Chapter 18
Peony
There was a city in the trees!
The alien world that rushed past the video screen was strange and beautiful all at once. Things looked just familiar enough to put her at ease about her ability to breathe on the surface, but so different that she couldn't even pretend that this wasn't an alien world.
The trees they rushed over were as big as redwoods.
But the wood of their bark was gray! A deep, rich, gray that should have given them a ghastly appearance.
However, the color was offset by the rainbow of colors that were the massive, frond like leaves.
Only a few of them were green, and they were in the minority.
Most of them appeared to be in shades of purple or blue.
A few were yellow. And there were multiple colors per tree!
They flew over a lake so big she nearly lost sight of the forest on either side of it, the water just as minty green as the rest of the planet. And on the other side was a city.
It was like no city she had ever seen. Where a human city might cut down the trees to make room, these buildings had been built around the trees.
Not quite off of them but wrapping sensuously around each trunk and using the branches as décor to create covered walkways.
It wasn't on the ground, allowing room for the massive root systems that supported the monolithic trees to grow and change, but instead had been built upon towering stone pillars that were carved with various images and reliefs that she couldn't make out.
The stone of the city didn't match the black soil beneath it, but instead looked like it had been made of bricks formed from the glittering sand in the desert they had already passed and a bright, golden wood that definitely did not come from the same trees as the forest it was built around.
There were no hard lines that she could see.
No square rooms or straight walkways. In order to accommodate the trees, the city itself was built to flow around them.
And there was no doubt in her mind that it qualified as a city.
It was massive! Reaching so far back in the trees, she lost sight of the end.
Built high above the canopy, stretching the entire length of the forest giants to nearly reach the ground.
It even extended over the water where boats made of both wood and metal were bobbing on the waves.
“Somebody pinch me!” Hattie squeed in excitement.
“It doesn't look so bad,” Holly agreed hopefully, a smile starting to form. “The lights are so pretty.”
“It's amazing,” Peony breathed, in love already. This planet was beautiful! Wholly dissimilar to her Earth, but stunning in its differences.
“Where do you think he's taking us?” Scarlet asked, voice calm despite her eyes being just as glued to the images as the rest of them.
Peony shook her head, unsure. Atem was talking to someone again, but it was a different male voice from the last one.
He had also slowed the ship considerably.
They were flying over the trees now, but their speed was slow enough that Peony could make out the individual people that were walking on the paths that snaked through the canopy.
They looked up as they passed, as though surprised to see a spaceship passing overhead, but not shocked like Earthlings would have been.
They were all like Atem. She didn't know why that was as amazing a concept to her as it turned out to be, but it was.
Their camouflage flickered between purple, gray, and gold, depending on which part of the city they were facing.
They all had tails and three eyes. Few were wearing clothes that camouflaged along with their skin, and instead were wearing wonderfully vibrant and colorful outfits that ran the gamut of styles from revealing briefs to fancy, voluminous robes that wouldn't look out of place on a fantasy magician.
And since their skin color changed to match what they were facing, a great many of them were just as vibrantly colored as their fabrics.
She was so distracted and awed by the people that she almost missed it when they approached the biggest, most impressive building in the city.
The highest towers of which emerged atop the canopy.
It looked like an ancient temple, half reclaimed by the forest, but nowhere near abandoned.
The many tiers were very much alive with a great many people, all of them rushing to and fro.
A great many of them stopped to point and gawk at the ship as it flew around to the side of the structure.
There, a long strip of wood and stone ended in a circular landing platform that seemed to be floating atop a sea of large, purple leaves.
A group of men, all wearing the same clothes, were waiting, crouched on the ground, shielding their faces from the wind, as the ship came in to land.
Peony actually felt the small jolt a second before the feed rocked with it.
The men wasted no time in rushing forward in a practiced and efficient manner.
They were like dock workers, she realized a bit belatedly. She was eager to see what they did, unsure what was necessary to get a spaceship landed safely, but the screen cut to black as Atem began powering down the engines.
The girls were all whispering to each other with varying levels of excitement as Peony turned to him.
He hadn't once let go of her hand during the landing process.
She didn't know enough about spaceships to know if a one-handed landing was impressive, but his dedication to holding onto her warmed her heart.
“Calvitorum,” he said slowly as he stood, his skin quickly fading back to gray. “Vas? Calvitorum.”
“Calvitorum,” Peony repeated, unsure if he was saying that they were here, that they were okay, or if he was saying goodbye. It could be anything at this point. She really hoped it wasn’t goodbye though.
Her fears appeared unfounded though when he gave her a soft smile and began slowly pulling her out of the bridge. He called back to the others, making sure that they were following along.
Peony heard the commotion of people moving about before they stepped out into the open, now brightly lit docking bay. The large ramp had already descended, but no one had come up. She could see them all moving beyond.
The men in the uniforms were still rushing around, connecting cables and tubes and tying down the ship in a well-coordinated ballet.
However, her attention was drawn to a different group.
More males in uniform, but these were different from the plain, utilitarian suits of the docking crew.
They were the same style of fabric Atem wore, built to camouflage to them rather than them camouflage to it.
Though they still wore shirts, they were tight against their broad chests and each one was holding a long, metallic, highly decorated, silver spear in one hand.
Similarly designed metal bracers covered their arms. Their hair was short, shaved close to their head, in what appeared to be a military rigid style.
And that's who these men were, she realized numbly. Military.
Before she could figure out if they were about to be arrested or detained, the men formed two neat, orderly lines, creating a path, still standing in formation.
All at once, they pounded their fists to their chests and cried out in unison-
“Dominani!”
Atem barked something back and they all lowered their fists. He didn't even hesitate, still pulling gently on Peony's hand, as he led her and the others out between the big males.
“You ever get the feeling that something big is happening?” Hattie asked softly, looking around at the wall of muscles that directed them forward.
The military men watched them pass, though their expressions were rigid and unreadable.
Atem didn't seem the least bit concerned, however.
He kept moving forward, his grip on her hand strong and comforting.
Every so often, he would look back to make sure the others were still with them.
The girls were never more than a few paces behind, practically pressed up against each other for safety in one big, homogeneous group.
Peony couldn't begrudge their nerves. As reassuring as Atem's touch and confidence were, she knew if he let go, she would immediately fall back to stand in the safety blob with the girls.
He didn't let go, however. He continued forward without hesitation, as though the military aliens weren't a surprise.
He took them, not as she suspected, into the massive jungle-temple-building thing.
Instead, he walked around the outside, towards the front.
Or, at least, the side facing towards the lake – she just assumed that was the face since that was the direction they flew towards.
From this high up, she could see the mint green lake over the softly waving, purple leaves.
The scent of the forest was unusual – floral with a hint of freshwater and damp soil that was almost familiar but still wholly unearthly.
As they were walking, she looked up at the turquoise sky. Somehow, seeing that slightly green sky, more than the strange planet, struck her dumb.
The sky being blue was such a matter of fact – absolute certainty – it could be used in the place of a firm 'yes' if you wanted to be sassy. It was just one of those things that never changed, had always been true, and would always been true.
Two plus two was four.
Bears shit in the woods.
The sky was blue.
But the sky wasn't blue anymore.
Peony was so focused on that one detail, struggling to catch her breath, that she didn't realize Atem had dragged her in front of a crowd until their roar ripped through the air.
She jumped; her attention rudely pulled from the turquoise sky to the sea of color changing bodies spread out below her as she stood beside Atem at a low, stone railing.
Why were they all here? What was going on?