The Project

Chapter 19

The Project Chapter 19

Alex followed the servant down a hall to a room that he later learned was a guest room, and where he would spend the night. The room also had a rather unusual flush toilet, in that it was made of a dark wood of some kind, as well as a brass toilet bowl. There was a long brass pipe going up the wall into a small tank. The tub was not made of white porcelain, but of a dark orange color like clay. The servant gave him a good looking over checking his size.

"While you're enjoying your bath, I'll round up something more appropriate for you to wear." With that, he quickly left. Alex inspected the room, studying the woodwork, the style of furniture, and anything else that might give him a clue to Dwarfian design and style. While soaking in the tub, he pondered these people, who puzzled him. On one hand, they clung to their traditional lifestyles and way of life, while on the other; they seemed to embrace technology on a limited basis. He'd noticed that on Deneva as well, then that comment one of the soldiers had made about being familiar with firearms.

It was a puzzle that would have to wait however, as the servant was back with Alex's dinner clothes, and requesting that he get dressed, as they needed to be checked for proper fit. The dinner outfit was another small piece of the puzzle. He expected something along the lines of short pants with long white stockings, a short jacket and a ruffled white shirt. Instead the servant helped him dress in kaki colored slacks brown slip-on loafer type shoes which proved too small, so while the servant rushed off to locate the proper size, Alex finished dressing. A light green long sleeved shirt with a narrow collar, and open at the top worn under a darker brown waistcoat, earth tones seemed to be in fashion here. The servant returned with shoes that fit properly. As the servant was escorting him to the dining room, Arna came out of one of the rooms along the hall. Spotting Alex, she rushed up to him,

"Oh Alex I'm so sorry for ignoring you but the effort Garmik and I are engaged in is so important to our people…He stopped her in mid sentence,

"It's OK Arna, I understand, there's not much I could offer anyway, just don't forget me when you guys finish with getting things set up for Xindus."

"Oh we won't," she replied, "However since the contractors will be leaving in their own ship all the trade ministers, and Zeb will be going to Xindus with Garmik and me, would you mind remaining here until we return?"

Alex shrugged,

"I'll be fine Arna; I think I can find things to do while you're gone. But if you stop on Deneva please make sure Kelly knows that I'm here, and will be back later OK?"

Arna promised, and that she and Garmik would return as soon as they could.

Alex continued on to the dining room where people were all standing around in small groups. A voice called out to him from his right, it was Bria waving him over to a group that appeared to consist of young dwarves.

"Alex," she exclaimed, I'd like you to meet some of my friends." She then introduced Alex to her friends as being from the planet earth, the final destination of the Aos sí. These were the children of palace officials, although Diff Laapkan's father was the royal armorer. While they were talking the group suddenly opened up.

"Well I see that you made a new friend Bria," came the female voice behind him. As Alex turned, Bria introduced her mother.

"Alex, this is my mother, mother, this is Alex Russom." He turned to face the queen as he took a deep bow,

"Your highness, I'm pleased to meet you." She smiled, replying with,

"You're that boy who came in with those androids and the Oxynian trading representative aren't you?" Keeping his eyes focused on the floor, Bria's mother added,

"Relax, I don't bite, but I appreciate the gesture, thank you." Then she said,

"My husband and I have been talking with the androids Arna and Garmik; they tell us that all of you are planning on traveling around the galaxy seeking adventure." Alex looked at her and thought,

"This is news to me, I thought we were more or less going to Z'ha'dum."

"Well all I know," he said, "Was that Garmik wanted to visit a few planets in order to drum up business for the androids on Xindus."

The queen smiled at him replying,

"Would you mind sitting next to my husband and me, we'd like to discuss something with you and your friends."

"But mother," blurted out the princess.

"I asked him to sit next to me, here at this table." The queen gave her daughter a look that spoke,

"Don't argue with me young lady!"

"Well I'm sure he will be see him tomorrow, didn't you say something about asking him along on one of your hikes?"

"Yes mother," came the reply,

"Well there you go," replied the queen, then turning to Alex, she added,

"Follow me young man, and we'll get you seated."

As he began to follow the queen, Alex turned to look back at the princess who wore a disgusted look on her face, but there wasn't she could do about the situation. He ended up sitting next to king Valsung and across from queen Elliha, with Arna, and Garmik next to her.

The king greeted him and then began to comment on the spread before them,

"I hope you brought an appetite young man, we certainly have plenty to eat."

Alex scanned the table looking for anything familiar. We, there was a large platter with what looked like pulled pork piled on it. He spotted another platter with what looked like a large trout on it. The queen caught him looking things over and decided that Alex needed a "tour guide."

Pointing to the pulled pork, she said,

"That is barbecued sharma, that is tulira fish, and that salad is made from tak mal and bani fruit."

He started out with small portions, but before long he was really chowing down.

That sharma sure was good but he couldn't believe that anyone outside of earth and the United States knew about good barbecue. On top of the food there was ale. All Alex knew was that this stuff certainly was far better than any beer he'd ever tried back at home.

Up to this point, the king had been talking with Garmik, but then turned his attention to Alex.

"It's my understanding that you, Garmik and Arna are planning on a tour of the galaxy?"

"Well like I told your wife," replied Alex, "Garmik is trying to get business for his people on Xindus, I and my friend who is back on Deneva are just along for the ride."

"Who is this friend of yours?" Asked the queen,

"Her name is Kelly Parkinson; right now the fairies and pixies are helping her sort out some of her personal problems."

"Well I'll get right to the point," said the king. "I don't know how much Bria has told you her mother and I have been looking for a way to expose her to other races and cultures, as well as becoming familiar with some of the places we trade with."

