The Solarian Celebration: Book 3 of the Alliance Conflict (13 page)

She continued, “One of the Solar City pyramids was badly damaged by a hurricane I think.  It was later torn down to make room for a shopping mall.  The stones were used to construct a retaining wall.  The other one was converted into a maze.”

Lexxi interrupted, “Maybe you two should visit that one instead.  If you need physical activity, I can’t think of a better than wandering through a maze.  Wait, yes I can – getting lost and starving to death.”

No one responded, so Ella continued, “As you probably already know, the third pyramid was constructed in a bad location and the surrounding area was never settled or developed.  That pyramid was rarely if ever used and was eventually just abandoned.”

Lorano was lost in thought for a moment and meant to say something to himself.  However, he accidentally said out loud, “Why were the Altians here?”

Clowy responded, “I know.  They came to Solaria to build energy pyramids.  They were gifts for the settlers.”  She smiled brightly.

Lorano shook his head and said, “Thank you Clowy.”

Carank said, “What are the three of you doing tomorrow?”

Ella responded, “We are going shopping, then we have an appointment at a beauty salon.  In the evening, we are taking my father to dinner.”

Carank replied, “Let’s all meet for dinner tomorrow – Lorano’s treat.”  Carank figured he should repay Lorano for forcing him to pay for the make-up kit.

Clowy finished putting her belongings into room 123 and the three females left for dinner.  Carank returned to his room.  Lorano put his luggage back on the cart on rode the electro lift to the second floor.  He settled into room 213.

The next morning the trio went to the nearest shopping plaza.  Lexxi led the other two through the mall and straight to a store that sold her brand of make-up.  It was clear that she had researched their path on the websphere.

Lexxi viewed the various sizes and contents while she waited for the clerk.  She had lost a type 2 travel bag, so she figured that she should replace it with a type 4.  The type 4 was a full size kit and included 38 shades of lipstick and matching fingernail polish. 

It also contained a huge variety of blush, eyeliner, cover, and a portable ultra-violet inductance system for rapidly drying nail polish.  It was roughly double the cost of the type 2.  However, since Carank was paying, she decided to splurge.

Clowy looked at the price and frowned.  She said, “That is really expensive.  It’s just about three week’s salary.”  She paused for a moment and asked, “Is it any good?”

The clerk finished with the previous customer and asked, “How can I make your day truly wonderful?”

Lexxi replied, “I want to purchase three type 4 make-up kits.  One for each of us.”

The clerk frowned at them and said, “Oooooh, I don’t know.  You three don’t look like type 4’ers to me.  That may be too much make-up for you to handle.”  She pulled out a type 1 kit, pushed it toward them, and turned away to help another customer.

The clerk finished helping the other patron and turned back to Lexxi.  Her facial expression seemed to say ‘oh, you’re still here’.

The clerk said, Nooobody is buying the type 4 anymore.  Evvverbody is upgrading to the type 5.  The type 5 comes with a self-attaching, fully programmable, three-way mirror and expanding tray.  Plus, the kit contains an additional 24 shades.”

Lexxi said, “Okay.  Give us the fives.”

The clerk’s face brightened and she smiled.  She said, “Excellent choice.  I can tell you three are discerning shoppers.”

Lexxi held out her arm so the clerk could take a sample of her DNA.  Clowy and Ella followed suit.  The clerk aimed a photonic laser beam at their arms and burned off a tiny sample of their skin.  She then verified that there was enough information to create the make-up. 

The clerk said, “Okay, I have everything I need.  One last thing, you need to choose the color of your make-up case.”  She held up a color chart.

Lexxi asked, “What colors do you have in stock?”

The clerk said, “Only brown, but there is something wrong with the color.”  She held up a brown case for effect.  It looked dreadful, almost discolored.  It certainly didn’t match the color chart.

The clerk continued, “All of the other colors perfectly match the color chart.  I don’t know what happened to this color.  However, we are getting a new shipment from Altian-1 in three days.” 

She paused for a moment and asked, “What color would you like me to reserve for you?”

They studied the chart.  Lexxi said, “Silver.”  Ella said, “Silver.”  Clowy looked at the chart and said, “I really like the brown.”

Lexxi motioned to the clerk to reserve a third silver case.  She then asked, “When will the entire kit be ready?”

The clerk checked her chart and said, “It should be ready on Thursday, or Saturday, or the following Saturday.  Be sure to keep you receipt.  It has your tracking number on it.”

Lexxi was stunned.  She said, “On Advranki Prime they can get the DNA sequencing developed in about an hour.”

The clerk gave her as condescending a look as possible for a Solarian.  She replied, “We do have some ready-made cosmetics on the children’s counter over there.  Perhaps you would find those more suitable to your timetable.”  She pointed to the area for effect even though they were standing right next to it.

Lexxi admitted defeat and said, “I will see you in a few days.”

The clerk said, “Have a delightful day.”

Lexxi replied, “Don’t tell me what to do.”

The wandered through the shopping plaza until it was time to go to the spa.  Ella chose a spa that was conveniently located in the same general area as the mall.  Even though the advertisement for the salon specifically mentioned that they catered to extra-terrestrials, the owner admitted that they rarely had visitors from other planets.

Lexxi was nervous and wanted to leave, but the staff was very nice and convinced them that despite their lack of experience, they knew exactly what to do.  Since the trio was already checked in, they decided to stay.  They ordered the full spa package – facial, pedicure, haircut, massage, and hair revitalization treatment.

About three hours later they left the spa and headed to a restaurant for a quick snack.  It was already early afternoon, so they didn’t want to have a full lunch as they had evening dinner plans with the scientists and Ella’s father.  They found a nice place and took seats next to the window.

Clowy said, “My hair feels funny” and started scratching her scalp.

