The octospider responded with a sequence that began with a brilliant crimson and was followed by a teal green, a lavender, two different yellows (one a saffron and the other a lemon, tending toward chartreuse), and a final purple. The band of colors ran completely around the octospider’s spherical head and then disappeared back into the left side of the slit formed by the two long, parallel indentations in the middle of its face.
“Archie says it’s a pleasure to meet you, especially after hearing so much about you,” Ellie said.
“You can read their colors?” Nicole asked, quite shocked.
“Ellie’s great,” said Eponine. “She’s picked up their language very quickly.”
“But how do you speak to them?” Nicole asked.
“Their eyesight is incredibly keen,” Ellie replied, “and they are remarkably intelligent. Archie and a dozen others have already learned to read lips. But we can talk about all that later, Mother. First tell me about Nikki and Robert. Are they all right?”
“Your daughter grows more adorable every day; and she misses you terribly. But I’m afraid Robert has never completely recovered. He still blames himself for not having protected you better.”
The octospider Archie politely followed the personal conversation for several minutes before tapping Ellie on the shoulder and then reminding her that her parents were probably tired and cold.
“Thanks, Archie,” Ellie said. “Okay, here’s the plan. The two of you are to come inside the city for at least tonight and tomorrow-a kind of hotel suite has been set up just inside the gate for the four of us-and the day after tomorrow, or whenever you are properly rested, we will all return to the others. Archie will go with us.”
“Why didn’t the three of you simply come to where we were in the first place?” Richard said after a brief silence.
“I asked the same question, Dad… and never did receive what I considered a satisfactory answer.”
The bands of color on Archie’s head interrupted what Ellie was saying. “All right,” she said to the octospider before turning back to her parents. “Archie says the octos wanted you two especially to have a clear idea of what they are all about-anyway, we can discuss all this after we settle in our suite.”
The great gates of the Emerald City were thrown open when the four humans and their octospider companion were about ten meters away. Richard and Nicole were unprepared for the overwhelming variety of strange sights that greeted their eyes as they entered the city. Directly in front of them was a broad avenue, with continuous low structures on either side, leading to a tall, pink and blue, pyramid-shaped building several hundred meters in the distance.
Richard and Nicole were virtually in a trance when they took their initial steps into the octospider city. Neither of them would ever forget that incredible first moment. They were surrounded by a kaleidoscope of color. Every element of the city, including the streets, the buildings, the unexplained decorations mat lined the avenue, the plants in the garden (if that’s indeed what they were), and the wide range of animal creatures that seemed to be scurrying in all directions, was emblazoned with bright colors. A group of four large worms, or snakes, resembling wriggling candy canes except much more profusely colored, were coiled just inside the gate on the ground to Richard and Nicole’s left. They had their heads lifted high, apparently straining to get a view of the alien visitors. Bright red and yellow animals with eight legs and lobster like claws were carrying thick green rods across an intersection fifty meters in front of Richard and Nicole.
Of course there were dozens, maybe hundreds of octo-spiders, all of whom had come to the gate area to catch a glimpse of the two newest humans to visit their city. They were sitting in groups in front of the buildings, standing beside the avenue, even walking on the rooftops. And they were all talking simultaneously in then- bright bands of color, accenting the static decorations of the street scene with dynamic bursts of various hues.
Nicole looked around, glancing only for a moment at each of the bizarre creatures staring at her. Then she leaned her head back and gazed at the green dome far above her head. Some kind of thin, flexible ribbing could be seen in isolated spots, but it was mostly covered over by a thick green canopy.
“The ceiling is all growing vines and other plants, along with the insect like animals that harvest the useful fruits and flowers,” she heard Ellie say beside her. “It is a complete living ecosystem that has the additional advantage of being an excellent covering for the city, sealing out the Raman cold and atmosphere. After the gates are closed, you’ll see how comfortable the temperatures are normally inside the city.”