"Let me guess," replied Alex, "You want us to take your daughter?"

"We would be happy to cover her expenses," added the queen.

"How does Bria feel about this?" Asked Alex.

"We haven't really discussed it," replied the king, "Perhaps you could discuss it with her while on your hike tomorrow."

"What the hell is this?" he thought to himself, "Too chicken to talk to their own daughter?" Alex then thought of several things he'd like to say to the king but he liked his head where it was. Instead he replied,

"I take it you have trouble talking to Bria your highness?" From the kings reaction Alex could see he had hit the nail on the head.

"Don't feel bad sir," he offered, "I have the same problem with my folks, in fact I couldn't tell them I was leaving to their faces, but just left a note."

"So basically you left home without telling them?" Asked the queen.

Alex frowned,

"Pretty much."

"Well regardless of how I feel," he added,

"Arna is the captain; she has final say on things of that matter."

"We already did," said the king, Arna then spoke up.

"I have no problem with this, and neither does Garmik. However what about Kelly?"

"I can't say for sure, but since Bria is a girl, it will be two against one, and if she doesn't like it I'll have a talk with her, or if worst came to worst, she could just stay on Deneva with her pixies unicorns and fairies."

"Isn't that being rather harsh?" Asked the queen.

"Maybe," replied Alex, "But Kelly is only along as a guest, but I'm not going to worry about it right now."

For the rest of the dinner, Alex listened to the royal couple talk about Doradus, and their desire for their daughter to get out and see the "world."

"I've got a question though," said Alex, "What if Bria decides she likes the bright lights and big cities, this sort of thing happens all the time back on earth."

"I suppose that would be her choice," replied the king, "However Bria has been well grounded in responsibility, and Doradian traditions, we are not especially worried. Oh by the way, I will make sure all of you have a letter of introduction, and establish a line of credit. I'm not sure you're aware that anyplace you travel that has any sort of Oxynian trading post, office, or presence, you can draw on established funds. It's also possible to get messages and correspondence back to us, we can do the same if you're in a given location long enough."

"Well that's certainly nice to know," replied Alex, Well I'll approach her about it tomorrow, or at some point on our hike. One more thing your highness, I have several things I'd like to take with me tomorrow, Arna is leaving early, and I'd like to get out to the ship and grab my stuff."

"Say no more young man, see my house Carl over there, tell him what you need to get out to the ship and he'll fix you up with transportation." The last item on the menu was dessert; in this case it was kipping pie. He thought it was cherry pie at first, but the berries were actually like larger blackberries. Whatever they were he could have pigged out on a whole pie. When he went to see the house Carl, Alex was feeling very overstuffed, and more than a little lightheaded from all the ale he'd been drinking. The house Carl fixed him up with a centaur, who, compared to the others, was rather talkative.

"So what do you think of Doradus?"

"All these mountains and general landscape remind me of home," replied Alex.

"Well I certainly hope this transport ship deal goes through, I'd like to go to Deneva and have a look around, oh by the way, my name is Girren Athod, I'm the royal messenger."

"So you know your way around Doradus pretty well?" Inquired Alex. Girren stopped and turned to look at Alex,

"I hope that was just a figure of speech?"

"Sorry," he replied. "I've been invited by the princess and some of her friends to go on some sort of hike tomorrow. First of all, I don't really know how far they walk, or if there are any dangerous animals that might attack us. On Deneva I had to kill several of these creatures that looked like a cross between a pig and a dog, got anything like that here?"

"Well let's see," replied Girren, "Well there are large birds we call Cheebirds that have been known to attack people, but not all the time, I had some come after me once, but I had a calling horn which I blew, to frighten them off. Then we have drikes which have short yellowish fur and sharp teeth. Those you have to watch out for, especially at higher altitudes, but they have been known to attack farmers, and mining crews. We also have what are called boloth's. They grow to the size of a young centaur, but they are very shaggy, and have a large head."

"Do people hunt them?" Asked Alex.

"Absolutely not, they are protected, mainly because they look too much like us at a distance, and even though they cannot speak, we centaur's share a sort of kinship with them."

"But aren't you part of the Ladhas?" Asked Alex.

"Of course, the boloth are native to this planet, but for some strange reason, we share many similarities. While we're on the subject, I hear tell you are from the planet where the Aos sí ended up, but that they are all gone."

"Fraid so," replied Alex, they exist only in our mythology and legends."

Then it's safe to assume that you don't have anything resembling us," said Girren.

"Well, we have what are called horses, but they are like these boloth's but not shaggy. People have been riding them for thousands of years, they don't have human bodies like you guys," he replied.

"Interesting," replied the centaur, "Well here we are, I'll wait while you get what you need."

Alex entered the Karla-Ann, grabbing his shotgun, and AR, along with ammunition, his backpack, some of the freeze-dried food, along with a change of clothes. With all the extra gear on, Girren had to stand next to some rocks so Alex could climb up on them to get on the centaur's back. He knew the extra weight had to be uncomfortable, but Girren said nothing. As they rode back to the palace, Alex stared up at Deneva glowing in the night sky thinking of Kelly and what she was doing right now.

"You know," said Girren, "Until telescopes were developed, and then later when the traders came we always wondered if the Aedoc had somehow found their way to Deneva, well now we know."

He dropped Alex off at the palace entrance closest to the guestrooms; Alex thanked him and started trudging down the hall listening to the sounds of music and laughter from the party that must still be going on. As he walked, Alex had the feeling that he was being watched, but looking around, he saw no one, opening the door to his room, he quickly entered, and locked the door.