Spheria (4 page)

“That is all the time we have for questions. If you have more, you can talk to Max at the cocktail party on the third floor immediately following our last speaker, who I am proud to introduce now…”

#

“Those will kill you,” came a deep Australian voice.

Max snapped out of his reverie and turned around. Towering over him stood an unnaturally blond man, exuding confidence and authority.

“Mr. Neilson, sir,” Max stuttered. “P-Pardon me?”

“Those e-cigs, we don’t know if they’re safe.”

“It’s just vapor, harmless.”

“They said the same thing about tobacco seventy years ago. We think everything is safe until we know better, but then we learn everything kills you. Have you ever heard of the Radium Girls?”

“I don’t believe I have.”

“It was around the beginning of the twentieth century. These sheilas worked in a factory making glow-in-the-dark analog watches by painting the numbers with radium. Some of them thought it’d be cool to paint their teeth as well so that their smiles would glow in the dark. They learned the hard way that it wasn’t such a great idea when they all developed mouth cancer. We just don’t know enough about how the universe works. You, of all people, should be aware of this, Mr. Moreau.”

Max contemplated his e-cigarette, squinted his eyes, and drew another breath of vapors.

“Regardless,” snickered Graham, “I didn’t come here to save your life, Mr. Moreau.”

“Please call me Max.”

“Very well, Max. As I was saying, I didn’t come here to save your life, but I did come here to see your presentation. Not specifically yours, of course. I didn’t even know you'd be here and even if I had, I wouldn’t have heard of you. You see, I tend to go to these types of things for my own amusement: the TED conferences, the Summit Series, Learning Without Frontiers, etc. Sometimes, like now, I find attractive business opportunities. This one, however, is more than that. You said something that touched a nerve in me.”

“Really? What was that?”

“Insect.”

“Insect?” Max echoed, puzzled.

“Exactly. You see, I’ve had an idea for a long time. I realized, when you said that word, that your technology would be perfect for it. This moment is exactly why I've been building my fortune.”

Max was a little confused, but he understood ‘fortune.’ “So you want to invest?”

“Invest? Yes and no. I want to fund the development and use of your Qubes. I want exclusive rights. I have a fantastic idea that’ll make these, well, glow brighter than you can imagine. I will fund further development with $50 million and make you the technical leader of my project. You'll have a wild ride. But you have to promise me one thing.”

Max was too shocked to respond right away. He looked at his e-cigarette but didn’t take a drag. Instead, he shook his head and asked, “What’s that?”

“That you will under no circumstances sell the technology to the military. That woman in there who asked about malicious intent was a grant developer who works for me. Her name is Dana Carter. In a way, she was speaking on my behalf. I would prefer that this technology doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. And by wrong hands, I mean anyone who might turn it into a weapon.”

“I think the government could do some great things with this technology,” Max countered. “NASA could calculate cheaper ways to get off earth. Design materials for a space elevator, for example. Why would I want to exclude that? Why would
you
want to exclude that?”

Graham leaned back and uttered a deep booming laugh. “A space elevator happens to be another one of my projects. But I want to start with something more esoteric. Listen, I'm offering you a job, and some initial funding to expand your ideas in ways you probably have never imagined. When you get back to the States, I have a lab already set up and ready to go.”

“That’s a hard offer to refuse. So what’s your idea?”

“C’mon. Let’s go get a coldie and I’ll fill you in. You’re gonna love it! Oh, and you should quit the vapors, it makes you look like a drongo, and we both know you're not
that
.”

Max looked at his plastic apparatus. Then, with an agreeable shrug, he flicked it over the balcony like a used butt.

Chapter 3 - Uplift Pass

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Le∙ma struggled to keep up with Sa∙ma. They were moving fast, with purpose. Through the blurred motion of the foliage, she kept her vision sensors fixed onto the straight textured lines on his body. Were he female, like her, the swirling pattern would have been less easy to track.

They’d come a long way from the Colony, much farther than Le∙ma, or many for that matter, had ever ventured. Sa∙ma seemed to know where he was going, so she followed without pausing to contemplate their course. It seemed to her that he was disorienting her intentionally.

They came to the base of a mountain range, comprised of blue crystal, as all the mountains were. These crystals emitted a repulsive force. The two Polyans could only get so close before the push was too great to come in contact with the smooth blue surface. This push, unique to the blue crystals, made the mountains impassable. They divided the world into maze-like sections, many of which were unreachable.

The travelers turned to the right and began moving again, following the contour of the mountains. This went on for only a brief time, and as they turned a corner, Le∙ma saw something unexpected. There, on the side of the mountain, was a gaping slit, quite large, forming a passage into it.

“Here we are,” said Sa∙ma. “This is Uplift Pass, so named by the ancestors of my ancestors, and their ancestors in turn. Like you, I was led through this crevice as an apprentice Lumen Seeker. I was given knowledge about our world that only a select few ever receive. Today, I pass this knowledge down to you. Someday, you'll replace me as the Colony’s Lumen Master and attain a special status equal to, if not higher than, that of the six-legged Leaders. Come.”

Le∙ma was dazzled and followed Sa∙ma as he ducked into the passage. As she entered, she could feel an almost crushing force from both sides at the same time. But it couldn’t repel her away because each side was pushing equally. This created a sensation that could only be described as “slippery.” She began to slide forward as if floating along. Both she and Sa∙ma started to pick up speed and suddenly shot out of the opposite side. They landed into a kind of bowl-shaped area of blue rock. There, Sa∙ma bobbed a little above the ground. When Le∙ma looked down, she discovered she was doing the same. Her legs, being repelled by the blue substance below, were suspending her above the surface.

