Chapter 13: Haven

Meno, Angie and Paba awkwardly stood staring at the three in front of them. The old man, Harold, held out his hand with his broad smile beaming. Meno thought that he looked familiar somehow, though he also looked like a rather happy frog. Meno surged forward, and remembering what Hellen had taught him, took the small man’s hand and shook it,

“It is very nice to meet you. I am Meno,” he said with confidence. The small, sage-like man chuckled slightly before saying,

“And you, but I believe that you should have something for me?” Meno paled and looked behind him, and saw Angie mouth the words,

‘The coin’, and he suddenly jolted, pulling the coin from around his neck before handing it to Harold. He now realised that the held-out hand was not an invitation for a handshake. He felt foolish and retreated.

“Not smooth”, whispered Paba, not taking her eyes off the people in front of them.

“Ah,” said Harold, holding the coin up and looking at it carefully, flipping it around in his hand, “Yes, all in order, it seems. You are welcome here, and will be safe.” There was a calmness to the old man that settled Meno slightly.

“Thank you so much,” Meno said, bowing,

“Now…” he said, looking at each of them, “Who are you?” The question floored them, but the old man just gave a curious look to each of them. He clearly meant the question, they had just not expected it.

“Ah,” each one of them said in some way, until Meno blurted,

“Worrec sent us, he said to meet with you, and that you would have…”

“Worrec, okay”, he said contemplatively. Meno could almost feel the panic rising in Angie now as her eyes darted between the two guards, and he could tell that Paba was thinking the same as himself: ‘Damn you, Worrec’.

“Well,” Harold said abruptly, gently clapping his hands together once without making a sound, “We will take you to the Temple, you are now guests of the Traes. Follow me”

Meno noticed that the two guards flanking Harold were apparently enjoying this. Each with a smirk that they were trying to hide. Now, Meno didn't know if the old man was messing with them, or if the guard just thought that this was funny because this is what he was like.

They followed the man and the two guards to a glider that had a mirror finish that was held just off the bay platform. To Meno, it was a work of art of straight, long lines only ever curving to sharpen into an arrowhead shape. It looked built for speed, but also held the quiet dignity of something that should be observed in movement. It must have been at least forty feet long.

Angie moved quickly to Meno’s side and whispered aggressively, “He doesn't know Worrec?”

“I don’t know what’s happening, Angie”, he said, feeling as though this was somehow his fault, though logically knowing that he was merely a passenger, too.

“This is typical, Worrec shit,” Paba muttered to herself, shaking her head side to side, “Pretends like he has a plan and then throws you into hell”.

They made their way into the very, very comfortable glider that had squishy white seats and full, thick carpets. There didn't seem to be any windows from the outside, but when they got in, Meno could see the outside. He couldn't even imagine how that was possible. It was amazing, and it was cooler than it had been outside. It was remarkably more plush than their freighter, which to him had become a new benchmark of luxury. They took their seats in the circular seating, and the old man looked between the three of them and said,

“Now, what are your names?” asked Harold as he took his seat and carefully looked at all of them, still smiling.. They answered in turn with confusion riddled in their voices at their would-be saviour having no idea who they were. He nodded at each and remarked, ‘What a fun name,’ when Paba, unfortunately, delivered hers with a usual level of sassiness. Though Harold didn't seem to mind, or perhaps notice.

“Good, good. You perhaps saw the statue of our beautiful Det’em as you entered?” It would have been very difficult to miss the mountain-sized statue, Meno thought, but they answered regardless.

“Good, good. Lady Det’em is our most sacred treasure. She was the founder of our wonderful planet, and she will also be where you call home for the time being. I will take you to your apartments, but the Planetary head is very busy today, very busy, so we will arrange a meeting for you at some point. We would ask that you do not stray far from your apartments for the time being. We have been informed of your coming here, and you will be under the protection of the Traes, meaning that nobody will know who you are or what you are doing here. Though I do not know that either,” he said with a beaming smile, as though delivering wonderful news.

“The coin must mean something, though?” Meno said, looking pleadingly at the old man and the two guards, who, after hearing this, did not seem to be worried at all,

“Yes,” he said in that long-winded way, acting as though this explained everything. “Here we are, below is the city of Det’em, named after our deity, and the capital of Yeley” Meno looked out the window and for the briefest of moments felt all of his worries leave him.

