Zed Bladewalker?"
"Bladewalker?" asked Zed, sitting up to face Stellazia, who was sitting in a chair in the darker corner of the room.
"You are walking a fine line between safety and danger...as if walking on the edge of a sword. You befriend Anya of all Laikosians, you dare to enter a sacred temple and you do it all while a wearing a jacket you could very well be arrested for if anybody realized what it was."
"You know?"
"Oh, the Gyrfalcon Air Regiment was a famous-or should I say, infamous?-group of men during the war to rid Enriphos of the Republic."
"Say, do you believe in that decree? I mean, the part about humans being harbingers of chaos and entropy and stuff like that?"
"Literally? No. I have been around much too long to believe in Imperial propaganda...or church propaganda for that matter. But as part of my job both as a Temple Mistress and an Imperial citizen, I need to act as if I think humans are stupid fools who know little more than carnage and anarchy.
"I knew a Gyrfalconer, to tell you the truth. He was hurt and his plane crashed none too far from here. Before the Imperial ARMORs could come and take him, he had made his way to an acolyte of this temple. The acolyte brought the human to me...the first to enter this temple...you are the second...and we treated his wounds. the Imperial ARMOR company retrieved the fallen Vulture Hawk, but not its pilot.
"I gained my view of humans from many experiences, but from this human I drew the most. He was hearty and good-willed individual. He was so humorous and light-hearted about his injuries and about being in a Laikosian temple that I could scarcely believe he was the 'enemy'...a Son of Edamos. His name was Daleth Gormall, I believe."
Zed nearly jumped out of bed. "Oh my God!? Daleth! He was in my father's wing!? He survived because of Laikosian help, I knew that, but I never knew you were his help! Wow! He stayed in touch for a whilebut he never told us where he was at. I guess he was paranoid about the Empire finding the letters and tracing it to him. He..." Zed brought his voice to a whisper, "He builds and flies airships and airplanes...some of them with very forbidden technology!"
Stellazia laughed softly, "I know...he's written back to me over the years as well. Except, I know where he is."
"You do!? Oh, pleasetell me where! I haven't seen Uncle Daleth ever since I was a toddler!"
Stellazia laughed again and Anya woke up, "What is all this noise?" she asked. Stellazia answered, for Zed was too short of breath. "We've just made a connection. It seems a friend of his father's was a friend of mine...the human I took in during the last days of the war."
"Really?" Anya looked impressed. "Is that where we're going next, Zed?"
"Yes! Of course, right away! Starting now! Let's get ready, Anya! come on, move it! That old geezer could croak at any moment! And working around fuel and engines all day, he might just go out with a bang sooner than one would expect! God...imagine his insurance rates, if he has any!"
Zed immediately started lacing up his boots, the only things he took off for the night. Anya grumbled and said she was going to the temple baths. Stellazia said slyly, "You sure you don't want to invite Zed along?"
"Hey! He's a human!" Anya made gagging sounds. "Besides, it's only for women!"
Stellazia made another teasing remark. "I'm sure some of them wouldn't mind."
"But he's a human!" said Anya as she stormed out the door. Stellazia laughed some more and turned back to Zed. "She likes you, I can tell. She's just mad at me for being so blatant."
"But I am a human."
"Yes, but believe me, the difference in anatomy practically stops at the wings. I don't think children are possible between a human and a Laikosian-and even if they were, they would probably be flightless-but they can fall in love and appreciate the beauty of the opposite sex's physique." Stellazia laughed again. As clergy, she couldn't say it outright, but Zed was pretty perturbed by the innuendo.
"You speak as if you know this."
"Yes, but I know through observation, not involvement. That's how most of my knowledge is. I think you'll get along fine with a friend like Anya. Believe me, she has much more potential than she'll allow herself. Take care of her, Son of Edamos...and I don't mean that derisively."
"How do you mean it?"
"Well...it's the basis behind a little quandary of mine...humans are flightless and magicless, yes...and they are 'banished' from heaven. So they are below mortal Laikosians. But if you think about it, if our mythos is correct and humans were all sons of Edamos...then that makes you a race of demigods, which is more than we can boast. maybe we shouldn't be so hasty to mark you as inferior, should we?" Zed had no response for that (how could he?) and he was pretty confused at this point. "Zed, my view wouldn't be taken well by even sympathizers like Anya, so I've only told you and Daleth...but it's what I believe. And I know you're on a large quest...I can tell by your eyes. You want to make something of yourself and perhaps even free the humans of Enriphos. Maybe that could be proof of my beliefs. Prove me right, Zed."
***** "Zed...did Stellazia talk with you after I left to bathe?"
"Uh...yeah..."
"What did she say?"
