Lightship Chronicles Chapter 2 : Rescue Hoppers

your back?"

  "With my eyes closed."

  "Well, if we're going to do this... I want your eyes open."

  "Of course, it was just a figure of speech."

  "I know. All right. I trust you... for some reason. If you say you can do it, I believe you. Now get me out of here... and I will owe you my life."

  With that Andee starts helping Ricio out of the bubble. The Bitani is in pain, but refuses Andee's attempts at taking it easy.

  "Get me the punk... out of here. I don't care... how bad it hurts." Ricio urges Andee on.

  In less than a minute Ricio is out and on Andee's back. With his legs wrapped around Andee's waist, and arms around his neck, Ricio is secure. Andee gently starts doing his thing, but much slower and more calculated this time. The mountainside is now a rocky jagged slope, no longer a near sheer wall, but still a serious challenge to anyone. Yet even with another man on his back Andee moves sure and steady, from rock to rock, once again delivering an awe-inspiring sight. In less than fifteen minutes he delivers Ricio to the awaiting rescue corps who quickly rush the now passed out Ricio into a rescue lightship.

  The morning sun is a long tall sliver of light peeking out from behind the east flank of table mountain, as it rises beyond it. Its soothing warm morning rays are massaging Andee's shirtless skin as he climbs higher in one of the berryfruit trees on the lower terrace of his home. The berryfruit trees aren't big, only between four and five meters tall. They have a center trunk that is nearly perfectly straight, like that of a palm. And like a palm they have thick growth ridges about a palm wide, but on berryfruit trees it's one continuous spiral to the top. Periodically it's broken up by horizontal branches every foot or so, so that the tree has a spiral staircase appearance all round the trunk going up. Low branches are about two meters long, each ending with a huge broad leaf with many pointed "fingers" spread out like a fan. It is at the base of the leafs where the berryfruit grow in a linear bunch like berries on a vine. The branches get shorter and shorter to the top where each new branch first grows vertically and over time spirals out to its horizontal position as a new one grows above it.

  Climbing the spiraling branches, like an acrobat, Andee twirls, spins, and leaps from branch to branch with astounding agility and skill. His fruit collecting looks more like a performance than work, as he masterfully swings from branch to branch, casually collecting berryfruit and placing them in his double-holstered satchel. Hanging from a broad belt around his waist, each leather satchel is hanging over the sides of his thighs. They look like two giant leather pockets hanging over his pants.

  With his satchels full of fruit he swiftly hops to a lower branch, swings to one further below, and then bounces down to the ground as gentle as a feather, that is to protect the ripe fruit. There he empties each satchel into a large upright wicker basket on the ground. Done, he starts climbing back into the tree but out of the corner of his eye something catches his attention. He looks west. Sitting on the lower stone wall between their properties, his neighbor Nayaa is leaning back against the slightly angled wall of the upper terrace which extends into Nayaa's yard and continues on through the next few houses to the next stair path up the slope. She's sitting peacefully, watching Andee pick fruit with a big smirk on her face.

  "How long you been there?" Andee asks while squatting on the lowest branch.

  "Not long."

  He wipes the sweat off his brow and takes a chug of water from the canister hanging off a small stump. Nayaa is still quietly watching him. Her bright green eyes are locked on Andee, and her cheeks are wide with a coy smile. She looks like she's up to something.

  Andee ignoring her, resumes picking fruit. A little while later Nayaa breaks the silence.

  "You missed one." Pointing, wagging her index finger upward. Andee looks up. "Just a little higher." Nayaa nudges up with her hand, lackadaisically pointing to the very top of the tree in a teasing manner. Andee smirks with a twist of his lips. He seems both mildly amused and annoyed, but leaps up like a ghimur and quickly gets to the top where he picks all the ripest fruit. He then swiftly bounces from branch to branch back down.

  "Hey, how about that one?" She points wagging her finger and teasing Andee with a few lifts of her black eyebrows, pointing at the furthest fruit from Andee she could see. Andee squints his eyes with a touch of disdain, but with a couple of leaps reaches the exact fruit. Nayaa smiles pleased with herself, then swings her head tossing her beautiful wavy black hair against the supporting wall of the upper terrace. She continues watching Andee swing like a feather light ghimur as he finishes collecting his fruit.

  After emptying his satchels, he puts on his shirt, and looks back to Nayaa.

