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– Chapter 12 –
A great cacophony of noise hit first, followed by a dazzle of lights. They stepped into a high vaulted cavern alive with the bustle of a fair. Straight in front of them a rainbow carrousel pumped out tinny music as models of fantastic creatures, from every major planet in the sector, spun round and round. Children of every local race rode on the creatures waving hands, feet, and tentacles to grinning passers-by. Of all the sights he might have expected in a den of thieves a carrousel astonished him the most. Around the carousel, hawkers shouted out the prices of sweet-meats from brightly coloured booths.
The main street stretched away ahead of them. It climbing at an ever steeper angle until it hung over their heads then looped back down behind them. What Mervyn had taken for a cavern was in fact a cylinder with Revlon spread around the inside surface. The asteroid’s rotation produced centrifugal force which created the effect of gravity, and prevented the buildings above Mervyns head crashing onto the carrousel. Canals criss-crossed Revlon at frequent intervals and ornate bridges took the roads across. Mervyn could see sunlight glinting from some of the canals and for a moment he thought they might actually contain water. Surely no one would waste such a valuable commodity so recklessly, not even on Revlon? Then he realised the canals were actually windows, and the sunlight was pouring in from the small yellow sun they had seen on their approach. The canals took it in turns to light up then dim, creasing a weird patters on shadows, as the Revlon spun on it’s axis.
The friends wandered between rows of stalls selling fast food and offering games of chance, taking in all the sights and sounds. ‘Hot roots?’ A snub-nosed reptilioid presented them with a steaming tray of baked tubers, ‘Young Ethrigians might enjoy these.’ It indicated a pile of bulbous pink tubers. The smell of food made Mervyn hungry, but he passed on the roots.
‘It’s like a giant fairground,’ Aurora said, as Loren bought barbecued Racta burgers for them all. ‘Maybe this isn’t going to be too bad after all.’
Tarun took a side order of the baked tubers, ‘Hmm, not bad. I fancy a go on that lottery game, you couldn’t buy me a card could you, Merv?’ Tarun opened the card with trembling anticipation, but as expected he won nothing. They all tried their hand at a Slug-a-Sgat Shy. Mervyn succeeded in toppling a woody Slug-a-Sgat from its cup with his last ball: a perfect pitch bounced off the floor hitting the unfortunate fruit with an uppercut. It squealed as it thudded to the ground -- an unusual sound from a plant, but part of the game’s attraction. Mervyn won a cuddly Slug-a-Sgat for his efforts, complete with squealer. Aurora offered him a high-five, ‘If you don’t like the game.’
‘Change the rules,’ they intoned together and their hands met briefly above their heads.
‘Hey look at that,’ Mervyn said. ‘An airstream,’ he pointed to a cage filled with floating beings in multicoloured suits.
‘Quantum!’ Loren crowed. ‘I’ve always wanted a go on one of those, come on’ They followed Loren to the cage and pushed through the watching crowd. A large turbine, forcing a torrent of air upwards, supported the flyers.
When it was their turn they struggled into baggy coveralls of different colours. Mervyn chose a blue one. Membranes, like wings, stretched from his wrists to his ankles, this is what would catch the air and give him lift. Some beings, Mervyn noted, wore their own jumpsuits with the front unfastened so the air would catch inside and lift them like balloons. Mervyn climbed the steps to the cage and stood above the rotating turbine. Below him a white safety net stretched across the mouth of the turbine to catch the unwary. It was full of rolling beings. He had survived the gravity net across to Lord Tivolli’s dart so surely a fairground amusement could harbour no dangers.
He crouched, coiled his energy into his knees, and leaped, arms wide to spread the membrane, like diving into a pool. His dive was too good and he plummeted head-first into the safety net. Next he tried leaning forward and spread his arms, but somehow he found himself lying on his back. Someone giggled. Aurora and Loren were floating above him. He looked around for Tarun and saw him sprawled on the opposite side of the net.
‘Watch this,’ Aurora shouted and performed a summersault. ‘It’s easy, Mervyn, feet together, arms out, and fall forward.’ Mervyn followed her instructions and fell forward.
Suddenly, the torrent of air took hold of him and he was floating. He whooped in exhilaration -- suddenly he felt free. Wow, birds must feel like this all the time. He tried a few swoops and dives, as long as he kept some part of the membrane angled towards the air stream he could stay airborne. He tried a summersault and found himself rolling on the net again. For some reason he couldn’t stop laughing -- this was fun. He lay on his back and stretched out his limbs. All of a sudden he was airborne again, but this time he was floating on his back.
‘Look out below!’ Tarun swooped past and crashed into the net again.
