Skyworld Book I

Chapter Four - The Wizard's Tale

Islands floated in the sky all around them. Dent rubbed hard at his eyes, his mind refusing to accept what his eyes were seeing.

Everywhere he looked to either side, up or down, he could see amazing landmasses, gigantic chunks of earth hanging in midair as if glued there by some prankish deity. Some were small and mostly made up of rocks with only a hint of vegetation. Others were miles long, with jungles and forests layering their topsides, while the millions of tons of packed soil that made up the actual islands tapered downward into irregular cone shapes.

Dent's mouth hung open like a baby's and Romaine waved an arm outward at the astonishing vista. "Like something out of a fevered dream, isn't it, my boy?"

"Islands in the sky?" Dent gasped. "But how?"

"Frankly, I don't know, Gideon. I honestly haven't a clue. Then again, neither of us is qualified, are we? We're archeologists, not planetary physicists."

The professor left the railing and went below decks, leaving Dent to continue his dazed sky gazing. When he returned, he had two green balls in his hands.

"Here," he said, passing one to his young protégé. "They're called lango fruit and are very nutritious."

Gideon felt the peach-like fuzz surface of the green fruit and realized he hadn't eaten in a long, long time.

"They're like oranges. That's it, just peel back the skin. They are quite good."

As Dent opened the juicy interior and took a bite of the sweet pulp, Romaine held up his own lango. "Imagine this as our world. Everything you and I know about the planet Earth exist here," he waved a hand over the top of the fruit. "On the surface is where we dwell."

"Right." Gideon wiped juice off his chin with the back of his hand.

"So why can't we live on the inside of the globe?"

"Because it's solid."

"Exactly, my boy." Romaine again waved at the view all around them. "Now imagine a world where life took hold on the inside!"

Dent swallowed the remainder of his lango. He dropped the peelings over the side and watched as they fell away until they were gone from sight.

"So which way is up and which way is down?" he asked. "From what I just did, gravity seems to be working normally. Things fall down, not up."

"Ah ha, very good. But they don't really. Here they fall to the nearest landmass within gravitational range. The peelings you just dropped were pulled to the strongest gravity in this field. In this case, that huge island below us."

Dent looked at one particular chunk to their starboard that seemed to go on forever.

"Just how big are some of these... so called islands?"

"I'm not quite sure. No one here, to the best of my knowledge has ever bothered to map them out."

"But this is nuts," Dent slapped the rail post. "What happens if something falls up to the bottom of a landmass?"

"It will be repulsed off from it."

"Why?" No sooner had the question left his lips, then Gideon recalled the professor's earlier comments and snapped his fingers. "The elornium!"

"Bravo, lad. You always were a quick study." Romaine held up the green globe again. "Whatever the secret of this world is, elornium has to be at the heart of it.

"Follow along with my humble theory, allowing what you see to substitute for whatever laws of science we have come to believe in."

"You have my full attention, professor."

"A cataclysmic explosion occurs not on this planet," again he held up the uneaten lango. "But rather inside it. Imagine an explosion totally vaporizing fifty percent of the interior matter and then transforming it into a ball of self-sustaining, heat-producing energy."

"Professor, you're describing some kind of midget sun."

Romaine tossed the lango in the air and caught it with one hand. "Exactly. Now this ball of energy settles at the exact center of this sphere and radiates a gravitational field throughout and, through the elornium, locks the remaining debris into fixed positions. All of which revolves constantly around the... ah... what did you call it. Ah yes, the midget sun."

Dent shook his head. It was the wildest, most incredible thing he had ever heard. Romaine waved the lango in front of his eyes then extended his hand straight up and said, "Behold your midget sun, Gideon. The natives call it Tober."

Dent craned his head back, his gaze following the older man's arm. If he had been stunned by the tale thus far, the object he now witnessed made him want to fall to his knees and start praying.

Tober, as the professor had called it, was a small, orange circle stuck to the middle of heaven. But unlike the solar system's blinding yellow orb, this energy ball was bright without being oppressive.

"It just hangs there?"

"As far as I can tell. Remember, my boy, we are inside this planet..if it is that at all?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, considering no one has ever gotten out of it, we only have what we can behold to base these conjectures on. For all I know, this may simply a totally different dimension and not at all dependent on our laws of space and time."

Dent blinked and held on to the railing post. "Good gravy, sir, don't say that! I'm having a hard enough time trying to grasp your initial theory."

"Ha, quite understandable lad. It took me weeks to get my own mind around it all. And I don't honestly feel there can be a true, one hundred percent adjustment. It's as I said earlier, part of your consciousness has to stop grappling with the implausibility and learn to merely accept the reality."

"Or else go stark raving bananas?"

"The mind is a fragile mechanism at best. Concepts of what is real and unreal have plagued much greater men than yours truly, Gideon. Take an old teacher's advice and accept the wonders you see."

"I'll try, professor. I promise."

Thus ended Dent's first orientation to Skyworld. Prof. Romaine did not want to overload his former student and protégé with too much data at the onset and so made the lecture a brief one. He assured Dent there would be plenty of time to relate his own arrival and the political-economic make up of the Skyworld.

Taking his mentor's words to heart, Gideon proceeded to keep himself busy aboard the ship by learning its features and operations. In that regard, Parnoh Sital became not only his instructor on sky sailing, but also a friend.

Initially the air soldier was leery at the big man with the brown skin, but the more Dent demonstrated his willingness to learn and do his share, Parnoh began to accept his presence. Having another pair of hands to help run the ship was a boon the practical Parnoh could not discount. Without Dent's assistance, he would have been doing most of the manual labor alone.

