GISE : Chapter 06 : monolith
Sep. 29th, 2004 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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a jumpship landed a short way off. a hundred short pink lizard like aliens swarmed all around the vehicle, flashbulbs going off in every direction every few seconds. they all looked the same to duub, though he knew they had distinguishing marks to tell themselves apart. didn't matter much because this class of tourist didn't require his services.
duub sighed audibly for no one, for no one was there to listen.
the aliens scurried back in to the jumpship and the craft lifted off in to the sky, not five minutes after it had landed.
duub got bored of sighing and yawned instead.
robert approached the counter from nowhere and greeted duub. he looked as though he had been designed by a 50s movie director, instead of evolved like the rest of us. he had the classic bug eyes sticking on short stubby stalks, suction cups on all digits, and a moist green body. this was no accident. the duubians have a massive tourist industry. it is so massive that it dwarfs the tourist industries of the second and third largest tourist planets combined (duub being the largest). the duubians evolved to look alien, because the more they looked alien, the more likely they were to earn enough bread to survive. they have gotten so good at it that they had bought up tourist attractions on every major planet in the galaxy. this naturally enough included several well known ones on shashars.
this had it's drawbacks. for one thing, vacation wasn't something the duubians ever looked forward too, because they worked at vacation. as a side effect they were all boring and all named duub, an old fashion shasharian word for dull or bored. as it happens this was ok, because the duubians were too duub to care about being called duub.
"may i have a room for the night?" robert asked.
duub got bored of yawning and went back to sighing.
"sure." he said and threw over a key card and quoted a price.
robert reluctantly paid the money. he was running low on funds, but it was cold enough that it would be necessary, especially when it got dark.
"twenty four bee. it's in the building." duub explained in much the same manner as a flight attendant points toward the emergency exits.
robert took the suctionvator to the top of the building. he inspected his room which was for the most part similar to other shasharian hotel rooms. he crashed on the bed which rolled up around him and enveloped him in an oxygen/water mix which kept him content and asleep all night. the noisy jumpships, try as they might could not rouse him.
robert booked passage on a cargo ferry first thing in the morning. it was the cheapest way to get to cron, but it didn't leave until the next day. the planet zigzag passed behind the monolith and made the perfect kind of picture. robert wished he had his camera with him, but wrote in his journal again and made a quick sketch instead. later in the day, he took the suctionvator to the top of the monolith and looked around.
in all directions there was nothing but red dusty desert. there was life out there, robert could tell, though it was hiding in the shadows for night to come out. he couldn't imagine there ever being snow here, ever. he decided the news reports must have been either fabricated or greatly exaggerated.
high atop the monolith were the remains of a desolate castle. quite different than the sort you see on earth. most derelict old buildings on shashars are relatively modern in comparison, they are of similar technology that is used today. this is because shasharian technology has remained mostly the same for several thousand years. there are very few remains in existence any further back than that. the whole planet has been explored and charted, therefore it is unlikely that any older ruins will be found.
about five hundred years ago Roderk, the Emperor of shashars, was facing insurrection all over the empire. imperial forces built a fortress for Roderk and his family atop the monolith installing a number of gravity generators in case the natural pillar was compromised and collapsed. as it happens, imperial forces beat back the rebels, but the Emperor was killed in the process. the fortress was decimated and a distant cousin, Puloc (My father) became King of shashars.
robert didn't know any of this, but explored the ruins anyway. he sensed a great struggle and a violent end. there are a number of informative signs explaining much of this, but robert didn't know how to read sahasharian. he really began to appreciate being able to read and write in english at this point. then he had an idea. his hands had been fumbling with the mental translation device in his pocket. he wondered if the device could translate text in to thought for him. he placed the brown cube on a plaque and concentrated.
nothing.
robert tested the device on a passerby and was successfully able to think [hello] to him. the mechanics were working at least, robert decided it didn't work with written language.
he shrugged and headed back down the suctionvator. this is an interesting device, I suppose I ought to explain. there is no floor or ceiling. it's just a clear plastic tube which uses force fields to generate pressures to move a person up and down in mid air. inexpensive device, because you don't have to build a car. in certain situations, you can even have more than one passenger at a time. the suctionvators are slowly replacing the existing elevators across the planet.
roibert zipped on back to his hotel and had a nap for the afternoon. he woke up late and found a bar where he could get a purple liquid that tasted a bit like seven up, except with a stronger lemon like flavor. he watched people come and go until he was tired again. he went to sleep and woke up early enough to catch the freight ship.
it was the first sea crossing vessel he'd been on for his visit to shashars. it was huge and old like all sea ships on the planet. retrofitted like a world war ii battleship... only more. the m. v. vironikan is capable of carrying several megatons of cargo. like most crews, they welcome passengers as it gives the crew some company.
the cabin was reasonable, if not that of a four star hotel. robert volunteered to help with the ship's computer equipment. he had a knack with computers, even when he didn't understand the language they used (there were no audio interfaces on m. v. vironikan).
the vironoikan carried raw ore to cron for processing. the imperial government still depends on rich resources the planet provided.
mostly the journey was a nice simple change from the hustle and bustle he'd experienced in the towns and cities. these large merchant vessels are the size of a small city, while crews range from fifty to seventy persons. they usually carried an additional twenty passengers on a good day. robert made few friends on the trip, and he was glad to get off the ship at the end of it. he strode off the ship when it arrived at cron with a sense of relief. this was soon replaced with a sense of dread.
God, Intuition, Sean and Ed, Richard Ess
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Date: 2004-10-03 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-03 04:47 am (UTC)