Under a Starless Sky novel Chapter 71

Two giantess, in the Centaur bio-suits, approached Shen’s party. “Jerica, you are summoned to the ball.”

“I don’t dance,” Jerica said.

“You will come with us,” was the only option given.

“Come, we will all go…”

“Just her,” the centaur said.

“Now hold on…” Arne said.

“Can Kali hear us?” Shen asked.

A centaur touched a bracelet, and a holographic image of Kali arrived before them. She was facing the Centaurs.

“Your pets are not well trained,” the one said. “They are resisting and trying to negotiate.”

“They’re new. I wanted them to know their rewards for good behavior,” Kali said.

“The female is summoned to the ball,” the centaur said.

“Kali, she’s afraid. May I attend with her,” Shen asked.

“Can courtesy be extended to the male?” Kali asked.

The other centaur touched a bracelet and another giantess arrived via hologram. “Your summons was for the girl only. Kali is negotiating for an accommodation. Can one of the males attend?”

“This is unusual,” the giantess said. “Kali, have you grown soft?”

“Contrary to popular belief, my pets are treated well,” Kali said. “May one of these men please attend.”

“You know which one I want,” she said.

“Till midnight, then,” Kali said. The second hologram faded away and Kali turned to her subjects. “I am disappointed in all of you. I assumed wilders would be more adventuresome, and yet you have done nothing but scout the lay of the land, and not even a tenth at that. Shen, Jerica; go with these guides. The rest of you, go to the end of the street. There is a place to spar. Whatever you earn, you may keep and spend as you wish. Earn nothing, and I will whore you out cheap.”

Kali disappeared.

“Fuck, some of that would have been nice to know early on,” Erico said.

“You two, come,” the centaurs said.

Arne hit Shen’s arm.

“Don’t worry,” Shen said.

“I am not. Jerica will keep you safe,” Arne said.

Jerica hooked his arm and dragged him along. “Don’t want to be late for the ball.”

They were escorted to a tube system, with cylinders similar to the ones they arrived in on being transported. They had to travel in separate containers. It took effort to get Jerica’s ball gown completely in, but Shen helped and she was contained. A shoulder harness came down- offering padding for shoulder and head. Before she began to rise he heard music in his head, a memory fragment of a MTV song: “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Specifically, a girl being sucked away in a tube, in a silver suit and hose, and pink hair.

“You okay?” Jerica asked.

“Yeah,” Shen said. “My mind was ‘Buggled’ for a second.”

“What?”

“Sorry. I am closing the door now…” a centaur said.

“There’s not room for you,” Jercia said.

“You will travel separately,” one of the centaurs said. “Have you not done this before?”

“Hold onto those grips there,” Shen said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

The Centaur closed the door. Jerica let go of her dress and it fluffed up against the lower glass. The tube door was closed and she was shot up into the darkness.

The centaur controlling the mechanism loaded another container. The one next to Shen looked at him, puzzled.

“You seem to understand, yet, you look concerned,” the centaur said.

“Yeah. Forgive me for being human,” Shen said.

“No,” the centaur said. “It is actually one of the qualities that attracts me to your species.” She motioned for him to enter his container. He stepped in, turned to face the centaur who was closing the door. Shoulder pads met his shoulders. Centaur tapped the door with a fist. “Secured.”

Shen shot up into the air. He arrived at a transfer mechanism where his tube was flipped horizontal, put into a chamber, spun to the appropriate outgoing tube, and ejected. Below were table lands and giants walking the table, couples, parties, engaging in most normal kind of fun, such as drinking, eating, playing games, and perhaps some unconventional and even lewd activities. There were game tables where real people advanced on grids- dice and or cards were involved. There were ‘people’ shaped Hors d'oeuvres, which disturbed Shen to the point he wanted to be sick. He got a good look at the tray as it was lifted high by the giantess-waitress heading for a table. He was pretty sure it was food simulated to look like humans, but the fact that they would eat their pets bothered him. There were actual, naked looking people in the death pose, and mummy like people, vacuum-wrapped in what might be rice paper. The latter were only human shaped. He didn’t know how to compartmentalize this: There were people that had dogs for pets and still ate dog. Even his people made ‘ginger bread men’ and animal shaped cookies. People had overwhelming evidence that Koko the gorilla had personality, language, and minimum of abstracting abilities- evidenced by the way she greeted Mr., Rogers, from Mr., Roger’s Neighborhood, (she watched the show an on seeing him enter her area in person, she hugged him, and then removed his shoes)- and yet the human species had not adopted policies to treat all gorillas better- like not kill them, not eat them, not sell their hands as souvenirs. Human knew dolphins used names for each other, and yet- they were still killed, directly and indirectly. Over fishing and polluting the oceans was just as wrong as mass killing of buffalo with the intention of starving the Native Americans.

He arrived at his places despondent. A four armed giant released him, but he stood there staring at her, angry. She had to pull him out of the chamber. She shoved him for the stairs. Jerica was there. She rushed and hugged him.

“You okay?” Jerica said.

“No,” Shen said.