The hair treatment product that the beautician chose worked terrific on real hair.  Both Ella and Lexxi’s hair looked fabulous afterward.  Clowy’s hair looked tremendous initially.

However, Clowy is an Altian.  Altians are naturally hairless on their heads and faces.  When long(er) hair became the fashion trend for females on Advranki Prime and Solaria, the Altians copied the look by inventing a method to grow real hair and implant it onto their scalps. 

Clowy scratched another time.  Her entire head of hair fell off and landed on the floor.  Clowy looked down and looked at her hair.  The visual didn’t immediately register in her mind.  She slowly reached up and touched her head.  Her bald head finally registered in her consciousness and Clowy started crying.

“It’s okay,” Ella said as calmly as possible.  “We’ll just go wig shopping.”

..……………..

The terrain surrounding the pyramid was much rougher than expected.  As a result, the only suitable landing area for the air car was about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away.  They hiked up and down several hills and through an abandoned quarry to reach the structure.  They reached the pyramid by late morning.

Carank said, “Ella was right.  This seems to be a rather poor place to construct the pyramid.”

Lorano nodded in agreement.  He replied, “This adds another element to the mystery.  I doubt this terrain has changed much over the last 4 millennia.  It looks completely undeveloped.  The Altians must have known this was a marginal location when they built it here.”

Carank agreed, “It just doesn’t make sense.  We must be missing something.”

They closely inspected the side nearest them.  It was clear that the pyramid was made from stone from a nearby quarry.  Nearby doesn’t describe it properly.  The pyramid was actually constructed on top of the hill that had been used to quarry the stone.  Further, there were still cut, but unused stones still sitting in the quarry.

Carank said, “Well, they certainly didn’t have to transport the stone very far.”

They turned their attention back to the pyramid.  This pyramid looked different than the other examples of known Altian architecture they had inspected (Altian-1, Solar City, and the new planet).  The three previous examples had similar slopes and craftsmanship that was spectacular.  The stones were perfectly cut and shaped and fit together perfectly.  The gaps were so small that one could not slide a piece of paper between them.

This was clearly different.  It was significantly smaller and the slope was steeper.  The stones in this pyramid were placed very, very close to one another, but not absolutely perfect like the others.  Further, the stones looked like they had been painted with some type of clear-coat paint.

They walked all the way around the pyramid.  They found an entrance on the north face, two levels above the surface.  It was blocked by a small stone.  They climbed up and inspected the stone.  It was a slightly different color and wasn’t the correct size or shape of the surrounding stones. 

Lorano stood and patiently waited for Carank to pull the stone free.  Lorano peered inside.  He saw one large room.  There were no corridors or sound attenuating chambers.  Lorano stepped aside and let Carank look.  The chamber was completely empty. 

Carank crawled halfway into the room and used his communication pad to take pictures of the interior room from as many different angles as he could.  Carank saw that the stone was not smooth.  An energy pyramid typically had perfectly smooth interior stones to guide the soundwaves.  The tiny holes would make it nearly impossible to conduct sound.

Carank kicked his legs and Lorano grabbed them and pulled him back out of the pyramid.  Carank sat down on the rock next to Lorano and they began scrolling through the pictures.

Carank said, “Do you see all of the tiny holes?”

Lorano replied, “Yes.  It looks like they were drilling into the sides of the stone.”

Carank said, “Perhaps someone came along later and was looking for something?”

Lorano shook his head negatively and said, “No, it appears more like something was attached to the stone and was violently removed.”

Carank closed his communication and replaced the stone.  The two scientists carefully crawled back down to the base of the pyramid. 

Once down, Lorano summarized, “This isn’t an Altian energy pyramid.  This pyramid must have been built by the settlers from the leftover stones from the two pyramids in Solar City.”

Carank replied, “A tribute to the Altians perhaps?”

The question was rhetorical, but Lorano answered, “I doubt we will ever know.”

Carank couldn’t resist.  He pulled the label maker out of his pocket and wrote ‘Not an Altian energy pyramid’ in Alliance basic.

Lorano inspected the label and remarked, “Well, that certainly could have saved us some time.”

Carank said, “When we leave, we should circle the planet and have the
Buzzkill
scan this pyramid.  I am curious to know whether there are any hidden chambers.”

The scientists returned to Solar City and began searching for a lab to process the dirt samples they had collected from the new planet – tentatively named Lorank or possibly Carano.

……………………..

Jack Dogbarks spent the day waiting at the spaceport and was eventually rewarded for his patience when Ambassador Bline’s diplomatic corvette landed at the spaceport.  Jack watched the ambassador disembark and the customs official clear him after a minimal check.

Jack approached him immediately afterward and said, “Ambassador Bline, welcome to Solaria.  I have your ground car waiting.  Please follow me.”

If Bline was at all surprised to see Jack, he didn’t show it.  He simply pointed to suitcases and said, “Lead the way.”

Jack loaded the bags onto his electro cart and led ambassador Bline through the spaceport.  Solaria’s spaceport was miniature version of the one Advranki Prime.  They were on one of upper levels, so they rode an electro lift down to the surface.  Jack then led Bline to his rented ground car.  Bline didn’t acknowledge him further or say a single word during this time.

Once seated in the back of the vehicle, Bline pulled out a listening device and scanned for bugs.  Satisfied, he activated a personal privacy field that encompassed the inside of the ground car.  Bline settled into the seat and said, “Take me to the embassy.  Use a circuitous route.”

Jack started driving.  It was less than two kilometers from the spaceport rental vehicle area to the Hiriculan embassy.  Jack anticipated the conversation should take 15 minutes and chose a route to accommodate.

The ambassador stayed silent, so Jack said, “I have new information that I know you will find very interesting.  I would like to discuss a new contract.”