Chapter 7
Scarlet
Another world, another sky.
On the ringworld of Holotulle, the atmosphere was partially kept in place by the gravity created by the spinning ring supplemented by the gravity generators, and it was carefully maintained and controlled by artificial means.
Scarlet had no idea how that was done, and she was honestly afraid to ask, so she just accepted it.
That meant that, on Holotulle, weather was scheduled.
There were still rainy days, snow days, windy days, but they were decided upon three months in advance by a committee to keep the districts and people at peak function.
For example, it never rained on a trikball game, but they had a predetermined winter season with snow days three out of a tenday week for enjoyment of the weather.
At least here in the Coalition district, it was different in each district.
Therefore, the sky was mostly artificial. The fluffy white clouds she gazed upon as they whizzed across the sky on their open-roofed hover were there by committee yet still somehow looked absolutely idyllic.
Moreover, the sky was a different color. She had kind of gotten used to the pale green of Turv’s sky. It wasn’t blue, but it was familiar now.
Holotulle’s sky was more of a periwinkle color.
Somewhere between purple and blue. Instead of a horizon, going east and west – using human ideas of direction – she could see the ring extending out seemingly into infinity before, in a distinct strip of silvery-white, it arched upward and reached out towards the sun – a bright, distant star that looked orange from here that never varied in its position directly overhead.
Though she couldn’t see every individual district of the ring, she could see some that had dark clouds over them that were occasionally lit up by lightning. Pre-programmed thunderstorms.
“They alternate,” Havali said, turning her attention from the ring and onto him. He was sitting next to her on the hover as he would be her escort for the day. Peony would, of course, be with Atem, and Tuvo would be with Alanna.
She didn't really hate that Havali was with her.
“What alternates?”
“The districts. That’s what you were looking at, right?
They alternate between urban and natural.
So, each urban district is flanked on either side by a natural district, and vice versa.
And the districts all have their own unique, distinct biomes.
Sort of in a gradient around the ring. The Coalition district is right in the middle of the temperate biome, but there are mountains and ice fields and deserts. Anything you can think of really.”
“Why?” She cocked her head curiously.
“Diversity? Comfort. Some species like it hotter or wetter than others or what have you. And having multiple urban districts catering to those differences means that everyone can find a home somewhere on Holotulle’s Ring.”
She snickered despite herself. “You sound like an advertisement.”
“Because I’m quoting an advertisement,” he confessed, eyes glistening with humor.
They laughed together a bit and she found herself turning slightly in her seat to face him more directly. “You really know a lot, Havali.”
“That’s my job. If one of the other Firsts can’t provide the service or knowledge, then I’m the one vi Dominani relies upon.” He held his head up, shoulders back, proudly.
“I can see that,” she smiled at him. “And you’re good at it. How did you become First Guardian?”
“It’s a long process. Not all that dissimilar to vi Dominani’s Hortii Kristivar, actually,” he said, referring to the ceremony Scarlet had seen Atem complete to solidify his position as First Domini. It had basically been Atem proving that he was the absolute best at kicking everyone’s butt.
And it would make sense then that the male that had to do everything that the others couldn’t do would also need to prove himself capable of doing anything.
“Since I lead the police forces, I have to be adept at combat. Since I handle day to day spending, governance, and societal needs, I have to be well educated. I have to prove I can do multiple tasks with high efficiency. Strategy, logistics, leadership… There’s a number of things.”
“That’s… a lot.”
“Well, I have entire teams that serve under me to delegate towards. I don’t do it all myself,” he chuckled. “But proper delegation is another skill I have to prove.”
“So, actually, you’re the ruler of the planet, huh?” She gave him a look.
Havali considered her words for a second before inclining his head.
“If you would like to think that way. Vi Dominani is the leader of our planet off world. His tasks mostly involve speaking with the Coalition and other planets. He does serve a leadership purpose on Turv. But, yes, in a way, the actual day-to-day governance of Turv is my task.”
“And I thought being a healer was difficult,” she mumbled, mostly to herself, looking at Havali in this new light.
Atem was not technically a king, though they all referred to him that way.
He represented his people on the universal stage.
The other Firsts deferred to him and obeyed his orders.
He assisted the other Firsts in protecting the planet and serving his people, but his job, first and foremost, was to be their representative at the Coalition.
Havali undertaking the daily minutiae and details of making sure the planet functioned sounded like just as much a leader as Atem.
Though Havali was lower in rank, he did all the actual work of daily living for the people.
Thinking of him that way, he was suddenly a much more imposing, impressive figure than he had been just a moment ago.
“Ah, look at this,” he said, gesturing forward.
It took her a moment to tear her eyes from him and back onto their flight path.
There hadn’t been much traffic within the Coalition district as the only people who flew there were the Coalition members, their entourages, and the staff that worked in the district.
The beautiful, rolling meadows and hills they were passing over now was the natural district separating the Coalition District from the next.
It was beautiful, like something out of a storybook.
Fields of vibrant yellow-green gave way to carpets of brightly colored wildflowers.
There were some marks of civilization here and there – a grotto with benches, a gazebo for viewing, a park for playing – but mostly, the gently rolling hills were left to be fully natural.
