We have to run!
Run where? Look how big it is, answered Jean-Pierre.
The pillar of fire was bubbling two hundred meters away from them. It was more than a kilometer in diameter, and it filled the space in front of the travelers, carrying the raw, searing, roaring energy from the overhead rock to the very heart of the Star.
The pillar was approaching rapidly, and running was pointless. It was impossible to hide from such unbridled and immense power. This deadly light was like a fiery tornado or a sheer cliff stinging with sparks.
Panic and fear drowned in the heat. Jean-Pierre looked around. David stood beside him, mesmerized. Yulia covered her face with her hands. The doctor was all clenched up with tension and impending pain. We cant escape, Jean-Pierre thought. He shifted his gaze to Debby. She smiled sadly at him and nodded. Jean-Pierre was surprised to see her lips moving, but he couldnt make out the words. He lowered his head closer to her and heard her sing a lullaby:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are
She was looking somewhere through the wall of fire. Debby had already been dying for a few hours, and now she was just trying to calm her friends down. She was thinking about her kids at school, about Sango, about Nika of Samothraces wings, and how amazing and unfathomable it all was.
The hum abruptly fell silent and the looming wall froze at the words, He could not see which way to go, If you did not twinkle so.
Only Van continued to whirl around the petrified earthlings and squeak an extended Aaaaah! He looked like a bee that had lost its orientation and was spinning in an imaginary circle. Debby finished singing and put her hand on the head of Yulia, who was crying beside her.
Its okay, Debby said gently, its going to be okay.
Part 3 Chapter 31
Audrey sat in the room with her eyes closed. There was no emotion on her face, she was breathing deeply and trying to concentrate. The world grew smaller with each breath. First, the sounds of the city disappeared. Then the sounds of the neighbors upstairs faded away, then the feeling of the room. Audrey was left alone with her breathing, but she felt each breath hit a huge, dark rock of sadness. There was no way she could overcome it.
Suddenly, she felt goosebumps run through her body. A wave of warmth and tenderness enveloped her. Audrey felt the blackness turn first into brown, then into red and orange light. She smiled and grinned at the pleasant sensation. Tears came up and Audrey opened her eyes. The room was filled with bright sunlight. It seemed to be an unfamiliar room, someone elses, from another planet. Audrey felt that she was there and that beauty too. Then she dismissed the thought and turned to the window. The sun had found a thaw between the thick clouds, but another cloud had already obscured it, swallowing the glowing orb.
The room cooled and faded. Audrey lay down on the sofa, feeling very tired. She wanted to sleep, even though she had woken up a couple of hours ago.
Oh, Audrey blew a stream of air through her pursed lips.
Thoughts wandered and couldnt find themselves or Audrey in her and Jean-Pierres flat. They hung in the air like weightless dust and just like that, uselessly filling the void. Audrey remembered talking to her mother and Jean-Pierres mother.
His mother was crying. Not sobbing, but somehow quiet and sad. Audrey thought that Madame Julie was ready for those tears, they were kept in a safe place, somewhere very close. And then she realized that Jean-Pierres mother was not mourning her son, but pitying her. Ill call you back, Audrey replied to this compassion.
Audreys mother didnt cry, she was quiet for a while, said a few comforting words, and then shattered the fragile hope with a simple question, What will you do next? Audrey felt cold and hard at those words. There was a challenge in that question, but she wasnt ready to face it. What will I do next? Audrey repeated to herself with tears in her eyes.
Nothing next, she blurted out aloud.
She cried, but after a minute the tears dissolved into a viscous and formless sadness.
The phone rang and Audrey wearily reached for it. Bernard Bajolet was written on the screen. Audrey imagined the conversation and pressed her lips together.
Yes, she answered.
Audrey! a joyful voice came through the speakerphone. Audrey! Hes alive!
Audrey froze. She felt the shivers run down her body again. She looked out the window, hopefully. The sky was covered in clouds, but somewhere out there the sun was shining.
Part 3 Chapter 32
Van stopped shouting and landed beside the earthlings. He bowed again in front of the frozen wall of fire. The beam was blazing with energy, but stood still a few meters away from the terrified aliens. No heat could be felt, but a kind of radiation showered everyone from head to toe.
Doctor Capri was only now able to open his eyes, closed by fear. He looked up at the frozen column of fire and noticed something slowly descending towards them from the upper level. Dr Capri pointed an object:
Look.
Seconds later, the travelers saw the smooth bottom of the flying vehicle, which was slowly approaching the surface and reflecting the entire company in a mirror-golden belly.
The flying machine stopped beside the travelers, a few centimeters above the surface. In it stood a young man of the usual size, as the earthlings. He had curly blond hair and a light yellow tunic. He bowed to the earthlings and invited them up onto the flying machine with a gesture.
Oh, Dandin, Van sang happily, how glad I am to see you.
Thank you, Van, the young man replied, I see, he looked at the Valikhilya for a moment. Are you feeling better?
Van bowed in embarrassment.
A semblance of a small gangway extended from the ship. One of the sides thinned out, forming an entrance. The earthlings, still breathing heavily with fear, began to come to their senses and looked at the ship and the young man.
David walked over to Van:
Were you not feeling well? he asked quietly.
Yes, the flying escort said and shook his head, I was sad for the first time in a million years and I had to leave the castle.
You had to? David clarified.
I was told to, replied Van.
For being sad? Yulia was horrified.
Van nodded.
But why?
Because sadness is the beginning of madness, Dandin answered for Van. If youre sad, you have forgotten your position. You can be angry, you can be happy, but you cannot be sad, he smiled. Come up to the chariot, Dandin invited everyone.
But this is the Kings chariot, Van shuddered.
At that, everyone looked at each other.
Im not sure, Jean-Pierre interjected. What if we come with you and sneeze for example, and you throw us from the top, because it is not supposed to.
You are the Emperors guests, Dandin laughed. You are allowed anything. My lord has sent his chariot for you. Isnt it an honor?
I guess so, said Dr Capri. But who are you?
My name is Dandin, and Im a servant of Vivasvan the King of the Sun. He has found out that you have come to see him, so he is graciously willing to welcome you. Have you come to ask for something?
Ask for something? Dr Capri repeated.
Yes, travelers most often come to ask for something from the emperor, Dandin said.
Is there something he can give us? David wondered.
Do you often have visitors? Jean-Pierre added softly.
He gives what is asked for, Dandin smiled and then looked at Jean-Pierre. It happens, they drop by.
Weve been looking for the source of the signal, Dr Capri interjected, it brought us here. Its a signal from one of our spaceships. We picked it up by accident and went in search of the source.
Dandin nodded to the doctor, letting him know that they couldnt get any more answers here than theyd already been told. For the rest, they would have to go up to the soaring city that still stood in place directly above the travelers.