  "You just gon'a sit there? How about giving me a hand?"

  "No, I'd rather watch."

  "Afraid you lost your edge? Can't compete with me anymore?"

  "Nope. I got edge."

  "So you're just gon'a sit there, and stare... from your edge?"

  "Yup."

  "Why?"

  "I want to see what a hero looks like."

  "Ha. OK, you heard."

  "I did. So you really saved a pilot's life last night?"

  Leaning against his full basket of fruit. "I did. I already won the day, and it's barely started." Andee replies with a smirk and a smile.

  "You won yesterday, and that's cuz I was taking a nap. Today is a new day."

  "You should have come to the races. See what you miss out on." Andee responds looking at her lounging on that stone fence with her skin tight Ghimpour practice pants and toe boots. Around her hips she has a broad belt with two satchels over her thighs, similar to the ones Andee is wearing, but smaller and more intricately decorated. She's got a small body hugging top like a sports-bra under a jacket. It's made of diagonally cross-weaved black linen strips forming a V-shape neckline and V-shaped openings for her arms, currently covered by the jacket. It's a standard Carpati double-caped jacket. Made from dark, felt leather strips, it is cross-weaved like the top, so that the perforated sleeves allow air through, but not sunlight. The jacket is short, only slightly lower than the bra, but hanging off the shoulders and covering her back, is a ruffled cape with a flat stiff hood over it. The under cape is long and loose reaching her belt with an oval cut at the bottom. The oval hood lays flat and stiff over the cape from shoulder to shoulder. When lifted up overhead it's a stiff flat top providing shade from the bright sun. The underside of the flat top has a hidden layer of finely meshed cloth that can be pulled down over the face during sandstorms. It's held up by several broad ribbons of dark cloth all running parallel to one another from the shoulders to the flat top, starting from the sides to the back. Front to back the parallel ribbons are barely visible allowing for an open flow of air around the head, but from the sides, the broad staggered ribbons look like a single dark and flat toped hood.

  "That's exactly why I don't go to the races. I hate to see people get hurt, or worse, die in those silly crashes."

  "No risk no reward."

  "And what's your reward for saving that guy's life?"

  "Dun'no?"

  "He better give you something. You know who he is?"

  "His name is Ricio Bret."

  "I heard he is the son of some big shot up in the city."

  "Yeah that's what I heard too, and I believe it."

  "Why?"

  "You should have seen his lightship. It was amazing."

  "Oh yeah?"

  "It really was the most amazing lightship I've ever seen. I still can't believe he crashed it. If I had a ship like that I'd be afraid to touch it, too scared that I might scratch it."

  "If I had a ship like that I'd leave this place and explore the rest of the world. What kind of amazing things do you think exist beyond these wretched desserts? I bet there really are other cities out there."

  "What makes you think there is anything out there?"

  "There has to be."

  "Why?"

  "I don't know... but I know
it."

  "That makes sense." Andee replies sarcastically.

  "Ha. You know what I mean. You know when you have that feeling, that sense where you just know. You get that too, I know, I've seen it."

  "Then my sense tells me there's nothing but dessert all the way around this planet."

  "I don't think so. I think you're wrong."

  "So who's sense is right then?"

  "Mine, cuz you don't care. Plus, you're the one who told me there's other cities." Nayaa gently rolls her eyes, while Andee smirks. "You're happy here, pretending you hate the Bitani. I bet you'd be happy living your whole life here, picking berryfruit, working in Old Man Tom's junkyard until you're as old as he is, and getting drunk watching the races. You could be happy with a life like that, but not me. I'm going to leave this place one day, and find out what's out there." Nayaa continues driving her point home with confidence.

  "You're a funny little girl."

  "Punk face, I'm sixteen. I'm a woman now." She snaps up from her lazy lounging pose to an up-tight sitting position.

  "Ha, a woman. You'll be sixteen next week. You're still a little girl."

  "You're a jerk." Folds her arms and tosses her back into the wall.

  "If you're a woman than come help me lift this basked onto my back."

  "Apologize."

  "For what?"

  "For being rude."

  "I wasn't rude. Your birthday is next week. Till then you're still fifteen. That's truth, not rude."

  "Fine. I won't help you. I'll just watch you struggle. Poor little boy... can barely lift a basket of fruit.... because