This startled her, and she lost her balance. All four of her legs sprawled out, and she went sliding and spinning toward the opposite side of the indentation. But as it sloped up, she lost momentum and slid back from where she came. This happened a couple more times, back and forth, until she came to rest at the lowest point. Sa∙ma chuckled to himself, watching as she attempted to stand. She slipped once again onto her belly. He lent a leg to prop her up, and she figured out how to remain floating upright. She practiced feeling the odd sensations below her. Eventually, she learned how to control her orientation by applying slight pressure onto her individual legs. She was walking on an imaginary, flexible floor.

“As everyone in the Colony knows, climbing blue rock is impossible,” said Sa∙ma. “That’s not changed for us. But we’re on the first step of a Lumen Walk. This cave and cup, discovered by those long forgotten, can show us things that others will never see.”
 

Le∙ma glanced up and could see that what initially appeared to be a gentle upwards slope was actually comprised of a series of steps.
 

Following her gaze, Sa∙ma continued. “We call these the Uplift Steps. They were created in ancient times when Spheria was forming. Like the one we’re on, each has a concave shape that we can rest in.”

“How can we climb them?” Le∙ma asked with puzzlement.

“It takes a particular skill, which I'm about to teach you. Observe me.”

Sa∙ma stretched two of his four legs downward on one side. This altered the balance of the repulsion and he was pushed away from his position. As he slowed, he stretched out the opposite two legs and his direction was reversed. But since he was starting higher along the curve, he went a bit farther up the opposite side this time. This he repeated, over and over, until he shot over the rim of the basin and out of Le∙ma’s sight.

Le∙ma found this floating phenomenon intriguing, and definitely foreign to her. But in a strange way, it made sense. She imitated Sa∙ma and after a few false starts, she got it. Once she found the rhythm, it became easy. She flew over the lip and landed on the higher step. Sa∙ma was there waiting for her, lying on his back. He tapped his feet to his belly, showing her his approval for her achievement.

“This is fun!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, it is. One of the perks of being chosen for this path. But come, we’ve got many more steps to climb. We have a long journey before nightfall.”

They climbed and climbed, in the same manner. There were about thirty of these steps, although Le∙ma had lost count at about fifteen. Finally, they reached the top. As Le∙ma slid to the opposite edge, she was startled to be looking down an almost sheer face of mountain rock. The drop was formidable and frightening. She flailed her legs, struggling to push herself backward.

“Calm, my child,” said Sa∙ma. “We’re at the Apex of the World. This is the highest known reachable point ever discovered.”

Le∙ma looked up at the glowing Source. Indeed, they seemed noticeably closer to it. They were about a third of the way from the ground to the center of their spherical world where the Source floated. She stared at it in awe. It was definitely larger than she’d ever seen it. Even the lands on the other side of the Source seemed closer, although still an impossible distance away.

“Remember, it's impolite to stare at the Source. The gods dwell there, looking down upon us. When you stare at the Source, you may be staring into the eyes of any god watching us, and you may offend him. A glance is okay, but a stare not so.” She averted her eyes.

“The Source looks amazing,” she muttered. “I feel almost like I could touch it. What would happen if I did?”

Sa∙ma glanced up at it, too long actually, caught himself, and looked away. He looked back at Le∙ma and said, “It’s never happened. It’s said that any who touch the Source will get pulled into it. They’ll dwell there forever, amongst the gods. Inside, there’s endless energy and everything you could ever need or want. Nothing there can ever harm you, and you will never die. As you can see looking at the entire world, there are no mountains high enough to even come close. But enough of looking up, we’re here to look down. Please, float to each edge of this basin and look upon this valley, until you get a sense of the wonder around us.”

Le∙ma did as she was told, having gained a good command of what she called “the push.” She propelled herself, not back and forth, but in a spiral motion. This led to her sliding around the perimeter of the circular step. As she did so, she focused her attention downward and outward, looking at the ground nearby. This was different than looking upwards toward the opposite lands that formed the sphere. Details were small but closer. She could see the hives in the Colony from where she was, and even a couple Polyans moving around. She wondered if anyone would look up and see them as well. They wouldn’t believe what they saw, even if they did.

The view down the other side of the mountain ridge was more spectacular still. Fingered veins of red created a web of rivers between which the foliage seemed sparser, like it was struggling for survival. It was clearly a more inhospitable place on this side, a place she dreaded visiting.

Sa∙ma met her at the edge and followed her gaze. “That’s the ‘Proving Ground.’ We’ll be walking through there on the way to the Rift.”

“Through there? But there is a much easier way to the Rift on our side.”

Sa∙ma focused on the scene below him. He saw something in the distance that he never noticed before, a violet spot on an otherwise average sea of brown, blue, red, and green. This reminded him of an old legend, and he committed the approximate location to memory.

“Sa∙ma?”

“Yes?”

“I asked you why we’re going through there when there is an easier way to the Rift near our Colony.”

“I know, but getting to the Rift isn’t the only reason we’re on this walk. The journey is the reason we’re here. There will be many trials along the way, as is always the case. So keep a keen watch as we cross these lands.”

She looked down again. She could see a group of lumbering shapes, which resembled her statue. A group of Zalisks. She’d never heard of more than one together before. But she guessed the harsh environment forced them to band together for protection, even with their mighty tusks. Having to attempt to navigate this gave her chills.
 

A large spiral pattern on the ground caught her eye. It was a dreaded Troaten. Many long tentacles swirled away from its central core, awaiting unsuspecting prey to approach.