Loki's Kitten

Chapter 10: A Perfect Picnic

You follow Loki towards the cylindrical glass structure at the end of the walkway, which turns out to be much larger than it seemed from the far side of the bridge. As you approach, the curved glass slides open and Loki guides you through the doorway. It is warm inside the space, but you hear a low hum and feel a slight breeze that suggests there is some sort of air circulation system in place. The room is bare except for a metal bench that runs around the inner edge of the glass walls. Loki gestures for you to sit down. The door slides shut and you feel low vibrations as the room slowly moves downwards.

You were right – you are in some kind of lift. As you descend, you pass lower walkways and observe a group of individuals walking purposefully towards the largest building with domed glass roof. They wear deep blue tailored uniforms, displaying a circular logo with a central yellow starburst on their left shoulders. A second group of four, who seem to be lightly armoured and carry something you assume is akin to a gun, follows them. The sight spikes an uneasiness in you and you look to Loki for reassurance.

"Ah, the Nova Corps," he says, by way of explanation. Your blank expression stimulates him to continue. "An intergalactic police force." He perceives the concern in your expression and aims to reassure you. "They are very well regarded. A force for good – on the whole. You have nothing to worry about."

As you descend below the level of the walkway, the view from the glass walls is obscured by the shaft into which the pod is moving. Loki continues to tell you more about the Nova Corps – something about the Nova Force and unlimited energy and a worldmind – but you let it wash over you, unable to take in any of his words. There are a thousand questions darting around your head, but they are incoherent and muddled. You are overloaded by trying to make sense of what has happened to you and taking in your strange new surroundings. You consider asking Loki where you are going, but it doesn't really seem to matter.

After some time, perhaps ten minutes or more, the pod comes to a stop and you can now see through the part of the wall containing the sliding glass door. The scene before you is very different from the one you left. It seems you have come below the level of the urban sprawl with its clean, sharp lines and precision design to a much more natural landscape.

You get up after Loki, and he takes your hand, leading you out of the doorway. You are instantly hit by the scent of the sea, carried on the warm breeze. It is so familiar and comforting that you smile and, for a moment, forget where you are. You had never considered whether the sea smells, feels or looks the same on different planets. Loki seems aggitated, unable to keep still. But as you observe him more closely, you see it is not aggitation, but excitement. You have not seen him like this before. He is scanning your face, pleased by your smile, with a glint in his eye, and he is fidgeting like a child. Your curiosity is peaked.

"What are you up to?" you query, still smiling at his illuminated face. He seems to calm, a familiar mixture of mischief and smugness sitting on his features.

"You'll see," he responds with no further clues.

You follow him as he walks along a path through dense trees and bushes. You try to look at the plants around you, searching for similarities and differences; the familiar and the new. But Loki is striding ahead. He is significantly taller than you, and his long slender legs mean that you struggle to keep up with his purposeful gait. At the end of the pathway, the trees open out and Loki stops. You finally catch up, stand beside him and gasp at the view before you. In front of you, stretching out to the horizon, is a calm, vast ocean. Two suns hang high in the sky, reflecting and sparkling on the water's surface. You are well above sea-level, standing on an outcrop, but you can see the shore below you, where the water meets the land. You are overcome by an urge to get nearer to the sea.