All Novel Sweet
95
“Most definitely! The storm outside is expected to end in a day or so.” Tanz smiled. “Tonight though we are throwing a dinner party for your visit so you may meet the Queen and the King in a less formal setting. This is something else you will discover about the Shreen. We don’t insist on a lot of grandiose pageantry or ceremony.”
Jack smiled gratefully. “That sounds wonderful!”
Tanz couldn’t deny her curiosity any longer. “Your magnificent horns, they look different from the image I just saw before I came to meet you. They look…” her words failed her.
“Shiny?” Jack offered but she shook her head still struggling to find the word. He sighed. “Bloody and vicious?”
“YES! Wait- no. Aggressive? Something of that nature,” Tanz shook her head and just smiled at him. “They are most impressive but they don’t look like they did in the image.”
“Yes, well… I had a little accident this morning. I was out running and to avoid colliding with someone I jumped aside and hit a tree. The tree sap stained my horns red. I’m hoping it fades and goes back to the original color.”
“You weren’t hurt?” she asked in surprise.
“No, getting hit in the head doesn’t seem to be as dangerous as it was before I grew these,” he said pointing up with a self-deprecating grin. “I’m much more hard headed these days.”
She smiled back at him. “Shall I take you to the palace?”
Jack nodded and they followed her down the ramp. When they passed through the doors at the bottom Jack braced himself for an icy blast but walked into a cool breeze instead. Not frigid but he could see how he would shortly find it to be uncomfortable. They were in a small… parking lot with just two wheeled carts in it. One had seats for two and the other was longer with a cargo bed and seating for eight. Tanz gestured for them to put their bags on the back of the larger vehicle and she strapped them down when they were done. Gee and Bal were leaning against Jack while they waited for Tanz. He looked down at them as he felt them shiver.
When she turned from the vehicle she frowned in concern. “My apologies for the temperature. I can see you’re finding it to be a little too cool for your comfort. This is how we keep all of our living and working spaces. I’ll get you some warm outerwear for your stay.”
“Thank you!” Jack said.
She gestured for them to get onto the cart. She climbed up onto the front seat and Jack moved to follow her onto the passenger seat but Gee pulled him after her onto the second-row bench seat. Bal pushed him to the middle then tucked her body up against his as Gee pressed herself against his other side. Smiling gently down at them he pulled his arms up and over their shoulders and hugged them against him pulling them in tighter. Gee let a sigh slip from her lips as the heat from his torso soaked into her chilled body. She studiously looked away, avoiding his amused look.
Tanz gave the cart their destination then turned in the seat to look back at them. She smiled at the Altarian’s method of staying warm.
The cart rolled back smoothly and moved them out into another long rectangular corridor of the same white stone that stretched off into the distance. Jack finally realized they were going to remain underground.
Tanz saw his epiphany and grinned. “Yes, we don’t live on the surface. We like the cold but we’ve adapted really well to living underground and it’s so much easier to control the climate down here.”
The tunnel they were gently rolling and bouncing through was brightly lit from evenly spaced domes in the ceiling. The walls were completely covered with some kind of leafy plant life. Their oxygen scrubbers and suppliers.
“The palace?” Jack asked.
“It’s underground too. You were expecting a tall pointy structure built atop a mountain and made from ice perhaps?” she answered with a grin.
He nodded with an embarrassed smile.
“Not practical at all but very dramatic. We actually considered building one and got so far as having an architect draw up plans but no one wanted to live or work in such a drafty building. Ice buildings make their own air currents. Pah,” Tanz snorted with a grin.
The corridor continued to slope downwards gradually. “How deep underground are we going?” Jack asked.This is the property of Nô-velDrama.Org.
Tanz’s eyes widened. “I should have asked, do you have a fear of enclosed spaces?”
“What? Oh, no. I was just curious,” Jack clarified. He looked to Gee and Bal and both shook their heads. They looked toasty and content.
“Good. Well, the deepest we typically go is around thirty levels, most only being as tall as this one though we sometimes have much taller chambers. Any deeper and lighting the space isn’t cost effective and we don’t have plants that like growing that deep so air quality is at risk,” the Facilitator explained.
They saw a brightly lit exit approaching. The road continued on but they were slowing. There was a fair amount of activity at the exit as well. Jack wondered if it was a welcoming committee or some kind of festivity to celebrate their arrival. As they got closer the cart rolled into a parking lot and found a spot to recharge in. Once the engine switched off Tanz jumped off and untied their luggage.
