The Calivan Solar Eclipse Festival

Alphena's Trip

Three Earth days ago, Alphena got on a hugh-capacity, high-velocity space craft called the NLS Bore to cross about 74 terameters worth of the galaxy. The organizers of the Calivan Solar Eclipse Festival were sparing no expense this time because the eclipse coincided with the start of the Galactic New Year. They were bringing in musicians, actors, spoken word poets, gymnasts, magicians, etc. In fact they hired out the NLS Bore to retrieve many of those performers, which meant Alphena had plenty of interesting traveling companions. Xe and xir 3 bandmates were in a pod cluster with a clown, 2 poets, and a fire dancer. Each person got their own pod with a transforming multi-use surface that could be configured in thousands of ways to be a chair, bed, or desk for as many different physiologies as possible and the pods could be programmed to simulate the day/night cycle of just about any planet in the galaxy.

Alphena had always had a love-hate relationship with traveling. Xe hated being on large spacecraft. A short trip in a small craft was usually fine, but they always felt spacesick on longer-distance flights. But xe loved seeing new places. Xe had been to Calivi before, but this was the first time xe would really get to explore. Xe was most excited to go to the Calivan North Pole to see the Gas Lake: a crater filled with a super high-density gas where visitors could ride boats that floated in the air. But Alphena had a couple other reasons to be excited for this trip.

The first reason was getting to see xir best friend in all the galaxy, Syl. They hadn't gotten together in over an Earth year now. They stayed in contact, of course, but it just wasn't the same. Alphena couldn't wait to see her in person.

The second reason made Alphena a bit nervous. Several months ago, xe started talking to someone on StarCrosst, the galaxy's most popular dating app. His name was Grx. They were going to meet in person for the first time on Calivi. Alphena was going to take him to the Gas Lake when xe went. Alphena had been catfished before. Many times. Xe had also had people match with xem just because xe was moderately famous. That never went well. Grx seemed really genuine, though, and didn't know Alphena was a musician as far as xe could tell. But just in case it went poorly, Alphena had kept this a secret, even from Syl.

On the second day of the flight, Lithalla, one of Alphena's bandmates, suggested putting on an impromptu concert in the lounge. They usually did this on all of these large flights at some point and Alphena was excited to perform. The lounge was about half full when they got there. Alphena posted on the NLS Bore's local message board aboyt the performance and by the time they were set up, the room was nearly full. Xe guessed that a lot of people were bored and just wanted something to do. The other people from xir pod cluster were even there.

Alphena was primarily a singer, but xe also played the Uruxi Flute: a three-chambered instrument popular in Uruxi folk music. One chamber functioned as a drone and could be lenthened or shortened to change the pitch. The second chamber was for harmonies. It was played with one hand and had a limited range. The third chamber was for the melody. It was played with the other two hands. Alphena liked to use an Uruxi Flute in every concert because there weren't many Uruxi musicians who were popular outside of Urux and the sound made xem feel at home.

After the band played for a while, other people wanted to perform. The fire dancer from their pod cluster performed (with lights instead of fire for safety's sake) and left the assembled crowd mesmerized. Alphena made a mental note to see them perform at the festival. Then a dancing trio came out and led a large group dance. The next several hours saw story tellers, poets, acrobats, and many other performers. By the time Alphena was tired, the mood in the room had gone from neutral to truly joyous. People were mingling, making friends, and sharing tips with other performers from all over the galaxy. Alphena went to bed that night with a smile.

And xe woke up the next morning groggy (and maybe a little bit hungover), but still happy. This was the last full day on the ship and Alphena spent most of it in bed because the combination of space sickness and a hangover was hellish enough without trying to stand up. When xe finally dragged xirself out of xir room to get food, xe found that the party was still going! Sure there were a lot of people on the ship, but Alphena was surprised. Xir band performed a little bit later on in the day and Alphena stayed up that night to try to acclimate to Calivan time.

When the ship arrived at the Chegan Space Port, Alphena was antsy to get off the ship, even though xe were going to be staying in another ship for a few days. At least that one wouldn't be going so fast. Alphena's bandmates were staying on Calivi since Bertie and Syl only had the one spare bed. Xe left the NLS Bore behind and went to the waiting area. Syl was sitting in the corner with an unhindered view of the large, open room. Alphena waved, but Syl didn't seem to notice. As xe got close, xe saw that Syl's face was a vibrant red and she was intensely focused on her glasses.

"She must be reading something pretty explicit," Alphena chuckled to xirself. Then xe tapped her on the shoulder and said, "You are blushing so hard right now, Syl."

"ALPHENA I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!" Syl shouted as she embraced Alphena. "I got you a tartlet."

"How characteristic," Alphena thought. Syl was always the type to get food for people. She handed Alphena the pastry and xe couldn't help but smile. Of course Syl remembered xir favorite flavor. Xe savored the floral, peppery aroma before eating it.

The two flew off to the lighthouse ship, catching up as they went.