different too, somehow. That sun. So baking. When had the world become an oven? When had the sun become so bright?
Bright. The word resonated in Cali's consciousness. And then it all came back to her: the police officers, the journey home in the dark, the rift opening. Oh god, they'd crashed on the other side... where the hell was she?
She jumped to her feet, her legs unsteady. It was then when she saw the thick iron bars of the cage she was in.
It was about three meters long on each side, two tall, situated in the middle of high-walled courtyard and surrounded on all sides by dark, almost black, sand. High above her on the battlements Cali could see red-cloaked soldiers standing guard with fearsome longblades, each one dressed and masked in the same way as her assailant back at Elra's.
Shit. Whatever was going on, it wasn't good.
Her position in the courtyard was very exposed. There was perhaps twenty meters of sandy dead space surrounding her cage in every direction; the closest other structure was a stout gatehouse set in the high wall. She noticed her cage had been oriented to face its doorway. What's going to come out of that door? Images of gladiatorial combat and wild animals released from pens spun through her mind.
Cali had a scary realization. She was totally at the mercy of other people to bring her food and water – especially water – and she wouldn't last a day in this heat without it. She wondered how long it would take for the sun to burn off her skin, if she was given no shade.
'Hey, you!' she cried at one of the sentinels. 'Where am I? Why am I here?'
The robed figure turned and stared at her for a moment, then resumed its default pose.
Great. Just to try, she touched one of the bars of the cage. It was searing. She thrust her finger in her mouth in an attempt to cool it, and her hand found that metal contraption again. It was hard to describe its shape, since she had no mirror; but from touch alone, she could get a feeling for its complex form. It started, simply enough, with a fairly crude metal collar around her neck, the inside of the ring covered with a type of hide to stop chafing and, Cali presumed, to produce a barrier between skin and metal so it wouldn't burn its wearer in the sun. From there, a single strip of metal ran up the back side of her neck ending in a smooth metallic mass clamped over her ear. Strangely, the metal seemed to be quite cool and flexible, making head-turning possible. Also, the device didn't noticeably lessen her hearing, but when she tried to touch her left ear, all she could feel was its solid smoothness.
Cali felt her knees go weak as the helplessness of her situation fully dawned on her. And at that moment, the door at the end opened.
A man in a red and white tunic exited. It wasn't long and flowing like a toga or a sari; if anything, it looked like the robes Masai warriors wore: it revealed the arms in the same way and made his body seem elongated and elegant. His skin was the color of oak bark and his shaved head glistened in the harsh sun. She was surprised to see he was wearing what she assumed was a variation of her ear-ware, although his didn't sport a metal neck choke: it clamped directly to his ear with no supports. He had a kindly face for a captor, Cali thought.
This man was followed by a boy who looked eleven or twelve at the most. He wore what were essentially rags, colorless and stained, barely covering his skin which, Cali gasped, was pigmented in blotches like a Rorschach card. He too had a collared ear device. This strange boy followed a few paces behind the Red Man, his unfaltering gaze locked on the ground.
They crossed the dark sand between the door and her cage with care, and as they got closer Cali noticed the soles of their shoes were thick and wooden, presumably to insulate against the heat.
'Do you understand me?' The Red Man said as he neared, his eyes alive with excitement.
To her surprise, Cali did. The words that came out of his mouth were strange and alien, but somehow they formed coherent sense in her mind. Is that what these earpieces are for?
'I do, and I have some questions. Firstly, where is this? And secondly, why am I in a cage? Those are my main two, but rest assured, I've got many more.'
The Red Man stopped a few feet away from the bars, beaming. 'You are in Manu. I am a Manu, but this one,' he said, pointing at the boy, 'is a member of the dalari, one of our slave races. You have the aspect of our people, but you are from somewhere else: an othertime. Maybe your othertime will one day be Manu too.'
He smiled, taking her in. 'The cage is because we don't want you moving around too much. Even if you were to escape its confines, the sand in this courtyard is firesand, crushed from rocks in the Mountains of the Moon. It absorbs the sun's heat more than other sands, and is fiercely hot to touch. If you were to somehow cross the sand and scale the walls, you would find yourself in the drill yards of the Pillar of Valor, and beyond that, the high city of Sol Mana. And beyond that...' he paused for effect. 'The desert. So it's better if you stay put.'
