CHAPTER 14: AN AFTERNOON DELIGHT

       The remainder of our tour of the mall passed uneventfully, other than for the inevitable greetings and a couple of photo-ops. We wound up in the courtyard, snacking on the Korendian equivalent of fast food as we sat at a table amongst the trees. I spent a moment studying the two elevators that reached the roof, and wondered what was up there. Astra sort of answered my question by saying, "I've been over it once. I think there's an outdoor cafe and a few landing zones for private vehicles. Shall we go find out, mialana?"
       "Let's! I'm curious."
       "Curiosity killed the cat, love."
       "What did the cat want to know?"
       "Ummmm ... good question. I'll have to get back to you on that." We deposited the food wrappers into the trash slot in the table, where they vanished in a flash of light. Next stop: up there.

       We walked over to the nearest of the two high-rise elevators, and waited with four other people until the platform arrived. One of them said, "Brother Kal-Thar, I greatly appreciated your address at the reception. You gave me a perspective on your world that Alliance sources couldn't provide."
       "My pleasure, brother. Earth is a place that cannot be truly appreciated without spending a lot of time there. And I in turn am seeing Korendor in a new light, thanks to my lovely teacher."
       "You're an excellent student," Astra said with a suppressed laugh.
       "Will the exams come later?"
       "After this evening's private lessons, perhaps."
       "Come on, sundown!"
       She whispered, "If we were alone ... oh, who cares?" She put her arms around my neck and gave me a short but inspiring kiss, ignoring the appeciative smiles of the others.
       "You're a very blessed man, Kal-Thar," the man with whom I was talking said quietly.
       "Far more than you know, my brother."

       The platform arrived and the sliding door hissed open. We boarded and watched through the glass walls as we rose. By the time we left the sixth level, we were the only riders. We rose quickly to the roof level and stepped out into the brilliant sunshine. The view of Vrell City was awe-inspiring, with its meticulously-maintained domes, towers, arches and buildings spread out as far as the eye could see. The majesty of this mighty city commanded the viewers' attention.

       In the center, one pyramidal building soared skyward far above the others. Astra told me, "That's the Hall of Korendor. It's difficult to appreciate it at night or from ground level." I nodded and gazed at it's soaring height, my mind focused on the events of the previous day, when Dal-Tren announced to the world the betrothal of his wonderful daughter to a man of Earth. Memories were being etched into my mind and heart with every passing second in the company of my beloved.

       "Korendor, my new home, stand in awe as I present the love of my life," I shouted to the world. I drew her to me and we created our own wondrous microcosm beneath the Korendian sky, locked in each other's arms, our hearts beating as one, our thoughts only of each other.

       When at last we separated, we saw several people watching from a seating area about fifty feet away. It didn't matter one jot. Love is its own justification.

       "Back to reality, sweetheart," my darling said softly. We walked together to the rail and she pointed to her vehicle 300 feet below. "Here's another function of the locator." As we watched, her craft rose from its place and ascended to our level, then moved toward us. It touched down on a marked landing zone about thirty feet away, and the doors swung open."
       "Now THAT is impressive!" I said with awe in my voice. "Were you flying it by implant control?"
       "It can be done, but I wouldn't even try. When I signaled the locator and requested pickup, it calculated my precise location, accessed city building records, and placed me atop the building, with that landing zone as the nearest approved site. From the time it lifted off, its computer guided it."
       "Autopilot on steroids!" I said in amazement.

       I noticed that the other people who were up there with us were standing transfixed as they stared unblinkingly at the waiting vehicle. "I gather that this isn't an everyday occurence."
       "Actually, its a new locator function that the Cybernetics Institute just introduced to the market. The vehicles of CI personnel were all equipped with what your computer people would call an alpha release, as a final proof-testing and debugging."
       "Debugging. Why does the concept that my mialani is involved in debugging the system not inspire confidence in me?"
       "There is no danger, sweetheart. Had the system posed any hazard whatever, no one would have been allowed to participate. It received two years of exhaustive on-site testing with unmanned vehicles in one of our research buildings, several impressive failures, and half a year of flawless performance before its multiple safety features were fine-tuned and approved for real-world testing. It then received another half a year of in-the-field testing before employees' vehicles were equipped with the system." She stopped for a long breath and then concluded, "In any case, mialana, my vehicle has the public release. Nothing can go wrong ... go wrong ... go wrong."
       "God, you're adorable!"
       "Where have I heard that before?"

