Canticle Blue

67. Amdahl

A meeting between Per'sa representatives and the Bryn Colonists would be held in an amphitheater at the base of the Picarin habitat section because it could hold everyone living above Nantis. After a brief introduction, Amdahl walked to a podium to speak.

"I am Amdahl Erenn, a representative of the current Per'sa home world, Shoriel. Thank you all for graciously consenting to hear what I have to say. I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I and my companions are to have met all of you and to see what you have accomplished here. I will not be speaking in my first language, of course, but Havilan Meid has helped me through the preparations of the more difficult parts of my speech. The Middi have also converted it to a form that is compatible with your C-link.

"My people didn't know until the current century that the cultures of the Per'sa and Bryn Colony had taken somewhat parallel tracks for generations. After our ancestors left Per'sa Island, they monitored media communications from Havel whenever they could, but heard very little about you. In recent decades, when we began to detect new C-wave signals in this system, we were both excited and apprehensive. We assumed that someone had found the city on Per'sa Island, and some of us dared to hope that you were good and responsible people. Then, when we detected your beacon signals, using characters in our own language, we decided to try to find you.

"As you well know, living in space can create its own kind of loneliness, especially when your home planet is no longer welcoming or viable. The Per'sa were very fortunate to have found another world to inhabit, and we have lived there, much as you have here, for hundreds of years. I want to describe that world and our colony to you now because my people wish to extend an invitation to you to come live with us there."

As anticipated, there was considerable crowd noise at that point, so Amdahl waited for it to subside. After letting the audience know that he and his staff would be available for questions after the speech and in the days to follow, he continued. "Shoriel was discovered when our ancestors were beginning to venture into space. They originally hoped to settle, at least temporarily, on Havel's outer moon, and actually did build a habitat facility there. It was about one third the size of your Sky Island. Since it already made use of R-type exotic matter to allow it to be moved, its designers began to realize, as yours have here, that, if enough R-type thrust could be generated, the facility could not only move through space, but also might be able to float at a fixed altitude above a planet and take advantage of its gravity.

"They didn't consider Shoriel a candidate for a permanent home at first because, of course, it had no sun. However, early assessments reported that the planet itself was radiating a significant amount of heat and very little in the way of harmful radiation. So, after successful float tests above Shoriel by smaller spacecraft, they decided to risk taking the habitat facility there with a minimal crew. When that proved successful, the rest of our ancestors made the voyage. Over the centuries, with an enormous amount of work, the original habitat has grown to three interconnected cities."

As Amdahl neared the completion of his talk, he prepared to take questions from the audience. He closed the speech with, "During our visit, we have sometimes gotten the impression that you think of the Per'sa as some kind of superior race. We feel that this is not only untrue, but that it tends to trivialize your own accomplishments. Indeed, we feel that the Per'sa culture itself has already been enriched by you, including your efforts to create a legacy for our civilization when you believed it no longer existed."

Among the questions that followed were: "What is it like to live above a dark planet?"

"Actually, Shoriel is uniquely beautiful. I should begin by explaining that we use our galaxy sky to simulate day-night cycles for our cities, so the appearance of the planet depends on the time of day. At night, much of the tectonic activity on the planet's surface is visible, so that lava flows create a glowing mosaic of fissures, eruptions, and steam. Yet, even in our 'daytime,' the planet is so dark that the lavender light of our sky is reflected from its clouds and lakes. During day or night, when there are storms on the planet, we can see every flash and tendril of lightning. Shoriel also has a magnetic field, so there are even rare occurrences of auroral activity above the planet, as wandering particle winds sweep through our part of space. And, as you might imagine, at night when our virtual sky is transparent, the heavens are incredibly rich with stars, galaxies, nebulae, and countless other celestial phenomena."

"With the planet beneath your cities, how are you able to view it?"

"The cities are dwarfed by the planet, so you can see it from almost anywhere. The most impressive views are from highest parts of the cities, but probably the most popular viewing spots are what we call 'portal lakes' in several gathering areas and city parks. At first glance, they look like small lakes or ponds, especially with thematic landscaping, but they are actually windows in the substructure. Most of the portal areas are kept shaded for viewing."

"What will happen if we decide to stay here?"

"First of all, we have no desire to cause disparity within your colony. Whatever you decide, we would very much like to remain in contact with you. As a rogue planet, though, Shoriel is continuously moving away from this solar system, so visits and communications would inevitably become less frequent."

"Some of the Middi have reported seeing a blue, ghostly creature that seemed to be able to communicate with them..."

"Yes, that is something we will be discussing at length with your Science faculty and teams. In short, it is an intelligent organism, a dual entity actually, composed of quantum entangled particles, which my late brother Liet developed two decades ago. Although there is much we still don't understand about it, its existence has never posed a threat to us. My brother named it 'Panjeum,' meaning, simply, 'for us.'"

"Do you think Shoriel will ever have a sun?"

"We believe so. The planet is moving toward other stars in this cluster. But, at its
current speed, it will take hundreds of millennia to reach the closest of them. Even then, it would take a large gravitational source to capture Shoriel, perhaps one of the binary systems.

"We are already sending probes to explore the nearest solar systems, though. Even Panjeum has been involved in this."