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Carlos' thoughts...
Until a few minutes ago, Carlos had been feeling quite pleased with himself.
He'd landed without getting killed, gone straight to the centre of power, and
had enjoyed an extremely convivial evening. Last night he had felt so tired that
his exploration of the sanitary facilities had been limited to discovering that
not all the pots were intended to take plants. From the sound of running water
which came up from one or two of them, he guessed that anything that went down,
would probably stay there or at least get washed away. This was soon confirmed
by experiment. Following his nose this morning had led him to a cupboard which
was stuffed full of perfumes and flowery smelling unguents, some of which
lathered like soap. There was also a basket of soft dried leaves which he
assumed were intended for a practical purpose. If he were wrong about the pots,
he was now past the point of no return.
Swimming around the pool was a delightful experience, particularly after the
confines of a spaceship. He didn't know what controlled the temperature of the
water but it seemed to be set warm enough to be inviting without being too hot
to stay in. He didn't feel inclined to get out but after a long soak decided
that if he was going to see any of this new world this morning he ought to get a
move on. Besides which he was starting to feel surprisingly hungry. Getting out
of the pool marked the end of his tranquility. No matter where he stepped he
couldn't find a drier. The place he expected it to be was by the door. But no
matter how many times he paced backwards and forwards he didn't trigger any
drying. Now he felt like an idiot because this is something he should've tested
before getting his entire body wet. He considered getting back into the pool to
warm up again.
"Hello there! Can I interest you in a towel?"
Carlos turns around in surprise at the friendly voice behind him, and then
his brain engages, and he realizes, too late that he is standing stark naked,
wet and foolish in front of a most attractive young woman who is holding up a
large white robe which covers most of her body apart from her face. He hopes
that only his nakedness and wetness show and that the foolishness is invisible.
But he sees her trying to look serious while deliberately looking him straight
in the eye and not in the obvious direction, although her glance does flicker
downwards or is that just his imagination? He doesn't need to glance down
himself to realize that the combination of feeling cold and embarrassment means
he has instantly gained a huge erection.
"I think you need this" she says, advancing towards him.
Speechless, he takes the robe. He's at once relieved and disappointed that
she appears to be fully clothed behind it. She's wearing a knee length dress and
a sword. Do all the women on this planet wear a sword? He wonders.Maybe
it's some kind of ornamentation like jewellery? He'll have to ask about that
later.
Meanwhile Ireny, who has first noted that the "alien" appears to
be fully human, a fact which she will report to Jacko later, now notices that
he's still holding the towel and doesn't seem to know what to do with it. The
action side of her takes over, so she steps forward and taking the towel half
back from his uncertain grasp, starts to rub his shoulders with it. Then
diplomatically she skirts round behind him to rub his back
"It's for drying yourself. My name's Ireny, by the way, I was sent to
look after you, but I think you can manage the rest by yourself."
"I'm not so sure about that, you're doing a good job. Mm that's nice."
She stops and lets go of the towel. Carlos turns around, and feeling more
confident with the towel to hide his nudity, observes that Ireny has taken a
couple of paces backwards. She's looking at him with a thoughtful expression.
Ireny is debating with herself whether to throw him back in the pool. Discretion
wins.
"I think we'd better start again. She holds out her hand and steps
towards him. My name's Ireny."
Carlos, who learned this custom last night, transfers his grip of the towel
to his left hand, offers his right and replies
"Hello, I'm Carlos. I only came here yesterday, from somewhere you
would call, outside the Imperium. It seems like I've got a lot to learn."
Ireny's grip is surprisingly strong. Carlos notes, but shaking hands can be
an enjoyable custom. As her grip relaxes, his strengthens, and as he looks into
her eyes, he is attracted by their dark colour. They are almost black, and
twinkle as they stare back and appear to probe into his deepest thoughts.
"That's why I'm here Carlos. To show you around Scythia, and make sure
you don't make any accidental social blunders... You're supposed to let go by
the way."
Carlos is hypnotized, and doesn't realize what she's referring to. She
inclines her head downwards and his gaze follows.
"My hand please? If I could have it back?"
His grip loosens and she slowly takes her hand away.
"I think I'm going to have to teach you about shaking hands."
"And how to dry myself, would be a good idea. It seems like I've got a
lot to learn."
"I think you can practise the drying part without my assistance Carlos,"
as she glances down at the pool "but I am a bit puzzled to know how you
manage this sort of thing where you come from."
