Amy was roomed in a ‘women only’ area. It seemed that they didn't mix the sexes in the Temple dormitories, which was strange as they had few taboos on nudity, with naked men and women casually mixing to bathe at fountains, in streams or rivers, which had caused her to blush a few times in Ravinesedge. Her room was a small but private, with a bed a little wider than a single, with sheets, blankets, and a pillow, although she’d use her own pillow, a dresser, a shelf for storage, a bolt on the door, and a good sized window with no glass, but locking shutters. The shared women’s washing area and toilets, the same hole in the floor arrangement, was a short way down the corridor. The window overlooked the city and Amy took a few minutes to lean on the window ledge and enjoy the view. Amy knew she’d enjoy the privacy for the two nights left.
* * *
Later that evening, sitting in his office, the Holy One was writing a message to the Most Holy One, his superior, “…and that concludes what I heard and observed at Ravinesedge regarding these strangers. They are people who appear to serve the purpose of the One Who Tests, but we continue to watch them. When brought the possessions of the slavers, they examined them, requested that personal possessions connecting slavers to their families be returned, and that the rest be sold to assist the villagers to rebuild. This has been done. There are four things, in closing. First, Sandspour of Oupavok One was only in the village on that first day when the Evil One and the bandits appeared, but he seems to have given the three strangers some instructions. None of them would tell me what he had said to them. He introduced himself to the three strangers as Sandspour of Oupavok One, but no one in the village remembers him under this name, in fact they have a hard time remembering him at all, and only came up with fragments of information after being carefully questioned. Amy Elizabeth La Reine was the only one who could remember his full name and give a description of him. As you know, the red hair and beard are significant. Oupavok is not a sun or planet, but is the ancient word for heaven: something known only to senior members of the Temple Guild. From this we must suspect that Sandspour is a servant of the One Who Tests, perhaps one of the angel kind. Second, Amy Elizabeth La Reine was able to see the holy aura on my hands during the healing ceremony. Only those who are consecrated members of our Guild should be able to see the holy aura. These three strangers could be the ones in the prophesy, and I have instructed the members of our Guild here to follow the protocols handed down to us on the role of the Temple Guild with candidates for a Council of Three, and ensure that no guidance is given, and only the questions they ask are answered. Third, when I told Amy Elizabeth La Reine that the healing ceremony was not for the wounded slavers, she said, “If the prisoners are not members of this community, then they must be ‘others’. Why do you not serve the ‘good of others’? Don’t they belong to the One Who Tests as well?” Until that moment I had forgotten our similar arguments on this subject. Fourth, on hearing of the sentence set by the strangers, the slavers as a group bowed to them. The three strangers didn’t know of the significance of this pledge and…”
Chapter 22 – Temple at Northcentral
A gong woke her up. Amy wasn’t sure where she was. They’d all gone to bed before the sun went down and to catch up on the night’s sleep they’d lost. Turning her head on her pillow, she recognized the small Temple room she’d been assigned. She briefly remembered a dream about a yellow dome, but that was almost a nightly occurrence now. Getting up carefully, putting the staff to one side first, she put her slippers on, grabbed her makeup bag, and carrying Simon’s staff, she followed the other women and girls to the washing area and toilets. There were basins on a bench, chunks of what might be soap, and rags on the shelf for towels, but Amy had brought her own soap and towels. A few of the women were openly staring at what Amy was doing, but Amy was trying not to look at anyone below the neck. There was a lot of naked female flesh around her, and she was probably the only one uncomfortable about it.
There were no mirrors, so she had to make do with her small make-up mirror; something to put on her list to bring next time. Every time she brought something out of her bag there was excited whispering. Her electric toothbrush and the foam coming from her mouth had a number of them backing up. Amy decided that she’d leave shaving her legs for another day!