There were even animals that she couldn’t fully distinguish from this height but could tell were alien even from afar.
There wasn’t much traffic here either. They were approaching a gate now.
A large, hexagonally shaped tunnel carved through the massive, metal walls that separated the districts.
There was a pale blue, oddly bubble-like material that she knew, having flown through one from the gate from the Coalition District to here, wasn’t a solid nor a liquid substance.
It almost looked fluid and passing through it felt like stepping through a thin layer of cool water, but she was completely dry on the other side.
This district wall was half covered in climbing vines and ivy that didn't quite reach the tunnel entrance. As they got closer, Scarlet could see what Havali was pointing out to her.
There were people working on the wall. The bubble material was still there, but it was rippling as they went about their business over the top of the entrance.
“Scheduled maintenance,” Havali informed her. “They started a bit late today, or we would have reached here after they were already done.”
She chuckled. “You sound so inconvenienced. Can we not go through that bubble thing if they’re working on it?”
“Bubble thing? You mean the organic shield? No, we can still go through, it will just feel weird.”
“Organic shield? Is that what it is?”
“It’s to prevent anything wild from coming in or out of their districts. Hovers on Holotulle come with programming that allows them and their riders, us, to go through. Otherwise, you’d have to use one of the maintenance doors.”
That made sense. Scarlet was just about to ask what passing through the shield while it was under maintenance would be like when the hover went through.
Her teeth clenched as the formerly cooling, almost pepperminty, feeling was replaced by a harsh splash of freezing water to the face combined with those weird little joke toys that gave you a tiny electric shock that spread all over her body.
It only lasted a second and, of course, she was dry and fine on the other end, but she grimaced, wiggling uncomfortably in her seat as Havali chuckled.
“Sorry. I try to plan these things ahead of time, but other people often undermine my efforts by not being timely themselves.”
“I’m good,” she assured him as they rushed through the artificially lit tunnel towards the other bubble shield on the far end.
The walls were thick. Massive on the inside.
Havali had told her, going through the first one, that there were often little towns within the walls themselves - usually for maintenance workers and their families.
“The next one isn’t under maintenance, so it won’t happen again,” he promised.
Scarlet gave him a smile before checking on the others. Peony was making a face, obviously not having liked that experience at all, while Alanna was laughing, probably enjoying it too much. The guys were just smiling at them indulgently.
The next shield, as promised, was back to the cooling feeling. It even managed to banish the lingering sensation of the last one.
Then, Scarlet found herself gasping in awe as she looked over the first proper alien city she had seen – not including the only city she had seen on Turv.
Calvitorum, the place she had been living before, was a city.
But it was a city built in and around massive trees that put redwoods to shame.
The market was big and there were some trees so weighed down with homes and buildings that they looked like they were wearing armor.
But despite how much that was artificial, it still looked mostly natural.
The sea of trees making up the city gave it a wild look despite how much order and technology was there.
The Coalition District wasn’t all that highly populated. It was about an even mixture of urban and natural and the individual areas set aside for each species gave it an almost quilt-like pattern. Beautiful and fascinating, but not a city as she thought of it.
But this district? This was the first thing that, recognizably, she could call an alien city.
There were skyscrapers and huge, clear roads filled with people built around the sky.
Hovers flew seemingly everywhere, following clearly defined air traffic patterns, but also dropping to park in the city itself.
The air was no longer redolent with flowers but instead was tinged with the musky, heady scent of life and population – metal and plastic and wood.
The entire city shined, bright silver and white.
The roads – which were mostly for walking as hovers flew – were a pale sort of green and slightly transparent, so it was like the people were walking on bridges made of solidified light.
And the people. The alien people.
There were so many colors down below. Pale browns and tans like she was accustomed to weren’t the norm here.
She saw gray and green and purple. Horns and wings and tails.
People wearing elaborate clothing that could best be described as costumes and people wearing nothing at all.
There were billboards, because advertisements and taxes were as certain as death, but they floated around like hovers, flashing between different messages.
All of it was in Standard, the new language she had imprinted specifically for coming here, so she had no problem reading them.
There were ads for vacations on pleasure planets, ads for jewels and clothes modeled by beautiful aliens.
One ad they passed by was showcasing a perfume and, as they flew around it, she could actually smell the perfume in question.
On the brightly colored, electronic billboard, it promised that it was pheromone free and guaranteed not to overpower powerful noses.
“This area is very affluent,” Havali explained to her.
“Very safe. Highly policed. I cannot tell you where to go, of course, but I would prefer if you and the other humans limited your activities to this district while we are here. If you wish to go somewhere else, tell me and I will gather a proper escort and investigate the area so it can be done safely.”
“Is it dangerous in other districts?”
“It should not be. There are some areas in the ring that are seedier than others. Despite all our advances, there will always be those that consider themselves exceptions to the laws. There will always be the greedy and the cruel and the heartless. You should not have to worry about them. Consider me overly cautious but indulge me anyway.”
Scarlet smiled and nodded at him. She didn't really want to argue. Scarlet wasn’t the type of person to go exploring random alien cities without knowing what she was getting into. However…
“Hey, Alanna, listen…”