"We have driers. They're usually situated around the door. That's what
I was looking for. Normally they come on automatically. I was looking for the
right place but nothing happened. So when you came in, I thought maybe this is
just a different way of doing it. And compared to our way, it's very nice."
"So you thought I just popped out of a cupboard at the right moment,
when you triggered the drier?"
"I'm not sure what I thought, but yes, I did get some ideas like that."
Ireny thinks she knows about some other kind of ideas he may have got at the
same time, but then considering the difference between their cultures, perhaps
it's just as well she gave him the benefit of her doubt earlier and didn't throw
him back in the pool.
"Well it won't work in quite the same way tomorrow, I can assure you."
"No I guess not. So what happens next?"
"I suppose you get dressed. You can do that by yourself can't you?"
"I'm not sure what to wear. Last night Helen said I'd find some things
in the wardrobe, but I wouldn't know what to choose. I think I might need a
little help."
"Just this once. But I draw the line at selecting your clothes.
You'll have to work out for yourself how to put them on. I'm sure that
shouldn't be too difficult for someone who's managed to find their way across
three hyper-years of empty space."
As she ruffles through the wardrobe, Carlos stands helplessly a few yards
behind her.
"Actually it wasn't me who piloted the ship, it was our navigator
Marina."
Ignoring the comment, but filing it for future reference, Ireny turns around
holding up some clothes at arms length, trying to judge, if they will fit.
"Well, at least they've got your size. They seem to have got your
colour too. I'm not too sure about the style, it's a bit showy for everyday
wear. But then you are a visiting dignitary, so I suppose they've judged it just
right."
"I'm not too worried, as long as I don't look too ridiculous."
"From where, I'm standing Carlos, I don't see how things can get much
worse. Look, I'm sure that towel won't fall down, if you only use one hand. Why
don't you hold your arm out so I can hang a few things on it. That should do,
now I'll turn my back and count to a hundred and then see how you're getting on."
"Ireny, I don't quite know how to put this, but do any of these things
come with instructions?"
"You're not serious are you? How did you get dressed last night?"
"I had a bit of assistance from a butler, I think. Where I come from,
the clothes we wear are a little bit less complicated."
Ireny pauses and delivers her contract.
"Carlos, even though you are an ambassador, and I'm just your lowly
guide, if I find out later that you're having me on, I'll grab you and throw you
into the nearest pool, or pit. If that's the only thing available.."
Carlos smiles. His training in hand to hand combat has been quite extensive,
and he wouldn't mind having a tussle with this little lady, but she sounds like
she means it, and now is not the right time to overstep the mark.
Ireny takes charge, "Now, drop that towel, and turn around. Just
pretend that you're ill, and I'm your nurse or something, and I don't want you
to get any funny ideas."
As she works her way through putting things over his head, and turning him
around, and tying and twisting
"Just what did bring you here Carlos? Or are you fed up with answering
that question?"
"No.The novelty of talking to different people hasn't worn off yet.
What brought me here? I suppose it was partly a sense of trying to discover the
unknown. That's the main reason I volunteered for this mission anyway."
"It's a long way to come just for a bath. I suppose you'd like to have
a look around the city. You're done now, by the way."
He lowers his arms to his sides, steps back and bows graciously. "Thank
you my lady."
Ireny corrects him.
"You only use My Lady for nobility, like Penelope and Helen,
not for me. By the way, I hope you were paying attention, because
tonight you're going to have to undress all by yourself. So what would you like
to do now?"
"Is there a mirror, so I can see what I'm supposed to look like?"
Ireny slides a bundle of hanging garments to one side of the wardrobe to
reveal an inbuilt mirror.
"I would have kept an eye on you just in case you got tied up. But you
look fine to me."
"So this is what I wear in the street?"
"Not quite. You'll need to pick up a few things at the gate. But it's
fine for inside. Have you had any breakfast yet?"
"No, I feel like I'm starving. I shouldn't be because I had a lot to
eat last night."
I think you'll find breakfast on the table in the next room. It was just
being delivered when I arrived. In the next room she lifts a silver cover which
reveals several types of bread, dried meats, olives, honey and a couple of jugs.
"This one's coffee, I think. Yes, and this one's water, and this one's
wine. Take your pick."
As he sits down, he gestures for her to join him. "I'm sure there's
enough for both of us."
"I'll just have some coffee thank you, I ate earlier. You were going to
tell me what brought you here, apart from a strong sense of curiosity. I may be
wrong about what people are like where you come from, but in my view curiosity
by itself doesn't seem to be sufficient motivation for a sustained flight across
the galaxy. Otherwise Scythia would be full of non-Imperial visitors, instead of
which, as far as I know, yours is the first ship that's arrived here. Are we to
expect more?"