The second set of gongs sounded, causing a rush back to everyone’s rooms to dress. Amy hurried to put her toiletries back in her room and get dressed. She left her backpack on the bed, packed and ready to go, as Paul had requested. Paul wanted them to be able to leave quickly if there were any issues. Taking Simon’s staff and a notebook and pen, she followed the women to a dining hall. Amy saw that men and women sat at separate tables after picking up their food. There was something in wooden bowls on the food tables that looked like cold porridge but probably wasn’t, as well as platters of fruit, bread, cheese and sliced meats. Most people chose a little of each.
Amy wanted to sit with Paul and Frank, so she waited. Many of the people eating stared at her as she stood waiting. Finally Paul and Frank came out of a corridor on the other side of the dining hall, carrying their staffs as well. Amy walked over to them, “Morning guys. They separate the men and women here, but I want to sit with you.”
Paul smiled and nodded, “Same here. We could just get our food and take it to a courtyard we passed on the way here. That way we won’t upset anyone.” Frank pointed back down the corridor.
Amy smiled in relief. “Cool! Let’s do that!”
Frank commented on the courtyard as they ate, “It's like the stonework in Oxford, England. I was visiting a friend. Her college building was 500 years old. The stonework with the squared projections around the tops of the doorways and windows looks remarkably the same.” They decided to eat all their meals in that courtyard over the next two days, wanting to stay together.
She could tell that Planetsong was irritated to have to find them in the courtyard after breakfast. They followed him to the classroom they were to use for the tutoring suggested by the Holy One yesterday afternoon. Amy felt it would be good to finally learn more about the Isolated Planets; what Simon had told them left them with more questions than answers.
* * *
Amy led them away from the Temple to a small square with a fountain in the center. They sat on the edge of the fountain looking at the buildings and people around them. The white stucco buildings and blue paint on the doors and window frames reminded Amy of pictures of Greece. Here many of the windows had glass in them, not the flat type from Earth, but glass with ripples and a frosted surface.
The three of them were in their camo gear, which was getting them a lot of attention, and carrying their staffs. People were stopping to stare at them. Many whispered to each other, and some even talked about them out loud. “Well people,” stated Amy, “we’re not going to be able to sneak around in these clothes!”
“No we’re not,” Paul agreed, squinting back down the street, added, “and we’re being followed.” Amy saw a young man wearing Temple acolyte robes, who quickly moved towards a pottery stall.
Amy didn’t care, “Well it doesn’t stop us taking a look around. Which way should we go?”
“It’ll be dark soon,” Frank answered, “so we can’t go too far. Planetsong said the city is built over a number of hills, with the Temple hill being the highest. I suggest we go in a circle around this hill and head back to the Temple at sunset. Remember, there are no street lights.”
After a while, they just ignored the stares and their follower. Amy enjoyed the walk through the narrow streets, catching glimpses of other hills with different parts of the city on them. The city was a maze of one and two story white buildings on narrow streets. They found a spot to sit on a grassed area that sloped down to what looked like a stage. Families and couples were using the grass to relax and have picnic. Amy sat and enjoyed the view of the city spread over the hills, and of the jungle in the distance.
Someone with a hood over his head, his face in shadow, came over, s
at down next to Frank, and looked around cautiously. A merchant by his clothes. “I have a message for you. Merchants have reported that you are seeking the truth about the Isolated Planets, and you carry a Master Wayfarers staff. There is a secret that you need to know.”
That shocked them all. Frank quietly answered, “Our watcher from the Temple is in the crowd up the hill, too far away to hear us.”
“Good,” whispered the merchant, “at least you’re smart enough to see that. Don’t believe what the Temple and the Wayfarers tell you; it’s all lies. They’ve changed history to suit their view of the galaxy.” He checked around again to see if anyone was close enough to hear him. “The secret is this, and we’re trusting you not to tell the Temple this; the Merchant Guild still exists but is hidden. We can’t afford to oppose them, or they’ll close the archways. Just don’t believe everything you’re told. We’ll contact you again.” With that, he got up, and walked quickly through the crowd, directly away from their watcher.