Jerica believed him but didn’t have time to ask as they were being chased off the platform.

“Down the stairs, follow the path through the maze and garden,” the four arm giantess said. “The ball is on the other side.”

Shen and Jerica nodded, and followed the path into the garden maze. The bushes were taller than their heads, but paths would open into circular gardens. There were wooden structures like bridges, trellises, with flowering plants like moon glories, gazebos, wooden bridges, and small creeks, circular bench entwining a fully grown tree, and fountains. Some of the flowers were illuminated. There were fireflies. Shen never got close enough to one to determine if they were real or artificial. It was as if everything here was a Bollywood movie in the making, only lacking needed for an impromptu song and dance. Every open space had paths. The central space of their grid had a large fountain.

“Your continence has changed,” Jerica pointed out.

“I am on the train,” Shen said.

“I don’t understand that,” Jerica said.

“I am processing information,” Shen said.

“Still in the dark here,” Jerica said.

Shen was a little irritated that he had to come out of his thoughts just to explain himself, but he held enough awareness that it was necessary and so he employed compassion. It was actually a relief to come out of his thoughts. “Train, is a large vehicle connected to other vehicles that goes around a city in a circle, stopping at points along the circle. There is stop for home. A stop for work. A stop for fun. On the train is my code word for processing information. That means I am thinking. I am trying to understand something emotionally. I would rather say I am on the train, than explain what I am thinking about or otherwise saying ‘leave me alone.’ I don’t want to be alone, but I need to complete my train of thought- I need to complete this circle- before I can be more present.”

Jerica seemed very serious. “You are very strange. I like this phrase and I like understanding you, even though I am not sure I understand you. I am happy to hear you don’t want to be alone. Can you tell me about these thoughts that troubled you so?”

Shen paused. They were near enough a fountain that he drew her there and helped her to sit. The results were disastrous in terms of maintaining dignity of dress. It bothered her enough she chose to stand. “I do not like this dress! Or the shoes. Fuck I can’t even see the shoes.”

“Yeah,” Shen said. He had gotten a good look at her ‘slippers.’ He had gotten a good look at everything before she stood. “Where I come from, girls would be fighting for these shoes and dress.”

“They are poorly educated in the ways of the world,” Jerica said.

“Yeah,” Shen said. “Different world, but still some truth in that.”

“Can I visit your world?” Jerica asked.

“I don’t know,” Shen said. “I don’t know how to get home, yet.”

“Is that where your thoughts were? Home?” Jerica said.

“Yes. No. It’s complicated, but I carry it all with me. My home is not origin…”

“Again…”

“I have an origin point, and I am there, but I have bilocated, and I spend most of my time and energy away from there,” Shen said.

“With Loxy,” Jerica said.

“Yes. I want to go back to her, and the home we created,” Shen said. “I don’t know why I am here or what I am supposed to learn. While flying in the tube, I saw a platter of what look like people to be consumed. Roasted. Boiled. I don’t know if they were real people or something made to look like real people. It really doesn’t matter. I find both disturbing. People aren’t supposed to eat people. Then again, ideally we shouldn’t even kill or fight each other. Killing people one on one happens, but my people kill lots of people, not just one, not just tens, or hundreds, or thousand at a go but tens of thousands, even millions of people and they don’t even blink an eye. Well, not completely true. Many warriors come back permanently changed. Wounded in the mind. Probably why they take young people to war. A seasoned man will need reason to kill, context. There are people that will kill without context, without thought. Interestingly, those kind don’t get selected for war because they are fucking nuts. So even the guys that want soldiers make a distinction of the kind of killers they want in their armies. They want us to be rational, but they also wants us compliant- and I don’t know if you can have both. I struggle with this, and I am not even a trained soldier.” He realized he was still talking and she was still listening. He gave her a half-ass smile, suggesting this was complicated even for him.

“On the train, going in circles,” Jerica said.

“Yeah,” Shen said.

“Going nowhere,” Jerica said.

“Yeah,” Shen said.

“But eventually, you come home, and you get off the train,” Jerica said.

“Yeah,” Shen said.

“Where nothing is changed,” Jerica said.

His smile faded, his eyes were distant.

“Except maybe being older,” Jerica said. She drew closer. She touched his face. “Your eyes seem tired, Shen. Never mind. Look, I don’t know everything. I don’t need to know everything. I don’t need to get on a train or go a season to make a decision. I like you. I would like to know you better. I would like to be intimate with you.”

“It is my intention to leave…”

“Then leave. I am not a chain. I am a woman. You’re here now. We are here now,” Jerica said.

“And then leave you pining away for something you can never have again?” Shen asked.

Jerica laughed. “No man is worth pining over. People leave. Move on. People die. Move on. That’s it. I greet each season as it comes, something familiar, something new, then I let go- just like everyone else.”

“You’re on the train,” Shen said.

Jerica chuckled. “Maybe.”

“We’d should get to that ball before we’re missed,” Shen said.

“I can’t dance,” Jerica said.

“Sure you can. Come on, I’ll remind you how,” Shen said. He stood, offered his hand.