       She took my hand and we walked together to the craft. "Would you like to drive, love?" she asked.
       "I ... do believe that I'll take a rain check on that offer. But thank you for your confidence. So what's next on the agenda, princess?"
       She looked up and pointed out a small, dim crescent, barely visible in the blue sky. "That's Amar, our largest satellite. There's a public base there where we go to get away from the daily routines. And it has many private observation decks where we can relax and look at our beautiful world."
       The thought brought back wonderful memories of a few hours spent in the company of my Little Star in another deck in PlatoCom over 40 years earlier, when I first began to realize that she was becoming more to me than just a friend. "Mialani, nothing would please me more."

CHAPTER 15: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

       Seconds later we were airborne. We headed westward and descended into the lot of a fairly small, nondescript building. When we entered, the receptionist immediately recognized us. "Good afternoon. To what do we owe the great honor of your visit?"
       Astra replied, "Our love for each other began in an observation deck on Earth's moon. It seems right that while Kal-Thar is with us, we should spend a little time on Amar."
       "Your wish is our command, lovers." She handed two cards to us and directed us to an unmarked white door behind her work station.

       We entered into a room with twenty portals. Five of them were labeled "Amar Facility". "Well, they all go to the same place, mialana. Pick one." I chose the nearest one and inserted the card into a reader to the left of the portal. A shimmering bluish glow was quickly replaced with a view of the equivalent room hundreds of thousands of miles away.
       "I'll go first, just in case there's a scary monster waiting up there."
       Her joyful laughter was a caress to my soul. "See you there, dragon slayer!"

       I stepped into the portal, and the familiar tingling rippled through me. I stepped out on Amar and looked through to see my lady love removing her card. A second later, she walked through the door. I gave her lithe, flawless body a once-over, which I lied was just an inventory. Not a hair was out of place. "Spectacular blue-eyed blondes are my greatest weakness, sweetheart."
       "As long as I'm the only spectacular blue-eyed blonde in your life, mialana."

       And then it struck home. The transport conversion technology has done its thing again. She read my thought and replied, "It would be a major task to convert this facility to the Korendian environment. Since Amar is very similar to your moon, the system fetches the form that we created for locations such as PlatoCom, with minor adjustments for the 15% higher gravity. As always, we are perfectly adapted to these bodies."
       "I am most assuredly perfectly adapted to yours, mialani."

       On the wall by the exits was a floor plan of the base. The observation deck level had ten large rooms and fifty smaller ones, just right for two people in love. A dozen of them had a readout saying, "Occupied". "Well, mialani, we have 38 choices. Your turn."
       "Decisions, decisions, always decisions," she said with a feigned grumble. "Well, let's do it the easy way." She closed her eyes, moved her hand around the graphic, and then pressed her finger onto it. She peeked with one eye half-opened to be sure she hadn't chosen an occupied deck or a wall, and then said, "Here!"
       "Lucky number seven it is. Shall we depart?"
       "At once!"

       Two minutes later the door slid closed behind us, and we were in our own little world. The deck was similar in many ways to the one in PlatoCom. The lighting was at normal level, and the window was opaqued. On the wall opposite the window was a two-seat recliner. A console in the center of the floor contained all the room controls, including several sliders marked "Environment". To the left was a readout used for music selection. I picked one and brought it up to a soft background level. A few more adjustments extinguished the room lights, turned on a gentle breeze scented with the aromas of a Korendian forest, and brought the window to full transparency.

       We stood by the window, looking out at the incredible beauty of Korendor as it hung suspended against the black sky above the mountains of Amar. I whispered, "Mialani, this is paradise!" She turned to me, our eyes met, and without a word we embraced and kissed. From the depths of my memory arose those precious moments that two young people from different worlds spent together. Tears of joy filled my eyes as I reflected on how four decades had forged unbreakable bonds between us, and would soon see us united before the Infinite One and the wonderful people of Korendor.

       After a long moment, we separated and walked hand in hand to the recliner. It conformed to our bodies as we took our places, with my darling to my left. As we leaned back, the plush footrest emerged and made our comfort complete. I put my arm around her shoulders. She rested her head on mine, her soft hair caressing my cheek. In the glow of Korendor's light, I studied her beauty, and offered heartfelt thanks to the Infinite One for giving me so priceless a gift.

       What can one say at such times? I searched for moving, inspiring words to express to her the depths of my emotions. Futility! In the end, the only words that satisfied the need were the same words that have been used since the invention of language. I caressed her cheek and said softly, "I love you." She looked up at me, her face a picture of perfect serenity and peace. "I love you," she echoed. And there we were content to remain, blissfully enjoying each other's company, not even thinking lest it break the spell.