Thirty-five
Cali looked at her captor quizzically. 'How are we talking?'
'The Speaking Ears. They listen for us and help us understand,' he explained, tapping the smooth metal on the side of his face. Now, our questions. We know what you are, but not what your culture calls you.'
'My name is Cali. Are you going to tell me yours?'
'I am Massur, and I am part of the Pillar of Faith.'
'What's that?'
Massur grinned. 'Well, I am not an official part of it. My colleagues and I are somewhat clandestine. We deal with the hidden aspects of universe, whereas the Pillar proper deals with the holy aspects of Manu.'
'What is Manu?' asked Cali.
'You are looking at it,' he explained unhelpfully. 'Yet it is all around you, and far beyond. It is in its divine roots and its future total culture hegemony. It is in the Father, its Zars, its Pillars and its people. It is civilization. The civilization.'
Cali raised her eyebrows.
'I don't expect you to understand yet. You are other, after all,' he grinned. 'On another note, sorry about not giving you a cover. Amin here has one in his bag.'
Amin nodded meekly.
'But first: food!' Massur beamed. 'You must be starving. I have managed to secure permission from Zar Mittander to feed you real food, not slave food. Talking of which, he will be paying you a visit soon. A high honor indeed.'
Amin dutifully removed a few items from the leather sack he was carrying. A stone sphere, the two hemispheres of which twisted apart to reveal a steaming portion of what looked like chickpea stew. This was complemented by few large strips of dried meat and something that was the same shape as an apple, but was brown; and a tall, thin red ceramic flute of water. Amin posted it all through the bars of the cage, and Cali set upon it voraciously. Water first: she found that although the flute was on the skinny side, its shape and length allowed it to contain a surprising amount of liquid. The dried meat was beef, or something similar, it was tough but wonderfully spiced; the chickpea stew was hearty and tasty and balanced the sweetness of the apple-thing surprisingly well.
Massur watched her eat. 'Like it?'
Cali nodded.
Suddenly the gate set in the wall opened and someone called out. Massur spun round, eyes livid. 'This is a restricted area!' he yelled, dashing across the sand in his protective wooden shoes to reprimand the intruder.
With his master safely out of earshot, Amin chirped up. 'Hey! You are special, aren't you?'
'I suppose... in a way,' Cali responded, feeling slightly self-conscious.
'Our people hear all the goings-on. Our Speaking Ears let us understand the Manu. They are scared of you.'
'What?'
'They are! They say you are very powerful, very dangerous. They have been looking for you for a long time. You could help us.'
Cali frowned. 'If we helped you escape, you would help us, yes?'
'Who's "we"?'
'My people, the Dalari. And the other slaves. Two hundred years ago the Manu reached our coastline and overran our islands. They killed our matriarchs and took us far inland. To the
north of here they keep many of us in slave camps; brutal places, starvation, beatings, working to death, executions, mass graves... But you could help us, yes? They say you have magic.'
Cali managed to wrangle the look of confusion which was growing on her face into one of concern. Any chance of escape is worth it. She hadn't been in the cage for very long, but she was already sick of it.
'And just how do you think you'll get me out of here?'
Amin winced. 'Don't know yet. We will have to wait for the right time. We can definitely disguise you as one of us, though, once you are out.'
Once you're out. Just a matter of the cage lock, the gate lock, the sand and the sentinels, then. And whatever lied beyond...
Massur was returning, pacing agitatedly across the sand in his awkward wooden shoes.
'Quick! Eat the rest!' Amin whispered.
Cali shoveled the remaining chickpeas into her mouth and handed the stone hemispheres back through the bars of the cage. She saved some of the dried beef to eat later, along with the water flute.
'I apologize for my underlings' foolishness. The intruding sentinel has been reminded of his place,' he grimaced, tiredly. 'I'm glad to see you enjoyed dinner. Now, let's get you covered up. dal'Amin, the cloth.'
They covered her cage and left, leaving Cali confused yet tentatively hopeful.
As the day ended, its blazing intensity gave way to a balmy evening of red sunlight and gentle warmth. Just as dusk set (or what Cali