Meanwhile Skyworld oddities continued to bewilder the earthman, though he kept the professor's calming advice topmost in his thoughts. Since the Toper remained a constant at the center of Skyworld, it was always light, i.e. day. Yet Dent observed both Parnoh and Princess Althea, at regular intervals stopping their activities to sleep: she in the pilothouse, the sailor below deck in the crew quarters. Romaine explained that to compensate for the lack of any night on Skyworld, an internal, biological clock, present in all Skyworlders told them when to sleep. As best he could determine without a time telling device, the sleep period was very approximate to an eight-hour block. He assured Dent that he too would develop such a biorhythm after a short while.

He also learned that the Skyworld word for one waking period was toperi. They had traveled two days when Romaine informed Dent it would take three more toperis to reach their destination, the capital city of Candlemar on the island state of Meland.

"Why is it so important for us to get back there quickly?" Dent had seen the princess's anxiety when pardoning Parnoh.

"An astute question, Gideon. One that revolves around the entire socio-economic status of Skyworld."

Dent and Romaine were below decks rummaging through uniforms that had belonged to the dead soldiers they had left behind on the rim jungle. The temperature in the hollow world was warm and Parnoh had suggested the archeologist change into the cooler leather halter and skirt uniform. Now Gideon was fishing through several lockers to find one that would fit his muscular frame.

"From the tools and swords, I'm guessing this society compares a great deal to Europe in the middle ages." He held up a light blue tunic that seemed large enough when placed over his torso.

"Excellent deduction," Romaine conceded as he held up a metal studded skirt with accompanying sword and sheath. "Here, try these on."

As Gideon pulled off his black boots, Romaine started looking through a stack of sandals while continuing his discourse. "All of the islands operate as separate city-states. Each is ruled over by a royal family. There are also religious and merchant classes filtering down to hunters and farmers who make up the lowest ranks."

Dent took off his dirty and worn jodhpurs. "I take it the princess is part of the ruling clan?"

"Correct. The House Corveir. It has ruled Meland for generations. Althea is the oldest five children. According to Skyworld customs, when a the leader of a royal house dies, his, or her, oldest child then claims the throne and accepts the mantle of either king or queen."

"Well, that's pretty fair of them," Gideon commented, pulling the skirt over his hips and fastening the broad belt around his middle. "I mean, not discriminating on the basis of gender."

"True enough. You see, Gideon, Jarko Corveir, Althea's father, and a widower for many years, died just a few weeks ago of an extended illness. Princess Althea is now the rightful heir to the throne."

"I see. Is there a problem?"

"Oh, yes. There are also many rules that must be adhered to according to tradition for the succession to be legal."

"Such as?"

"The crowning of the new head of state must occur exactly twenty teparis after the former ruler's demise. That in itself matters little until you add in the fact that Althea's brother, Prince Arkurn.."

"The next in line?"

"Very astute, Gideon. You were always my brightest student." Romaine turned to a locker filled with helmets. "Arkurn is a black hearted rogue and has been lusting after the throne since the day he was born. He is a cruel, ruthless man and were he to become the King of Meland, it would bode very badly for the people."

"I take it, Prince Arkurn was behind this entire kidnapping affair that I stumbled into?"

"Indeed. The bastard.., excuse my language, even managed to manipulate me into aiding his insidious plan."

"How?"

"Ever since arriving on Skyworld, a story I will relate in greater detail at a later time, I have ingratiated myself with the royal family through my knowledge of Earth sciences."

"That wizard title she hit you with?"

"Ah, yes," Romaine held up a gold plated helmet and set it down over his head. It was too big and the crest slid down over his eyes. "Each royal house has a number of advisors to the throne. I was able to win over Althea's father with several demonstrations of common, twentieth century know-how. Remember these people light their world with candles. Batteries, electricity, gunpowder as such are beyond their reasoning.

"Thus anyone who could create such wonders would naturally appear magical."

"The good wizard Romaine," Gideon chuckled. "I like it."

"One must do what one must," the professor grumbled, putting the large headpiece away.

"And you say Arkurn used that against you?"

"Yes, indeed. You see, after King Jarko's death, Althea was clearly in a depressed mood. What with all the pressures of her future role as queen amidst the mourning of her beloved father, the poor child was clearly in need of moral support.

"Which is what Arkurn suggested to me in a private meeting. He said he was worried for his sister's mental condition and perhaps a short sailing voyage would be beneficial. His words made sense and like the old fool I am, I did not look beyond them for any ulterior motive.

"Thus I convinced the princess that she should retreat from the pressures of the forthcoming coronation. I suggested a restful trip around the outer rim jungles for a few days."

"But it was a set up right from the start."

"Exactly. As we've all learned from Parnoh, Arkurn bribed the ship's captain to kidnap Althea and make certain she never returned in time for the coronation."

"In which case, the prince steps up and takes the crown for himself."

Prof.Romaine slammed the door to the locker door shut. "And it will all be my fault for playing into his hands, if that happens."

"Are you saying it's not too late?"

"Gideon, my boy, your timely arrival may yet save the day. The coronation is exactly three days, teparis, from now."

"Which is your estimate for our arrival." Gideon jammed his right fist into his left palm and cracked his knuckles loudly. "That's cutting it pretty close, isn't it?"

"Yes. It is. But we can do it, God willing nothing happens to delay us."

A second later, Parnoh, on deck above them, cried out, "Alert! Sky-pirates!"

End Of Chapter Four