Star of Sound

Chapter 10

I START TO get seriously bored during the day, but at night, I'm enjoying the reunion with Sina. I don't complain.

Then Kinlan comes to visit. It's wind chimes day. Sudak and I have permission to observe from the upper floor of a luxury hotel. Sina and Priar won't hear all of it anyway and defer to stay at the Assembly.

One of Sudak's female units, the one who uttered the death tones, joins me and we land in a garage below the hotel room, which must be ridiculously expensive. I relish in the thought that the Heelith government is spending so much money on me. The suite has its own garage and an elevator from the garage to the room. The suite itself sports a lavish bath and a huge room that can easily house fifty Heelith on five seat arrangements. The sleeping quarters consist of thirty foliage-entangled alcoves. A giant painting of the wind chimes graces one wall. In the sleeping quarters a sculputure of the chimes stands in one of the alcoves. Positioning a chair that I had brought, Sudak and I settle at the huge window overlooking Gaalan-Gol.

Four mute guards wait in the back of the room. We open the giant window and sit back in our chairs with ublat juice. Life is good. The view from two hundred meters above the busy square is fantastic and unlike any view on any human planet. Heelith fly through the air but they don't come too close to the hotel walls. I don't think any of them can see me sitting inside the room. The hum of the city is a dark singsong in the background. Before Flinx, I would've interpreted it as noise. Now it's part of the world. The hum belongs here, and the song of the wind chimes will tune it out. It's hot, the air smells damp and tropical even up here. It reminds me of our last holiday on a tropical island of Dunlam. It seems ages ago, not a few months.

"Just how expensive is this room?" I ask Sudak.

"It's a thousand credits per hour. In the countryside you can live on a thousand credits per year." There is glee in Sudak's voice. "But I'm sure Kinlan gets a discount." We both laugh at that.

"Kinlan paid for three hours by the way," Sudak adds. "We can hear the last two compositions."

"Good to know. Have you heard all thirty pieces here already?"

"Yes, several times. I'm not allowed to work and often have nothing to do. But I've never had the privilege to hear them like this. Thank you, Jaiah." Sudak waves an antenna around the room and we both chuckle.

We arrived half an hour before the fifth wind chimes play of the day. The time allotted allows us to stay half an hour after the last one finishes. The sun is setting. It's my first sunset outside the Assembly. It's glorious. The beige sandstone of the buildings glow in a golden hue in the rich light of the sinking sun. The wings of the flying Heelith glitter like silver tinsel amidst all the gold. The warmth makes everything mellow. Flinx hums in contentment. Yes, I'm content too, but it's not just me; he's home and enjoys it.

"Sudak, I have a question."

Sudak perks up. "Sure, Jaiah, anything."

"How did you show up just in the nick of time when Axash attacked me?"

"Oh, Saros asked me to keep an eye on you," Sudak says with a hint of amusement.

"Ah. I thought so. So, you were never in danger of execution after you uttered the death tone?"

"No, Jaiah, I was in danger. Saros's trust in me has its limits. Even more than Kinlan, he feared that Hren would do something, possibly using Axash. But he certainly didn't want me to utter the death tone. Your passionate entreaty saved me, Jaiah, not Saros's goodwill." Sudak's tones sound honest.

Then a chime sounds. The flying Heelith settle and nothing disturbs the view of the wind chimes anymore. They are small, so far away, casting long shadows that create the illusion of a bizarre animal. The Heelith group in rings around the pipes and from up here they look like ants.