Jack had to nudge Bal to get her to disengage and move off the bench to go bet her bags. Gee stayed close to Jack until he slid off the bench then she was forced to get up and jump down to get her own bags.
Carrying their stuff they walked through the large sliding glass doors into a market place. Jack felt stupid for assuming they were there to see him. These beings were shopping for their daily needs or selling their produce or wares. The sights and sounds of the marketplace brought Jack sweet memories of the times when he and his mother went to a local market to buy food.
Everyone was wearing some variation of the kilt Tanz had on though some vendors were wearing aprons that went up to their chests as well.
He finally caught a physical characteristic that seemed to differentiate the sexes. Males seemed to have vestigial fangs projecting slightly over their lower lip. The females did not.
Outside of the plants for sale, almost every bit of open wall space housed the green plants he’d seen in the corridor they’d driven through.
They made their way through the wide lane running down the middle of the space and people nodded at Tanz and she responded. She said a few words to various individuals on the way and Jack noticed some anxiety she seemed to be able to calm with a word or two. He also received his share of curious looks but none stopped them or interrupted them in any way.
Beyond the large market place they entered another vast chamber which again was filled with people going about their business. This was a shopping district. It almost reminded Jack of one of earth’s mega malls except the products on display had a more hand-made, craftsman quality to them. There wasn’t a lot of tech for sale though the stores themselves used tech to track the transactions and to advertise their products. He saw a few people consulting their com units for information but for the most part the Shreen just talked to each other directly. He witnessed some good natured haggling but that was the extent of the confrontational behavior he saw.
It was true that some had stern expressions and moved about their business with a little extra haste but to Jack that just seemed normal for a crowd this size. Certainly it didn’t hint at this unrest. Did it?
Once more, Tanz was called out to and answered back as they made their way through the area. She was obviously well liked and respected.
They finally exited the shopping district and passed through a wide circular court yard with lanes leading off of it like spokes. Ahead of them were some very wide doors.
“The Royal Palace,” Tanz said proudly as she opened the doors and gestured for them to enter. Immediately inside the door was a large landing with a railing on the far edge. Off to either side of the landing were curving ramps leading downwards. They moved closer to the railing and saw the space down below was a vast audience hall with a raised dais at the far side with two chairs. For the Queen and King Jack guessed. Rows of benches faced the two chairs and directly before the dais was a small podium where someone would stand to address the royal couple.
The most spectacular thing about the room were the brilliantly colored and lit windows running from floor to ceiling. Jack grinned happily at how beautiful the colors splashing across the audience hall looked. He turned to smile at Tanz and he saw the delight in her own eyes.
“It’s wonderful!” he said.
“It is. Come on. I’ll show you to your rooms,” she said moving towards the left hand ramp.
“We’re staying in the palace?” Jack asked in surprise.
Tanz looked at him in concern. “You’d rather not stay in the palace?”
“No, it would be lovely! You just surprised me,” he assured her.
“Special guests always stay in the palace, not that we get many. The dinner party will be in the great dining hall which is a few rooms over in that direction,” she pointed to the right side of the Audience hall. “The royal apartment is up a few levels, and your accommodations are a few chambers to the left.”
They reached the base of the ramp and Jack looked up. Around the edges of the huge chamber the walls were formed with ridges and gussets. At the top it looked like the canopy of a tree and the bottom looked like roots. The whole room had an organic feel to it. Even the benches seemed to rise up out of the floor.
“No public audience with the royal couple today?” he asked and his smile slipped away when he saw a troubled look pass over the Facilitator’s face. She quickly hid it behind a smile.
“No, they’re… taking a short break from that activity,” she explained but he could tell she was uncomfortable so he withheld his next question.
Jack wondered if the Queen and King were too busy dealing with the unrest Elissa had asked him to investigate.
Tanz led them through a corridor to the left and they passed a beautiful library and a lounge before they reached the guest suites. She took them down the hall to the last three doors.
“The rooms are largely identical in amenities so you can choose the arrangement of who gets which room as you like. I will go make arrangements to get you the warmer outerwear and will pick you up for the dinner party. The dress will be informal. There is no need to wear finery,” she informed them.