“Well, that was interesting!” exclaimed Paul.
“Yes, wasn’t it,” mused Amy.
“I’ve told you that we’re not being told the truth!” stated Frank.
“He could have been lying too,” Amy pointed out. “We’ll have to be careful. If the Merchant Guild has stayed hidden, then I wonder if the other guilds might still exist as well.”
As they looked over the city, the sun started to touch the horizon.
Paul, said, looking around, “People are leaving. We’d better head back.”
“Which way?” Amy asked.
Frank answered, pointing uphill, “The Temple and the Transit Station are at the top of this hill. We just keep climbing.”
Amy found that easier said than done. The twilight made it harder to walk up the street with the stone slabs and uneven steps. She wasn’t sure they'd reach the Temple before dark. She wished she'd brought her flashlight, even if it scared people.
* * *
Supper was fresh bread, and something like beef stew. Amy led the way to the courtyard. They ate under the light of an oil lamp. Frank watched as one of the acolytes lit more oil lamps in the courtyard, and he rushed to grab one before the acolyte could light it. “They light them with a static spark. Watch.” Frank stroked a pad near the wick causing a spark to light the lamp. Frank insisted that they each try it, after blowing out the flame. “Notice how the flame is smokeless. Not bad for a primitive society.”
Amy was startled, “What do you mean, ‘a primitive society’? They have pillars, archways, and Transit Stations.”
Frank nodded, “Yes they do. But they didn’t build them, they don’t know how; the Ship Guild or maybe the Artisan Guild did. If you remove those pieces of technology, what you have is something similar to a Mediterranean city before automobiles, steam, and electricity. Back in the 1500s or 1600s maybe.”
Paul was curious. “But Frank wouldn’t the other guilds be part of this society?”
Frank shook his head. “No. Based on what we learned today, and what we found out in Ravinesedge, I would say that the Ship Guild, the Artisans Guild, and the Mining Guild operate very different and separate societies. Add the Wayfarers Guild to that list too.”
Amy was puzzled. “So what is this society then?”
“I’m not sure,” answered Frank, “but this society seems to be deliberately designed to operate without technology.”
“Designed?” asked Paul.
“Planetsong showed me a book that said all cities are built on hills to allow rainwater and sewage to drain downhill to natural treatment areas. Therefore, no pumps are required, a lower level of technology. Every hill has a spring at the top of it that provides huge quantities of drinking water, but Planetsong didn’t know how or why.”
It was Amy’s turn to ask, “So where does the water come from?”
Frank answered, “It’s probably from some kind of underground pump and filter system. Imagine a system that doesn’t need maintenance for thousands of years.”
Amy though about that. “What about the empty town on Green Harbor Three? The fountains were dry?”
“Exactly!” exclaimed Frank. “If the water stopped, they’d have to abandon the town. They couldn’t fix the pumps.”
Amy, Paul, and Frank pondered that possibility as they brought their wooden bowls and plates back to the dining room. Amy saw the Holy One waving for them to come over to his table.
Three seats were reserved for them at the head table. Planetsong was there too. The Holy One didn’t say what was going to happen but he seemed excited. Amy quickly figured out that the entertainment was charades. She couldn’t figure out what the different teams were doing. She was reduced to watching the people in the room. Some of the priests and acolytes seemed to be as bored as she, Frank, and Paul were. They left as soon as they could.
* * *
Amy sat on the steps of the Temple with Paul and Frank. It was the afternoon of the second day, and their backpacks were on the steps below them. They’d already said goodbye to the Holy One and Planetsong. In front of them was the bustle of the market with the constant noise of the bargaining with the merchants. Paul had sold some of their gear for the local coins and found the bargaining fun. Amy just couldn’t enjoy the bargaining, but Frank didn't mind.
The square was twice as large as the one in Northcity, about 250 feet deep and 450 feet long east to west with Transit Station buildings on the west, south, and east sides of a square. The north side had the Temple in its center.