‘I don’t think he’s got the hang of it,’ Loren said hovering above him. Then Aurora appeared.
‘What are you going, Mervyn?’
‘Just hanging around. How do I turn over?’
‘Bring your right arm over before you drop your left.’
It worked, Mervyn turned over, and over, and over, then spun into the net again. Loren and Aurora joined him -- so doubled up with laughter they were unable to fly. All too soon they had to hand the airsuits back. He was definitely going to try that again.
Together, the Misfits wound their way through the booths on the asteroid’s main street and crossed bridges over the light giving canals. At every turn beings shouted their wares and traded in a hive of activity.
‘Has anyone else noticed people looking at us?’ Loren asked as they strolled along. Now that she mentioned it, Mervyn noticed passers-by giving them the once-over. He saw a customer turn to look at them as the store-holder pointed them out. Mervyn looked away so as not to catch their eye.
‘It’s because we’re wearing Academy uniforms,’ Tarun said knowledgeably.
‘Not because we have money then?’ Aurora asked. Whatever the reason, Mervyn felt conspicuous and tried to ignore the stares.
Bars, shops, casinos and clubs spilled out into the street. Some of their patrons looked decidedly seedy and the worse for ware. Midway along the street the bars gave way to a square flanked by a giant swot pool. Mervyn looked up to get his bearings and realised the carousel, where they had entered Revlon, was now directly above their heads.
‘Wow, look at that,’ Mervyn said crossing to the entrance.
‘Fancy a game, son?’ A small rodent-like mammal asked. ‘Five-hundred credits if you beat the resident champion and a place in our hall of fame. Who knows, you could even become the Revlon Champion yourself.’
Mervyn took the proffered leaflet, ‘Thanks, I’ll think about it.’
‘Good lad. Bet you could thrash him.’
Mervyn saw the others frowning at him, ‘What? What have I done now?’
‘Mervyn, ‘Loren began as if explaining to a child, ‘only one type of swot has a champion called Killer Keno.’
‘Huh?’
‘Wake up, Merv, it’s Killer Swot.’
‘Oh,’ he stuffed the flyer into his pocket and took a sudden interest in a side alley to hide his embarrassment. A shadowy movement from within the alley caught his eye, a Velcat stood outside a door holding a photon rifle. As his vision adjusted to the dimness of the alley, a second heavily armed Velcat resolved itself from the shadows. Curious: why would anyone need that much protection? The next alley held no surprises so he wandered down to have a look. A dusty bookshop, selling old copies of real printed books, a pawnbroker offering instant credit for anything, and a blanked out shop front.
As he approached a guard stepped out from the doorway and gave him a cold appraisal, ‘Buying or selling?’
Mervyn shrugged, ‘Just looking.’
‘Well g
o look somewhere else.’ As the guard moved threateningly towards him, Mervyn caught a glimpse of photon rifles, some looking well worn, racked in glass cases. The corridor behind the guard stretched on down to a shooting range, but the guard blocked the way before he could see any more.
‘Clear off,’ the guard reached for something inside his jacket, and Mervyn decided a hasty retreat might be wise.
Soon the stalls thinned out, most of them now selling used goods, and the side alleys contained seedy drinking dens, and huddles of whispering beings. Loren glanced anxiously into each alley as they approached, ‘Have you noticed how many people are wearing guns at this end of the town?’
Mervyn had to admit he no longer felt safe either, ‘I say we head back to the carousel and find a bar where we can make some plans.’ He could see the carousel not too far ahead of them -- they had nearly circumnavigated the inside of the asteroid -- but the town looked even rougher the district they were passing through. The others agreed they should go back the way they had come, even though it would take them longer.
As he turned, Mervyn caught sight of a gang of ragged children crossing a scruffy bridge and heading towards them: a young Rinhus, a Velcat, three reptilioids, an Ethrigian and several rodent types. The Ethrigan looked about eight so the others must be of similar age. The children split into two groups one on either side of the street.
‘Those urchins are following us,’ Aurora said.
Loren quickened her pace, ‘I’d say they’re stalking us.’ Automatically, Mervyn patted the pocket containing his credits, just to check. Then he kicked himself for showing the stalkers which pocket to target.
‘They are just kids,’ Aurora said, but she quickened her pace anyway.
Tarun looked back over his shoulder, ‘They’ve speeded up.’ One group of children ran past, then spread out across the street in front. Their pace slowed to match the hastening Misfits.
‘We’re boxed in,’ Loren said.
Mervyn searched for an escape route. He did not care for the eager glint in the children’s eyes. Then they closed in.