The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord

Author:Karen Lord [Lord, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781780876917
Publisher: Quercus Publishing
Published: 2014-01-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Two Standard weeks later, when the nosebleeds stopped and the shortness of breath was easing, Ntenman declared Rafi ready to meet some of his old Wallrunning friends. Ntenman had spent the days going out and about, reviving old connections and doing what he briefly and bluntly called ‘my padr’s business’. Rafi did not press him. He was still in the phase of gratitude that made him meek and obedient – which was why he also did not object to Ntenman’s proposal for descending from their high-rise quarters to the base of the tower.

‘Every tower has emergency chutes,’ Ntenman explained. ‘It makes sense to learn to use them when you’re not having an emergency. Plus it’s good practice for Wallrunning.’

Rafi leaned cautiously against the doorway, peered up and glanced down. From the outside, doors closed, it appeared to be a standard elevator. On the inside, the shaft was empty and it looked like pure, certain death.

‘It’s an overflow evacuation route for when the normal elevators are overcrowded. It’s perfectly safe. Power failure is never a problem at this Academe, and if anything goes wrong, the safety lines will kick in.’

‘Good,’ said Rafi faintly. ‘And how do we get down?’

‘We jump. The microgravity will slow us a bit and there’s a bodycatcher at the bottom. There are safety belts and lines for complete novices, but I didn’t request any because we’re beyond that.’

‘Am I? Oh. Well. After you.’

Ntenman grinned, seized his arm and jumped.

The first few seconds were teeth-gritting terror, but then there was a gradual slowing of pace. Rafi could easily imagine he was Alice, falling gently down the rabbit hole to Wonderland. The bodycatcher caught him by surprise; it extended higher than he was used to from Wallrunning and stopped them centimetres above the floor before cutting out suddenly and dropping them on their heels. At the same time, a wide door opened into a half-circle of hazy golden light. Artificial light, Rafi would have called it, or lamplight, but on Punartam that term was reserved for indoor lighting during the day. Outside lighting was recycled sunlight whenever it was used to illuminate the long night. Ntenman stepped out into the cool air, shivered and tucked his hands into his tunic sleeves. Rafi simply stayed close to the tower; heat radiated gently from it and the upper baffles offered some protection from the breeze.

It was odd. During the daytime, the tower’s inner ring was little used, but the long night gave excuse for a semi-carnival of activity which the Academe encouraged by leaving its gates open to the public. Families and friends walked slowly around the tower and everything was on offer: confectionery, savouries, tumblers and contortionists, songsters, comedians and players of curious instruments. There was light everywhere, not only mundane light to make the entertainment and food visible, but artistic, enchanting, fun expressions of light. Children carried bright, rainbow-tinted bubbles that burst with damp, harmless sparks. Scarves and shawls were tipped in glow that streaked across the retina when the wearer flipped the ends with flair.

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