To their right was the City Council building. There were no elections on this planet and the city was supposed to be run by eight councilors, the local heads of the eight guilds; the Artisans Guild, the Guard Guild, the Dispatch Guild, the Merchants Guild, the Mining Guild, the Ship Guild, the Temple Guild, and the Wayfarers Guild. Only the Temple and Guard Guild still operated here. Eight city council members, but only two guilds on the planet. So they added six other citizens to the City Council to ensure that there were eight. It seemed that this was a holy number that couldn’t be changed.
The Ship Guild building on Amy’s far right was empty, but ship meant spaceship here. The Guard, who occupied the building on her immediate left, seemed to be both the police and the army, but also responsible for the maintenance of the city. Humans from the Mining Guild hadn’t come to the city in centuries, and their building, to Amy’s far left, was also empty. That was supposed to be the layout in every large Transit Station square. The Wayfarers Guild had no building in the city or on the planet. There were rumors of a planet where the Wayfarers lived, Quenlac Three. Amy smiled; she knew it wasn’t a rumor.
Something caught her eye across the square. Four people were watching them from the shadows of the Transit Station building entrance. Everyone stared at them, but these four were different in some way. They were dressed alike, in blue shirts with blue string ties up the front, and blue pants, very different from other people she’d watched. They even had similar haircuts, short, maybe an inch long, even the woman, and they had a military bearing. “Paul, those four across the square, in the shadows of the entrance, they seem different.”
Paul was watching them. “They've been watching us, but then everyone is watching us! They're part of some organization from their similar haircuts and clothing, but that could be anything from slavers to city guards.” The four faded back into the shadows of the building.
Amy suddenly remembered something. “Frank, did you ask Planetsong about the spiders?”
Frank shrugged his shoulders. “Yes, but he wouldn’t volunteer anything. It seems the spiders are as intelligent as human kind. There’s only one female in each Clan, the Mother. They’re carnivorous, and normally hunt other predators, but they will eat humans who attack them or annoy them.” Frank blushed at that. “They also keep herds of horses, cattle, and sheep, as a food supply. Like Desert Stronghold Two, each Clan normally takes territory between human settlements and the wilderness, protecting the human settlements from danger
ous predators and using that relationship to foster trade. Humans have in the past asked the spider kind to set up clans for that purpose. They trade spider silk to humans to make the Temple ceremonial robes, and sell to the richest families for clothing. I asked about a Daughter, but he said he didn’t know what that meant.”
Frank expressed his frustration, “This not volunteering anything is annoying. It’s deliberate. I listened to a class from the corridor. It was the same as any school class, none of this ‘we can only teach you what you ask, it is our way’ nonsense. Maybe that guy from the Merchant Guild was right!”
Amy agreed that it was annoying, and it limited what they could learn. What was the point of that? If it hadn’t been for the time looking around the city and talking to people, she might have said that the tutoring in the Temple here had almost been a waste of time. “Frank, you talked to the merchants in the square. Anything?”
Frank was more enthused about this. “Yes, some. When it’s quiet some of the merchants are willing to chat, especially if you bring a flavored cold tea drink they seem to like.” Amy shivered, to Frank’s amusement. She’d tried one of the drinks, finding that it tasted like tea, but with an extremely bitter wood smoke and black licorice flavor. She hadn’t been able to get the taste out of her mouth for hours. “They told me that they respect the spiders for the silk cloth they produce, but most people are frightened of them. They’re happy that the spiders don’t travel much. They also told me a bunch of children’s stories, fairy tales, although they didn’t call them that, stories about the spiders as one of the eight great races, of humans and spiders who were companions and traveled the stars, and of spiders who could appear or disappear. I asked about the eight great races, but it was just one line in a story and no one could tell me what it meant.”
“Thanks Frank. Those ‘fairy tales’ might be better than some of the stuff we heard at the Temple.” Amy knew that her frustration was showing too.