Scattered around under the dome were about twenty very bright sources of light, considerably larger than the individual fireflies that had guided Richard and Nicole through the octospider domain. Nicole tried to study one of the lights, but quickly gave up because it was too bright for her eyes. The illumination seemed to be provided by clusters of the same fireflies that had led them to the Emerald City.
Was it fatigue or excitement or a combination of both that caused Nicole to lose her equilibrium? Whatever the reason, while she was gazing at the green dome above her, Nicole began to feel as if she were spinning around. She stumbled and reached out a hand for Richard. The burst of adrenaline that accompanied her dizziness and sudden fear caused her heart rate to surge.
“What is it, Mother?” Ellie said, alarmed at her mother’s pallor.
“Nothing,” said Nicole, breathing slowly and deliberately. “It’s nothing… I was just dizzy for a moment.”
Nicole glanced down at the ground to steady herself. The street was paved with brightly colored squares that looked like ceramics. Sitting on the street no more than fifty centimeters in front of her were three of the strangest creatures that Nicole had ever seen. They were about the size of basketballs. Their hemispherical tops were royal blue undulating material that resembled, in some ways, both human brains and the part of a jellyfish that floats on top of the water. In the center of this constantly moving mass was a dark, round hole, out of which were poking two long, thin antennae, perhaps twenty centimeters long, with ganglia or knots roughly two or three centimeters apart. When Nicole involuntarily recoiled, stepping back because she felt instinctively threatened by these bizarre animals, their antennae spun around and the trio scampered quickly to the side of the avenue.
Nicole glanced quickly around her. Bands of color were streaming around the heads of all the octospiders she could see. Nicole knew that they were dissecting her latest reaction. She suddenly felt naked, lost, and completely overwhelmed. From somewhere deep inside her came an ancient and powerful signal of distress. Nicole was afraid that she was about to scream.
“Ellie,” she said quietly, “I think I’ve had enough for today… Can we go inside soon?”
Ellie took her mother by the arm and guided her toward a doorway in the second structure to the right of the avenue. “The octos have been working day and night to convert these quarters. I hope they are satisfactory.”
Nicole continued to stare fixedly at the octospider street scene, but what she was seeing was no longer penetrating deep into her cognitive mind. This is a dream, she thought, as a group of thin green creatures that looked like bowling balls on stilts walked through her field of view. There cannot really be a place like this anywhere.
“I too was feeling a little overwrought,” Richard was saying. “We had that scare in the forest. And we have walked a long way in three days, especially for old folks. It’s not surprising that your mother became disoriented- that scene outside was weird.”
“Before he left,” Ellie said, “Archie apologized in three different ways. He tried to explain that they had permitted free access to the gate area, thinking that you and Mother would be fascinated. He hadn’t thought about the fact that it might be a little too much.”
Nicole sat up slowly in her bed. “Don’t worry, Ellie,” she said. “I haven’t really become that fragile. I guess I just wasn’t prepared, especially after so much exercise and emotion.”
“So would you like to rest some more, Mother, or would you prefer to have something to eat?”
“I’m fine, really,” Nicole reiterated. “Let’s go on with whatever you have planned. By the way, Eponine,” she said, turning to the Frenchwoman, who had said very little since their initial greetings outside the city, “I must apologize for our rudeness. Richard and I have been so busy talking with Ellie and seeing everything… I forgot to tell you that Max sends his love. He made me promise that if I saw you, I would tell you that he misses you terribly.”
“Thanks, Nicole,” Eponine replied. “I have thought of Max and the rest of you every day since the octospiders brought us here.”
“Have you been learning the octospider language too, like Ellie?” Nicole asked.
“No,” Eponine answered slowly, “I’ve been doing something altogether different.” She glanced around for Ellie, who had stepped out momentarily, presumably to arrange dinner. “In fact,” Eponine continued, “I had hardly seen Ellie for two weeks until we started making plans for your arrival.”
