Spheria (5 page)

Sa∙ma looked down upon the scene as well and remembered when he was an apprentice here with his master.

#

Go∙ma, Sa∙ma’s master, pointed down toward a herd of Zalisk. A much younger Sa∙ma followed the direction of his leg and saw the lumbering beasts below. He didn’t see the Troaten.

“Watch,” Go∙ma said. “This is perfect. Our timing couldn’t be better.”

“Why?” asked Sa∙ma.

“Shh,” whispered Go∙ma.

Sa∙ma shrugged and watched the Zalisks wandering through the brush looking for buried crystals. Without warning, one of the Zalisks flew into the air and was caught by three gigantic tentacles. A Troaten! Camouflaged and lying in wait, it had grabbed the closest Zalisk as it ventured nearby. It lifted it upwards toward its center. The remaining members of the herd were confused, and a large tentacle wrapped around another. Realizing what was happening, the remaining Zalisks charged the center of the Troaten. They pounded it with their tusks. This dislodged the second Zalisk, which fell to the ground, and rushed to assist the others. The Troaten then began to spin defensively, many of its tentacles forming a flailing spiral on the ground. The motion forced the Zalisks outward and held them at bay. The Zalisks attempted to poke into the whirling mass with their tusks, but each got swept aside. The herd gave up and watched as the first Zalisk, still being dangled in the air by two of the tentacles, was lowered onto the center. There, its core was pierced by the Troaten’s point, and its life energy was consumed.

The lifeless carcass of inert polygons was flung over the herd and landed with a thud into one of the red rock veins. There it lay, unmoving. Gradually each piece turned red, and it sank into the river. The herd formed a line along the shore and watched their disappearing brethren. Then they turned, and moved along as if nothing had happened.

It occurred to Sa∙ma that the Zalisks didn’t care that they’d lost one of their group. Their lack of compassion made him sad with unexpected remorse.

Go∙ma noticed his reaction and spoke. “Child, this is the natural course of things. The world is harsh. We all are competing for survival. The energy of that Zalisk has flowed into the Troaten, and will someday flow into something else. Such is the way. Remember what you saw here, for it's the basis of the story I'm about to tell you.”

“This journey is to give respect to the Rift, the barrier that separates the two halves of our world. Look around. We live inside a giant sphere, with the two halves divided by a chasm that is uncrossable, and that has no bottom. But it wasn't always this way. When the world was young, before there was even a Source in the center, our sphere was whole. Creatures could move about as desired.

“Then one day there was a greedy Troaten. He wasn't content with the energy he needed to survive; he wanted it all. So he dragged himself along the ground with his tentacles, grabbing any creatures he could reach, and consumed them. His life crystal was full and still he consumed more. This caused him to expand. Soon he’d destroyed every living thing. So he had to resort to digging for crystals in the ground, and thus he continued to get larger and larger. He became so large that his tentacles could reach clear across the entire world. He hung suspended with his body in the center, his arms embedded in the ground. There was no more food anywhere, neither creatures nor buried crystals. The Troaten began to starve. In a last desperate attempt to find energy, he spun, as Troatens do, and tore a giant chasm clear across the world. The Rift was created. But that was the end of him. There was no food, and he shrank until he was just a ball at the center of the world.

“The gods looked up at his carcass and thought it would make a satisfying home. So together they transformed his bulk into a ball of infinite energy, and thus the Source was made. Then the gods went there to dwell, where they have a view of the entire world anytime they want. They’re probably watching us even at this moment.”

#

Sa∙ma shook off the memory and decided the story would be more appropriate to tell when they were actually at the Rift. He pushed off and disappeared over the steep edge of the mountain.

Chapter 4 - Cell Division

“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” - Phil Donahue

The University of Connecticut Health Center was built in 1970 on the highest point in Hartford County. It was established as the medical-dental school branch of the main university campus located about thirty miles away. In the 90’s, a significant expansion added a focus on clinical research to the mix. It slowly became host to some non-clinical private research projects as well. At night, its many tall buildings, with lit windows, gave the impression of an apartment complex.

Timothy and Jill approached the academic entrance, holding hands. It was late, and a full moon ominously lit the cobblestone circle and entry. They were heading into the Lyman Maynard Stowe Library to study before exams the next day, having come from an amazing dinner at Naples Pizza down the road. Tim could still taste the pepperoni.

As they stepped onto the sidewalk from the traffic circle, Jill yanked Tim’s hand and said, “You’re gonna trip.”

Tim looked at the curb, but Jill pointed to his left sneaker. It was untied.

Tim took two more steps and placed his backpack on the right of two pedestals. These supported a series of sculptures called “Spheres” by artist Wopo Holop. This one happened to have six round bronze objects depicting a human retina, three versions of a dividing frog’s egg, the Earth, and an acorn. A few steps away, an identical pedestal presented a long jagged DNA strand, stretching between an odd faceted sphere and a smooth round one.

Tim stooped down to tie the lace on his new white sneaker. This time, he’d make a double knot. As he made the first loop, he heard a loud smack, like a steak being tenderized on a cutting board. He felt something wet on the side of his face and noticed red droplets coloring his white shoes. They looked polka dotted.