Content with his breakfast, Carlos sighs, and lifts his head back.
"You know, I've been telling people the official reason for so long
that I almost started to believe it myself. But the real reason is quite silly
and dates from the time I was young. Although now that I'm really here"
he pinches his arm "Yup. I've got nothing to lose now by telling the truth."
Ireny says nothing and gives him her I'm just a little girl, tell me
your story look. Years of training make this transformation believable.
Carlos looks away in embarrassment and recalls as if to himself.
"When I was a kid, my grandmother used to tell me stories about the
family, my parents and uncles and that sort of thing. When you're that age, you
can't believe your parents were children once just like you, and that when they
were young they got up to mischief and played merry hell. It's quite good to
hear stories about the younger versions of your parents and how irresponsible
they were, so that when you get into trouble you can quote these back at them
and get let off.
One day, I was sitting in the garden in the sun, and some butterflies were
chasing each other round and around. I knew these were not the same individuals
I had seen the year before, and they would not be the same in the year to come,
but I also knew that they would all be linked somehow through the years in this
garden and this seemed satisfying. I suddenly realized then that there must have
been a time when my grandmother (who had always seemed so old in my eyes) had
once been young just like my parents, and just like me. This insight inspired me
to ask if she remembered her own grandmother and any stories from her own
childhood. I realized that by asking I could open a mysterious tunnel into the
past, which had never seemed important to me before.
She looked up at the sky and laughed and told me a story she had been told
by her grandmother, who claimed that she had heard it from her own grandmother
in turn. The story of the Fairy Princess. I've never told it to anyone before.
Once I started the selection process for this mission, I got the strange idea
that if I told anyone the story, it would somehow count against me, and I
wouldn't be allowed to come. It's ridiculous now, if I think about it. But I
often wondered if that story was the root cause of my interest in getting away."
"You were lucky to have a grandmother Carlos. Mine both died before I
was born, and my mother died when I was young. So tell me the story of the
Fairy Princess. It sounds like something I would have liked to have heard."
The Fairy Princess story, as related to Carlos by his grandmother.
"Once upon a time, there lived a young girl who fell in love with a
handsome space explorer who often came to visit her parents.
'Marry me', she said, because she thought his life was romantic, travelling
to see distant stars. Her parents both laughed and she was embarrassed, but the
explorer who didn't want to hurt her feelings said
'Wait till you are older, and then see if you still feel the same.'
The explorer went away, and ten years passed. Her parents forgot, but she
did not, and when the explorer came back to visit her parents, she was surprised
to see that he had aged very little, although she was turning into a young
woman. He was now a captain of his own ship, and very famous. He still came to
visit his friends, but she was too embarrassed to talk to him alone, until the
last day before his new mission.
'Marry me' she said. 'You promised, when I was six, and I have waited all
this time.'
He looked at her tenderly and warned her 'You are still young, and my way
of life is strange' he said, 'you would do better to find a life with somebody
else. To me, it seems just a few years ago you were born. The years in
hyper-space part friends and families. Your parents were the children of the
friends I knew at school. You should not wait for someone like me, it will only
bring you sorrow.'
She replied, 'You think I am still a young girl who doesn't know her mind,
but I will wait.'
Five years passed, and her mother died in an accident. She waited for the
captain but he did not return. Another five years passed. She had become a
teacher, and still lived at home with her father. She often wondered what the
captain was doing. There were many ships that went into deep space, and not all
of them returned. But somehow she knew his ship was safe. She was twenty-nine,
when he came back, now a commander and famous. He had discovered many new worlds
for people to settle. He was the oldest living man from his generation but he
seemed little over forty to her eyes.
'Marry me' she said. 'This time you must, because I would like to have a
child to remind me of the space commander who will go away.'
'I will marry you' he said 'You have waited long enough. I will not go away
again. I will stay here with you forever.'
She wanted to believe him, but she knew it would not be true. Still, he gave
up his exploring and they settled and lived together. They had a daughter and
then a son, and they were very happy together.
'Do you still want to go to the stars?' She asked him when her daughter
started school.
'No' he said, and he meant it. He still worked in the space agency,
administering and planning new missions for younger men. But he was happy at
home, with his settled life.
'Do you still want to go to the stars?' She asked him when her son started
school.