Zed went on the defensive, "Say, why do you have to be so nosy?"
"Well, I'm sure she talked about me, because she does that sort of stuff to me. She does it for my benefit, I know...but I don't want her help...I'm happy enough as is."
There was a deafening roar from a Laikosian jet plane high in the air...higher than humans were allowed to go under Imperial law. The contrail dissipated slowly among the slow-moving clouds. One such cloud blotted out the sun, casting shadow where Anya and Zed walked.
"So where did she say this friend of your father's lives?"
"Outside the city...'Travel the road that goes by the airport until you leave the town. There will be a sign saying: "Now leaving Leothipal." Count eight large, roadside hills after seeing the sign and on the eighth go to the side facing away from the road and knock on the tree stump five times.'"
And so they walked. They were actually very conspicuous once outside the city crowd, but with so little traffic on foot or by vehicle it hardly mattered. One concerned trucker did stop and asked if the two travelers needed a lift. They declined, of course.
At the eighth hill outside the city limits, Anya and Zed went to the far side.
"But there's no tree stump!" shouted Zed.
"Maybe you misheard Stellazia."
"I did not! I paid very close attention!"
"Well...she might have said the wrong word...she doesn't have perfect control over Common."
"Well, she sounded fluent enough to me. Where's the damn stump!?"
Then they heard whistling from behind them. They turned, and a small, stout man with a large gray beard pulling a wheeled cart trudged up behind them. "Pardon me," he said. The two gawking travelers stood aside. the little old man took out a remote control device and pressed a button. The hillside opened up and the little man walked inside, pulling the cart behind him. He resumed whistling.
Anya and Zed stood in silence, confused by what had just happened. Then a voice called from inside, "You are coming in, aren't ya?" Anya and Zed quickly ran inside before the hillside slid back into place.
"You trust us?" asked Anya with surprise in her voice.
"Well, yeah, I figured you weren't just starin' at mah hilltop fer nothin'! You must've known that this here's mah home! Stella must've told ya!"
"Right," said Zed, descending the dark rampway with caution, "I'm Zed Kalansky" But that was as far as he got.
"Kalansky!? Yer Calebb's boy!? Oh mah God! Ya are a Kalansky! Lookit that dark, thick hair! And those eyes! Green eyes! Yer mother's eyes, I betcha!"
"Yeah...say"
"Oh man! I never expected ta receive you...man...yer all grown up! Jeez, I thought you'd still be a kid...but I guess I plum forgot it's been two whole decades...say, yer ol' man hasn't gone and croaked on me, has he? 'Cause if he did, that bastard owes me a lot of money from bar bets!"
"No...father's not dead...neither is mom. Both are well as far as I know."
"Good, good..."
The trio entered an area lit with a medley of incandescent and fluorescent bulbs hanging precariously from every nook and cranny in the haphazard ceiling. Now that they were in the light, Zed could see that the short man was wearing a full flight suit. He had goggles on his head, tall flight boots, and a thick, woolly collar around his neck that almost matched his beard. He had a ruddy complexion and basically resembled a greasy, war-torn, sloppy Santa Claus.
"So, who's da winged broad? Yer wife? Girlfriend? Awful good taste, I must say"
"We are not in any sort of romantic relationship!" stammered Anya, "We just met yesterday!"
"Ah, I see...feisty, eh? Well, who's yer acquaintance then, if she's gonna be so hot-headed about it. I was only makin' fun."
"Ah, this is Anya...she saved me the other day from a couple of Laikosians in ARMOR. We rested in a temple run by Stellazia."
"I figgered as such."
"Yeah, well...it's...great to see ya!" shouted Zed. The two men hugged in a man-to-man embrace and with his arm still on Zed's shoulder, Daleth said, "Then let me show ya 'round my barn, since ya came so far ta see lil' ol' me..."
In the underground "barn" was an unorganized mess of machinery and tools that were probably all illegal.
"The Technology Reclamation Force would have heart attacks if they saw all this," said Anya with awe, "I have to admire that this little guy could pull all this off and not get caught..."
Daleth laughed a loud, barking laugh. "Yep, you got that right, missy...some-times I don' know how I pulled it off mahself. Anyway, this here's my workshop. It has plenty of unfinished or abandoned projects...but I do have a few finished. One is the Kilkenny...named after a fallen wingmate o' mine...a mono-wing, mono-prop design that probably looks like something out of a history book. But it was about what I could scrape together at the time.
"This next beauty is the Fitzjames...another dearly departed friend of mine...that's a small MFF-type. It needs no wings or propellers or even rocket engines...just energy and a strong magnetic field. It's so small because, believe me, it's hard to get an MF-turbine at all, much less a larger one. Only one guy could squeeze in there, but I don't hafta worry since I'm so small mahself."
