pictures showed what
appeared to be an underground cavern, but curiously it was filled
with what appeared to be living vegetation, and of a kind Serena
had never seen before. Looping vines of a curious, vivid aquamarine
hung down from a rocky ceiling, decked with blue-and-purple leaves
and golden flowers. Trees and bushes of myriad shapes and sizes
clustered in groups, their foliage dazzling in cerulean and
hyacinthine hues. The floor was carpeted in a strange kind of
grass, much of it jade or teal in colour. There was even a river
running through some part of it, the water black and darkly
sparkling.
Serena was
entranced. She sometimes thought that, had things turned out
differently, she might have applied to the University of Iving’s
archaeology programme and taken up the life of an explorer and
academic. She suffered more than a little envy of the people who
were, even now, exploring this miraculous site, learning about it
and preparing their reports for the elucidation of the world. Too
bad that she had no reason whatsoever to go.
The picture of
the black river popped up again, and Serena froze. Something had
caught her eye, so tiny an image that she had missed it before. She
darted closer to the board, scrutinising the image as closely as
she could. No, she had not been mistaken.
A fierce
excitement blazed in her heart, and she stepped back with a huge
smile. Taking her voice-box out of her pocket, she switched it on
and waited. When it lit up, she spoke.
‘ Fabe?’
‘ Yeah?’
‘ Get
everyone ready. I’m going to see Oliver, and then I think we’ll all
be taking a little trip south.’
Wisely, Oliver
did not attempt to interfere with Serena’s plans. It might have
been the shine of enthusiasm in her eyes, or possibly the way she
threatened to pelt him with custard if he refused; either way, he
took her ideas seriously and made no opposition to her going. He
did note, in a dry tone, that one or two obstacles stood in her
way.
‘ It’ll
be swamped,’ he observed. ‘You’ll never get in as you
are.’
Serena merely
nodded. She’d already anticipated as much, and had relayed
instructions to Fabian accordingly.
And he had done
an admirable job of preparing her team, she found on her return to
their apartment. She arrived to find that Teyo and Egg had donned
their LHB uniforms once more and bore convincing-looking
credentials. Fabian and Iyamar had taken the guise of a pair of
university academics from, they informed her, the history faculty
of a tiny university in far eastern Nimdre which nobody had ever
heard of. Their identification documents looked real enough,
though; Fabian had dashed them off in record time, but he had done
a typically excellent job on them nonetheless. They had prepared a
matching costume for Serena, who donned it hastily but with care.
When she was finished, Serena Carterett had disappeared in favour
of a slightly dumpy Nimdren woman approaching middle years, her
light brown hair untidily drawn up into a bun, her clothes simple
and serviceable.
‘ Very
good work, Mr. Trall,’ Serena said to Fabian, practicing her
Nimdren elocution.
He bowed with the
stiff, somewhat imperfect grace of a stuffy older man, his brittle
grey-locked hair flopping slightly into his eyes. ‘You are too
kind, Miss Huandre.’
‘ Mrs,’
Serena corrected.
Fabian coughed.
‘Forgive me.’
She gave him a
regal nod of forgiveness, the majesty of the gesture mildly belied
by the twinkle in her eyes, and hefted her pack full of Emergency
Things. ‘Off we go!’
They took the
railcar southwards, and within a few hours they disembarked on the
outskirts of Balbater, prepared to walk the rest of the way. Though
as it happened, they weren’t obliged to. News of the site had
spread fast, and, as Oliver had predicted, there was a great deal
of traffic on its way from Balbater to the site, which lay a mile
or two to the west of the town. Some enterprising souls,
particularly quick off the mark, had
appeared to be an underground cavern, but curiously it was filled
with what appeared to be living vegetation, and of a kind Serena
had never seen before. Looping vines of a curious, vivid aquamarine
hung down from a rocky ceiling, decked with blue-and-purple leaves
and golden flowers. Trees and bushes of myriad shapes and sizes
clustered in groups, their foliage dazzling in cerulean and
hyacinthine hues. The floor was carpeted in a strange kind of
grass, much of it jade or teal in colour. There was even a river
running through some part of it, the water black and darkly
sparkling.
Serena was
entranced. She sometimes thought that, had things turned out
differently, she might have applied to the University of Iving’s
archaeology programme and taken up the life of an explorer and
academic. She suffered more than a little envy of the people who
were, even now, exploring this miraculous site, learning about it
and preparing their reports for the elucidation of the world. Too
bad that she had no reason whatsoever to go.
The picture of
the black river popped up again, and Serena froze. Something had
caught her eye, so tiny an image that she had missed it before. She
darted closer to the board, scrutinising the image as closely as
she could. No, she had not been mistaken.
A fierce
excitement blazed in her heart, and she stepped back with a huge
smile. Taking her voice-box out of her pocket, she switched it on
and waited. When it lit up, she spoke.
‘ Fabe?’
‘ Yeah?’
‘ Get
everyone ready. I’m going to see Oliver, and then I think we’ll all
be taking a little trip south.’
Wisely, Oliver
did not attempt to interfere with Serena’s plans. It might have
been the shine of enthusiasm in her eyes, or possibly the way she
threatened to pelt him with custard if he refused; either way, he
took her ideas seriously and made no opposition to her going. He
did note, in a dry tone, that one or two obstacles stood in her
way.
‘ It’ll
be swamped,’ he observed. ‘You’ll never get in as you
are.’
Serena merely
nodded. She’d already anticipated as much, and had relayed
instructions to Fabian accordingly.
And he had done
an admirable job of preparing her team, she found on her return to
their apartment. She arrived to find that Teyo and Egg had donned
their LHB uniforms once more and bore convincing-looking
credentials. Fabian and Iyamar had taken the guise of a pair of
university academics from, they informed her, the history faculty
of a tiny university in far eastern Nimdre which nobody had ever
heard of. Their identification documents looked real enough,
though; Fabian had dashed them off in record time, but he had done
a typically excellent job on them nonetheless. They had prepared a
matching costume for Serena, who donned it hastily but with care.
When she was finished, Serena Carterett had disappeared in favour
of a slightly dumpy Nimdren woman approaching middle years, her
light brown hair untidily drawn up into a bun, her clothes simple
and serviceable.
‘ Very
good work, Mr. Trall,’ Serena said to Fabian, practicing her
Nimdren elocution.
He bowed with the
stiff, somewhat imperfect grace of a stuffy older man, his brittle
grey-locked hair flopping slightly into his eyes. ‘You are too
kind, Miss Huandre.’
‘ Mrs,’
Serena corrected.
Fabian coughed.
‘Forgive me.’
She gave him a
regal nod of forgiveness, the majesty of the gesture mildly belied
by the twinkle in her eyes, and hefted her pack full of Emergency
Things. ‘Off we go!’
They took the
railcar southwards, and within a few hours they disembarked on the
outskirts of Balbater, prepared to walk the rest of the way. Though
as it happened, they weren’t obliged to. News of the site had
spread fast, and, as Oliver had predicted, there was a great deal
of traffic on its way from Balbater to the site, which lay a mile
or two to the west of the town. Some enterprising souls,
particularly quick off the mark, had
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