'No' he said, and he still meant it. He was planning a major expedition that
would take years of preparation. He was happy with his work, and he was happy
with his life. As the years of planning went by, he realized that this could be
his last chance. His wife realized it too. She was frightened of his answer, but
she had loved him since she was six years old, and she knew that you cannot
catch the wind, you can only sail with it for a time, but in the end it will
blow another way.
'Do you still want to go to the stars?' She asked. This time he did not say
'No.'
'Just one more time,' he said. 'I will be away for five or six years, then I
promise I will return and stay forever.'
When five years passed, she waited at the ports to greet each ship that
arrived. She had first been to see them as a little girl, and now she took her
own children.
'When will daddy come back?' Her children asked.
'He always comes back when he is ready' she stated firmly and this answer
satisfied. They knew from their grandfather that their own father was a space
explorer, and that what their mother said was true.
'Where is granddad?' Her children's children asked when they were five.
'He has gone to the stars' she said and this answer still satisfied.
'Where is grandfather?' Her children's children asked again when they were
ten.
'He has gone to the stars' she said
'Is grandfather really dead?' They asked nervously. They knew now that old
people died. Grandma was now very old.
'No he is not dead, I would feel it,' she said
'Will he come back?' They asked.
'He always comes back,' she stated firmly 'if he can.'
When she was eighty-seven, her family took her one last time to the space
port to see the ships coming in.
'Why are you so sad gran-gran?' Asked the little girl at her knee.
'My husband went to the stars, before your mother was born, and I do not
think he will now return.'
'Why doesn't he come back?' She asked. 'Does he know you're sad?' She was
young but she knew about death. Her cat died once. The next day her parents
bought a new one. The new cat was better. It played more. She knew people were
different to cats. She wondered what would happen when her great grandmother
died. The thought didn't trouble her. But she knew that gran-gran was a sad old
lady who had spent a long time waiting. She wanted her to cheer up.
'Yes, I think he does know I'm sad' the old lady replied.
'Then why does he stay away?' This simple question deserved a simple answer.
'He wants to come back, but he can't. One day he went to a world where he
met a beautiful fairy princess. She had never seen a handsome space commander
before. She wove a spell to make him love her and forget about going home. He
will stay forever now in her land.'
'Is she a wicked princess?'
'She does not know that he has a wife. And he has forgotten because of the
spell. No, I don't think she is wicked. Just lucky. I captured him with my own
spell for a few years, but it was not strong enough to reach into the stars.'
Impressed by the revelation that her gran-gran was once a princess (or
possibly even a witch) the young child stopped asking questions. But long after
her gran-gran died she remembered the story, and passed it on in her turn.
This is the story I heard from my grandmother, who heard it from her own
grandmother, who heard it from the little girl at the space port."
Back in the garden, the butterflies had gone, and it was starting to feel
chilly as the sun lost its strength at the end of the day.
"Is it true?" Carlos asked his grandmother.
"Every story is true, if you know where to look, and I think I can hear
your mother looking for us, so we'd better be off, or we'll miss supper."
"Do you think it's a true story?" Ireny asked Carlos, when he
finished.
"It's one of my earliest memories from my childhood, so to me it's more
like a myth. I don't know, how much of it she told me at the time, or how much
was filled in by my mother later. She had been told the same story and my family
certainly believed it strongly enough to adopt the strange custom of retaining
our family name through the generations, so if the old commander ever came back
he would be able to find his family. Of course, lots of people keep their family
names through the generations for various reasons, but we never disclose the
true reason to outsiders, unless they are close."
"Have you ever thought of researching if he was an actual historical
character?"
"No. I always thought, it was better not to look, and so did my
parents. In a way it was part of our private family history. If we had looked in
historical records and found out the story wasn't true, it would shatter part of
our heritage. I think at some stage, our family had decided that the fairy
princess story was better as a myth, and it would be risky to test it. If it
turned out to be true, then we'd be no-better off. But if it turned out to be a
made-up story, we would lose something that's kept us different through many
generations. Since coming here, and seeing this world, I can well believe that
somewhere deep in space the old commander found a world that he liked, and that
it wasn't worth the effort of going back. And if he did decide to go back, after
hundreds of years of refrigeration in hyper-space all he'd have to go back to
would be a family name."
"And if he did return after all those years, who would he ask for to
find the descendants of his family?"
"Norton," said Carlos quietly. "That's my family
name. We've never been a travelling family, I'm the first one in my family to go
off-world in generations. It's ironic to think that if Commander Norton showed
up on my home world today, he'd find that the last generation bearing his family
name wasn't there any more, but here." |
