The Gardener of Nahi

Chapter 31

Cassidian

By the time we exited the interrogation room the sun had set although it would have been impossible to prove it.  The air was stagnant - so much so that it felt as if we were inside a gigantic dome too large to see.  Harsh lights shown down on us from unknown places, and the blur of traffic lights was even more pronounced – a dizzying array of bright colors spinning every which way like the fragments of colliding particles.

     We took three crossjumps to get to a ratskeller named The Canopy Garden.  I found it amusing that despite its lofty name, we had to actually walk down a flight of stairs to gain entrance.  Green light shone through a small square window in the front door which barred our way.  The black paint covering it was peeling in places.

     A large man wearing dark glasses was IDing people as they came in – I recognized the scanner in his hand immediately.  Blue and Cyris stepped down the flight of stairs in front of us and approached the man, smiling and offering modest greetings.  Cyris gave the man with dark glasses a slap on his shoulder as he gestured to Myria and me, who were standing behind everyone else.  The IDer nodded but then whispered something in his ear.

     Cyris finally turned to me.  “I explained to him that you and the girl are Deletes.  He’s fine with it.  We can go in, but you’re going to have to leave your serrater here.  No weapons allowed inside.”

     “Why the hell did you tell him I had a serrater?”

     “I didn’t,” Cyris said as he brought a finger to his temple.  “His glasses picked it up.  Remember, you’re wearing common clothes now.  No fancy Hunion wear with shielded membranes anymore.”

     Walking forward towards the door, I slowly removed the weapon and gave it to the man, grip first.  “You know it’s worthless to you,” I said.  “Can’t be reprogrammed.  Ever.”

     “Don’t worry.  You’ll get it back,” he said gruffly as he backed up into the door, pushing it open even more and letting green light wash over me.  I put my arm around Myria’s waist and together we went in.

     Immediately I realized that The Canopy Garden was far different than the ratskellers I tended to frequent.  I had been expecting the same type of chaotic place that was so customary on the orbiting colonies - the ratskellers I had typically visited while stationed on ODAC.  The Canopy Garden instead actually looked, smelled, and sounded faithfully like its namesake.

     The walls were floor to ceiling monitors which displayed a lush garden in all directions.  There were tall trees, immaculate shrubs the shapes of cones and spheres, and slender prairie grasses which blew in the wind – all illusions of course.  Colorful birds perched upon statues here and there, and one was taking a bath in a circular fountain which glistened in the sunlight.  It was only much later that I saw that exact same red bird dipping its beak in the water the same exact way – only then did I realize the scene was being looped back every so often.

     We could hear the illusion as well.  Birds sang.  Chimes rang softly in the distance.  And I am sure if the place was empty I would have been able to hear the patter of water and whisper of wind.

     It was only then that I realized why this place was so unexpected to me.  On ODAC the ratskellers were deafening and confined, places where it was impossible to walk without touching another drenched body or talk without shredding your voice.  And at that moment I knew why:  it was simply an escape from the ordinary.  On ODAC the ordinary had been infinite space and paralyzing silence.  Five minutes suited up and tethered to an outership was enough to make any man insane.  Staring into the multitude of stars and listening to nothing except your own escaping breath warranted some drastic counterbalance, some dramatic change of scenery.  And the claustrophobic ratskellers of ODAC gave that to us.