The tall white buildings, which were marked with faded paint of bright colours, which he had not seen from a distance. Though it had been some time since they were last painted. The buildings were tall, with pillars and facades. The streets were made from stone, and fountains and statues were on almost every corner. The whole city was littered with trees, some climbing the walls of some buildings, others in the centre of streets with stones around them as though protected. Meno saw the people walking with brightly coloured cloth wraps that flapped in the gentle breeze. He saw people coming together and laughing, eating and enjoying the warm sun of the day. Other gliders moved around them, some heading in the same direction as them, to the statue of Det’em. The entire city was alive with movement.

Meno looked up at her now as she towered over them, her face obscured by the lightest of cloud cover, and there was a rainbow around her. Paba grimaced at it strangely for some reason, before noticing Meno and wording,

"Fucking rainbows and shit?"

Below, Meno spotted a large group waving deep green flags as they stood before a podium with someone speaking animatedly. The group were cheering and throwing their fists into the air in chants. They were somehow in contrast to the rest of the people within the city of Det’em.

“Who are they?” Meno asked, suspecting that he already knew..

“Ah,” said Harold, looking out of the window. Meno noticed that the two guards looks had soured upon seeing the group. “A reform group, led by a man named Grasci”, he said, nodding solemnly, “They are protesting some of the changes to Yeley’s agricultural productions. They call themselves The Yelean Front,” he said, continuing to nod, as though agreeing with himself. Meno noted that the man did not tell them not to worry about it at all, as he would have expected him to.

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“We will be enjoying a festival in a few months. The Sun’s Rising festival”, continued Harold, sitting back into his seat, “We will be painting the city in celebration of it, as we do every year, bringing in the hot season”. It was already hotter than Meno had ever experienced, and he was so excited to be in a heat like this, though he had to admit, there was something nice about the cool air that was being moved around the glider's cabin. “Grasci has said that he will be making a public speech during the festival, it has quite a few people worked up in fact,” Harold watched them closely for their reactions, but Meno couldn't tell what he was looking for. Did he suspect that they were somehow here for the Yelean Front in some capacity?

“Excuse me, Harold, but you said that we will be staying in the Temple, under the protection of the Traes family”, he nodded to Angie's question.

“Yes, yes,” he said as though pulling on a long-lost memory,

“Is that usual for guests of Yeley?”

“Oh, no, not at all,” he said, flashing his smile again. Meno noticed the guards trying to hold back smiles again, the woman showing to be more practised at this than the male guard. Meno looked at them with a questioning look. She merely shook her head side to side, and then nodded in a way to say, ‘It’s fine, dont worry’. Meno could see that Angie was having a similar feeling of frustration with the lack of clear answers, but neither was going to push their situation any further than needed.

They sat in silence for the rest of the short trip. Paba, who hadn't said anything, appeared to be having a conversation with herself in her head as she was infrequently moving her mouth but not saying anything, while shaking her head from side to side with the occasional face being pulled, which did lift Meno’s spirits a bit. He thought that she was almost perfectly odd.

“This place is amazing,” Meno said, trying to break the silence, looking out of the window on Angie's side, knowing that she was transfixed too. She exhaled through her nose, in apparent acceptance of its beauty despite the frustration she currently felt with Harold. Below them, they came to a massive circular courtyard outside the steps of the temple, which was bustling with people. Stalls were set up on the outskirts of the plaza, and the same brightly coloured cloth was used as awnings to protect them from the heat.

“The Agora”, said Harold, looking down at it with a loving smile, seeing all of the people moving in and out, some pointing up at the ship as it came to rest at the temple steps behind some guards at the entrance to the temple. Meno couldn't wait to get outside and experience the city and look up at the magnificent temple and the statue of Det’em that was currently blocked from their view.

“Not just yet,” said Harold, holding his hand up, and the ship began to spin slowly, and then lower into the ground. Meno looked outside the window and saw that they were on a platform that was taking them below the floor. The people of the Agora were watching the glider with some interest. He realised now that the people could not see them, as the ship had a mirror finish on the outside of it. “We need to protect you, that means even from our people as well. We have gone to some lengths already to ensure that you will not be seen”

“So that’s why we are being afforded the luxury of staying within the temple”, Angie asked, to which she received a knowing look from Harold.

