CHAPTER 16: SEEING THE SIGHTS Unlike the everlasting joy and repose of Heaven, the times of bliss in this material universe must come to an end. An hour or so after we ascended onto cloud nine, we returned to the real world. We savored a last lingering kiss, then arose and left our little piece of paradise. Our return to the portal chamber was unhurried. We passed two other couples as we walked, with whom we exchanged knowing smiles. All too soon we were at the gateways to her world. "Time to go home, beloved," I whispered." The portals activated as we approached, and seconds later we were back on Korendor firma. As wonderful as her beautiful planet is, I had a twinge of regret as we left the portal room. Her merry laughter evoked in me an unspoken thanks to the Infinite One for bringing us together. We boarded her craft, and rose quickly to travel lane altitude. "What's going on today in Vrell City that would appeal to two people who are madly in love?" I asked. She typed into a dash-panel keyboard and a screen in front of me displayed a list of the afternoon's events. One caught my eye instantly. "There's an open-air concert of Earth music in the courtyard of the university's Fine Arts complex at 12.5K, with Terran instruments. Well, now..." I touched the screen and the program appeared. "Mozart. Beethoven. Schubert. What do you think, mialani?" We swung around toward the city and I watched in fascination as the enormous expanse moved beneath us. Despite its size, there was no evidence whatever of urban decay. From the most ancient to the most modern sectors, everything was meticulously maintained. As we moved slowly over the city, I saw for myself what ArKay described in a 1988 communication. As a sidebar, ArKay's description is repeated here.
There is a conspicuous absence of skyscrapers, since the laws of physics on a world with 3.2 times Earth's gravity renders such structures architecturally impractical and prohibitively expensive. The tallest building on the planet is the pyramid-shaped Hall of Korendor, about 680 feet to its peak. Most are 300 feet or less in height. ArKay told me that the 590 square miles is for the urban core area only. The total urban area is about 1,292 square miles. If the metropolitan and residential sectors are included, the total area of the city is 5,387 square miles. The permanent population of the city is about 38,340,000 (2006). If that seems crowded, consider that with 5,387 square miles, the population density is about 7,117 people per square mile. In contrast, Manhattan's population density is 66,940 people per square mile. And the fact that everything is sized for a race that averages four feet tall makes it even less pinched for space. CHAPTER 17: MUSIC, MAESTRO Returning to the topic, we spent about half a karhek cruising around the city and then headed toward the Vrell City University complex on the southern edge of the urban area. As we approached it, the sheer size of the facility astounded me. If one thinks of the largest university on Earth and multiplies it by ten, this campus can be appreciated. My lady evidently knew her way around the place. "I studied for my computer science degrees here," she said in response to my unvoiced thought. Looking around, the lack of activity struck me as unusual for a university setting. "This is one of the quarterly five-day break periods. It allows students from other Alliance worlds to spend some time at home." We went up the steps toward the entrance. There were a few young people inside. Astra said that they were students who volunteered to guide visitors to the concert. One young lady recognized her and called to her. "I'll wait here, mialani," said I. She handed us two programs and we followed her along the main aisle toward a double door that opened into the courtyard. The orchestra members were tuning their instruments as we arrived. It was fascinating to see how large our instruments seemed in the hands of Korendian musicians, but they apparently were perfectly at ease with them. There were about a hundred people in the audience. We decided on two seats toward the back, hoping to remain incognito. When the orchestra had finished their warmup, a distinguished-looking gentleman stood and addressed the people. "Brothers and sisters, welcome to the first of what we hope will be a series of performances of music from planet Terra, as part of our curriculum on music from other worlds. It is remarkably good fortune that this concert, which was planned half a cendrol ago, should coincide with the unexpected presence on Korendor of a gentleman from Terra who has been in the news over the last two days. It certainly improved the attendance numbers." His comment brought laughter from the audience. As he looked over the audience, he spotted us in the back row. His eyes went wide for a second. Astra whispered, "So much for anonymity, mialana." I sighed and replied, "Well, sweetheart, we tried." The orchestra acknowledged us, and then my ears were blessed by the familiar opening of "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik". I closed my eyes and let the timeless music forge yet another link between this wonderful world and my own. After a few minutes a soft hand wrapped around mine. I looked toward my star lady, who was contentedly gazing at me. I saw in her eyes a love that any man would be willing to give his life to know. She said nothing, but nothing needed to be said. Two hours of bliss passed swiftly. Beautiful music and the love of my life are a combination made in heaven. As the audience left, Astra and I went forward to meet the maestro and his student musicians, and shook hands with all of them. The conductor/professor asked, "How did we do, brother?" © 2009 Robert P. Renaud -- all rights reserved |