Jill released the shrillest scream Tim had ever heard. It made the hair on his neck stand up. Losing his balance, he fell onto his butt and jerked his head upwards. Staring down at him was the mangled face of a young woman draped over the spherical models, her lifeless eyes wide with astonishment.

#

Captain Brennan from campus security stood between the stone altars. A sheet was draped over the body, and Brennan’s team had just set yellow police tape around the perimeter. A small group of students had gathered to one side and were gawking at the scene.

“What happened?” asked one woman.

“Sorry, we can’t give any information at this time,” Brennan responded. “Please move along.” He waved the students away toward the building’s entrance. They began to disperse.

Turning around, he walked twenty steps to the couple sitting on the bricks that circled a tree.

“My deputy said you two witnessed the accident?”

Jill sat silent, white as a ghost, and rocked forward and back.
 

Tim stepped in, “No sir. I mean yes sir.”

“Take a deep breath,” advised Brennan. Tim filled his lungs. “Okay, good. Now start over please.”

Tim exhaled. “I mean yes I was there, but I was looking down when it happened. I swear the force of her knocked me on my ass. When I looked up, I thought it was my girlfriend lying there, hit by a car or something.”

Jill shook her head and started sobbing.

Brennan placed his hand on her shoulder. “Honey, I know this is difficult. This is a very safe campus, and we take security seriously. From our perspective, this looks like a suicide. Apparently, she jumped from the building’s roof and unfortunately, or maybe intentionally, landed on the jagged statues below. Did you see anything that might suggest otherwise?”

Jill took a few sobbing breaths. “No,” she finally said, shaking her head. “I was just admiring the full moon, which looked large and almost red. Then something caught my eye, and I glanced to the right just in time to see her hurling toward me. I jumped back and she…” A sob was coming, but Jill managed to suppress it. “She landed right in front of me! It was awful. I've never seen anything so horrific in my entire life!”

“Did you see her jump?” inquired the Captain.

“No, she was already falling when I saw her.”

“Well, you saw enough. You two are the only witnesses, but this is a cut and dry case of a jumper. A darn shame too. She was a pretty girl. We already identified her as an employee here, an intern actually, also a student. Must’ve been studying late like you two. The stress can be intense, I know, and it’s a real shame what it pushes some people to do, to take their own lives rather than just try their best. A real shame.”

Jill added, “There is one thing.”

“Yes?”

“I didn’t see her jump, but I thought I heard something, just before she fell.”

“Heard something?”

“I thought I heard someone yell ‘No!’ But there was no one else around.”

Chapter 5 - Arcane Physics

“There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.” - Denis Deiderot

Le∙ma was alone on the mountain. Her guide had just plummeted over the side. She rushed to the edge and watched as Sa∙ma deftly navigated the slope. He slowed his descent by bounding off flat outcroppings, changing his direction. He did this about twelve times, and, after leaping from the last one, landed with a thud onto the brown rock at the foot of the mountain. He looked up at Le∙ma and waved a leg.
He is insane
.

“I’ll meet you at the bottom,” she yelled, as she started to head back toward the steps.

“No,” she heard. “You'll be on the wrong side.”

She returned to the lip and yelled back at him, “What do you mean?”

“There is no passage to this region from the Colony side. You have to come down the way I did.”

“If there’s no passage, then how will we get back?”

“That’s one of your tests. Come down. We must make the Rift before nightfall.”

“It’s too steep!”

“It just appears steep. Aim for the flatter parts, and you’ll be all right.”

“Okay.”

Le∙ma moved toward the edge, but just as her body crossed partly into the empty air, she changed her mind and flailed backward. But there was nothing to push against, and she tumbled over the side. She fell straight down for a few seconds then felt the repulsion as she approached the slope. There was an invisible compression, and then she was vaulted outward. She stared straight down at the brown rock below; it was approaching fast.

The slope of the mountain once again reached out to her. This time, Le∙ma used two legs to ease herself into the repulsive field and instead of bouncing, began to glide down over it. She began to steer and swerved to the side toward a flatter outcropping. She quickly approached it, so fast in fact that it launched her once again into the air. Then she hit the mountain almost going sideways. She recovered and came down onto another outcropping, almost in control.

With her speed slowed, Le∙ma pushed off toward another jutting mass of blue rock. She repelled off it and changed course to aim toward another, then another. A couple more and she reached the bottom with a solid thud that made her four legs vibrate. She swore they must’ve shattered, but they were intact.

“I could’ve died!” she fumed at Sa∙ma.

“But you didn’t,” he answered matter-of-factly. “Instead, you’ve passed your first test.”

She was shaking her legs in the air, one by one, trying to end the vibrations.

“We need to move,” Sa∙ma said. “Come on.” He headed off across the scraggly wasteland.

From this perspective, Le∙ma could see that it was different than the land on the other side of the mountain. Over there, the green plants were plentiful and thick. Over here, they were sparse and oddly shaped. They were more crooked looking, with links branching away and back again toward the center supports. Some grew toward the ground, forming arches large enough to walk under. Together Le∙ma and Sa∙ma passed through several of these. The arches seemed to weave across the wasteland as if Sa∙ma was using them as landmarks.