Then the trio entered a dark room. By the footsteps and the atmosphere, it was definitely a very large room. The little old man continued. "Yeah, this is under the 'seventh hill' that you passed by on yer way here...which opens in case I ever fly this damn contraption..." Daleth turned on the lights to reveal a giant airship almost as long as a football field.
"Yep, this is the Marcus Antonius II."
"Another fallen comrade?" asked Anya.
"Actually, no," said Zed, stepping forward, "The Marcus Antonius was the Republic's MFS-011...the flagship of the aerial navy. It was almost a thousand feet long and had more than four-hundred guns. It was shot down over New Tokyo, which I would guess has been renamed just like New Moscow was."
"New Moscow?" asked Anya, turning to Zed.
"Yeah...you call it 'Leothipal'...it's where we just came from."
"Anyway," said Daleth, "I named it that since it is most likely the largest flying thing a human owns on this god-forsaken rock. It's sort of a flagship, I guess. It needs those large turboprops you see there attached to the sides, and the steering assembly has to bulky like that...but although it looks pretty clunky, it's actually pretty advanced. MF-turbines carry more than eighty-percent of the weight. Surprisingly, I predict it'll climb pretty high for an airship of that size."
"How'd you ever build that!?"
The little man winked. "I got mah ways, Zed...I've always had mah ways."
"This is astounding," said Anya, "And you built every part of this ship?"
"No! No! That would take centuries! I have plenty of helpers...or had. It let them all go when the Marcus Antonius II was finished."
"But what if they betray you?"
"That's why I removed the whole stump contraption."
"Oh," said both Zed and Anya in unison. ***** After their 'tour' of Daleth's barn, the trio ate dinner and talked for hours, although Daleth and Zed did most of the talking. Anya felt pretty left out, and later pretty bored too, since the two men's stories weren't very exciting to an outsider.
"And so, when yer father flipped the switch, I shouted, 'No Cal! Don't!' But it was too late! Imagine my chagrin when nothin' happened and Rajnagamnali pointed out that he'd removed the power core! Jesus! I thought the whole base was gonna go sky high! Although I hardly think I need to say it, I never tampered with the thing again."
"You not tamper with something? That's hard to imagine!"
"Yeah, well...I found new things to tamper with!"
Anya sighed heavily, "Are you two ever going to shut up?"
"What's with you? Haven't you ever had a heartfelt reunion?"
"No, I haven't," said Anya sternly in response to Zed's question. "I want to sleep...Daleth, where can I sleep?"
"Oh," said the old man, "Down that hall, second door on the right." Anya got up and left in that direction.
"Where's my bed?" asked Zed.
"Down that hall, second door on the right."
"Right...wait! That's where you just sent Anya!" Zed sat up straight.
"Yeah, well I have but one extra bed, Zed...heh, that rhymes!"
"Daleth! But-but...I'll...I'll sleep on the couch!"
"This ratty thing! Well...that is the gentlemanly thing to do, I guess. Yer father raised you right. Besides, I think the wings would get in the way..." Daleth yawned and got up, and retired to bed as well, leaving Zed alone to fall asleep on the couch...
***** After their 'tour' of Daleth's barn, the trio ate dinner and talked for hours, although Daleth and Zed did most of the talking. Anya felt pretty left out, and later pretty bored too, since the two men's stories weren't very exciting to an outsider.
"And so, when yer father flipped the switch, I shouted, 'No Cal! Don't!' But it was too late! Imagine my chagrin when nothin' happened and Rajnagamnali pointed out that he'd removed the power core! Jesus! I thought the whole base was gonna go sky high! Although I hardly think I need to say it, I never tampered with the thing again."
"You not tamper with something? That's hard to imagine!"
"Yeah, well...I found new things to tamper with!"
Anya sighed heavily, "Are you two ever going to shut up?"
"What's with you? Haven't you ever had a heartfelt reunion?"
"No, I haven't," said Anya sternly in response to Zed's question. "I want to sleep...Daleth, where can I sleep?"
"Oh," said the old man, "Down that hall, second door on the right." Anya got up and left in that direction.
"Where's my bed?" asked Zed.
"Down that hall, second door on the right."
"Right...wait! That's where you just sent Anya!" Zed sat up straight.
"Yeah, well I have but one extra bed, Zed...heh, that rhymes!"
"Daleth! But-but...I'll...I'll sleep on the couch!"
"This ratty thing! Well...that is the gentlemanly thing to do, I guess. Yer father raised you right. Besides, I think the wings would get in the way..." Daleth yawned and got up, and retired to bed as well, leaving Zed alone to fall asleep on the couch... End Chapter One |