The ship continued to fall below the city street on a platform until they were lowered into a large chamber, with several gliders and a small crew that manned the hangar. It was only once they had come to a full stop that Harold gently tapped his hands together in another soundless clap and told them that they could now depart.

Meno was slightly dampened by the fact that he couldn't explore the Agora, but was still interested in walking through the hangar. Stretching stone walls and more gliders that looked like the one that they had just come out of lined the vast chamber. Multiple consoles and holograms displaying ship schematics, with people working on the ships and seeming to be looking at designs. It felt so alive.

The female guard hurried him from the glider, shuffling him toward the lifts as the others strode ahead. Meno’s legs wobbled embarrassingly as the lift began to move upward. Angie grabbed him by the shoulder and squeezed to let him know that this was normal, but he could feel that she was still on edge through the intensity.

He did see that he received another smirk from the guards, and no reaction at all from Harold, who seemed to be humming and then trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. Paba had seemingly lost the ability to care about anything happening around her.

Once the lift stopped, at which Meno had a more controlled, though not completely elegant jolt, they found themselves entering a large corridor with a grand concourse. A vast circular room, fifteen meters in diameter, with a corridor leading out on each side. The opposite side to the lifts was open to the sky and the city, and Meno saw that they must have travelled up some thirty meters or so. He was now seeing the tops of the buildings below them, and the great hands of the statue that the temple was part of stretching just above them, the water misting from her hands. The room was filled with chairs and tables arranged for personal meetings, and people spoke openly with datapads in relaxed, brightly coloured robes. The open windows were dressed in light cloth hanging over the openings to the world outside, the wind gently blowing in.

“What happens when it rains?” was a thought that he accidentally verbalised,

“Oh, it only rains around the temple when required, otherwise, we control the weather quite well. The mists are held away by a simple pulse barrier,” said Harold, who had started to walk off to the left. Meno noticed as he walked that at the highest point of the walls, where they met with the ceiling, etched runes pulsed with soft, eerie light. It gave a serene look, but it was not giving off enough light to be of any use during nighttime. As they continued down the corridor, he saw the same lining the walls. He saw that both Angie and Paba apparently noticed this, too. Paba staring and Angie only allowing her eyes to flicker to them, perhaps not wanting to be seen as inspecting it.

Harold led them down the corridor until he came to a large wooden door, which he allowed one of the guards to open, and Meno was once again left in utter shock at the place. It was a room with an opening to the world outside. The stretched blue skies and the white stone city below them, the same cloth lightly blowing in the wind, hanging from the open windows.

Inside, there was a large wooden table with benches and wingback chairs at the ends, a leather sofa and a carpet that lay below it. On the far right, there was an open kitchen with a stone island topped with a rich redwood. Opposite was a built-in area with some stools, which was set next to one of the open windows, allowing the cool breeze to drift in.

“These will be your apartments,” said Harold, his smile larger now than before, “This space sleeps five, so you should be more than comfortable here. Each room has its own bathroom. You are welcome to the food and anything that you would like in here. We will be sending clothing through to you later today, as we have your sizes now,” he said, looking at the three of their base layers, which they were still wearing. Meno just hoped the clothing was as comfortable. Angie and Paba walked into the room, both stupefied like Meno,

“Um, thank you,” said Angie in disbelief, which was followed by a vigorous nod from Paba. Harold bowed to them and left the room with his two guards. The doors closing left a ringing silence in the room.

“This is…” Meno started looking around at the exceedingly comfortable room. They all took another collective moment, until,

“What the hell is going on?!” Paba cried, throwing her hands around to her side, pleading for some reason. “I honestly thought we were going to be arrested, or some stupid shit like that?”

“I need a drink”, said Angie, who moved over to what Meno now recognised must have been a bar. He dropped himself onto one of the sofas and felt himself sink in. He released a breath that he didn't know he was holding at the absolute comfort of it as he fell through the cushions. Angie downed a glass of something already, and after pulling a face, looked at Paba and said,

“Did you see the wards?” she said through a pulled face, lifting her eyes to the writing that lined these walls, too.

“Oh yeah”, said Paba, wide-eyed, “They have some serious security around here. It’s old school, but nothing gets through this stuff”, she said, seeming to keep herself lucid through her existential crisis.

“This place…” Angie took a moment, “Are we really safe here?” Paba just started laughing, and Meno just watched them with a smile on his face..

“Pour for all of us, Angie, and keep ‘em coming”.