"Will we be in any danger while we're there?" Olivia asked.
"No. Far from it. The Penumbrans I've met are great people. They're just... touchy... and it's understandable. They'll come around in time. We just have to work things out, that's all."
Hernando grinned. "I'm glad the Penumbrans allowed the railroad line to be extended to their city. It makes travel a lot easier. Deciding what an archeological site is or isn't shouldn't be difficult. On Earth, I have no problem telling what's a current habitation from a long-ago one. Ancient homes don't have dish antennas or sports team flags hanging in the front window."
"Very funny." Olivia stuck out her tongue at her boyfriend's attempt at humor. "Keep your day job."
"You might assume it would be as cut and dried knowing what's what here, but it isn't." Caveman sighed. "Believe it or not, runaway humans have been living near present-day Penumbra City in homes cut into the sides of the cliffs. They've been living in the cliff faces for hundreds of years, completely isolated from the rest of BloodDark society—human, Quadsang, Overseer or Pure Blood. I don't think anyone knew how many cliff folk dwelled there until recent times, when we took a census."
"They sound like many of Earth's indigenous peoples, trying to live apart from the colonizers who took over their lands. Could these cliffs be the draw for so many Earth academics?" Hernando asked.
"They very well could be." Caveman nodded. "We'll see. By living apart from the rest of us all this time, the cliff dwellers have maintained much of their original Earth cultures and methods. We're going to travel from the city to the site using an ancient form of transport they've resurrected since we declared a new government. They say it's the most efficient way to travel great distances in the desert."
"An ancient form of transport to cross the desert?" Olivia wrinkled up her nose as she recalled a long-ago class field trip to a petting zoo. "You mean stinky ol' camels or mules?"
Caveman shook his head. "Not it's not a camel or a mule, but I'll assume these crazy cliff dwellers' method is faster and smells better. How these folks have kept their primitive technology alive all this time is a mystery to me, but the Alphans who've contacted them say it's quite impressive."
He took a step forward and lowered his volume. "To tell you the truth, if it impresses a snobby group of Pure Bloods, I can't wait to see it."
Chapter Ten
Olivia and the others gathered in the observation car located behind the massive locomotive to get their first glimpse of Penumbra City. The farther south they traveled, the lighter the sky grew, until the train passed through a land of perpetual twilight. Scrubby plants dotted the landscape, which rose by gradual stages toward a range of sharp-fanged mountains, the higher peaks edged with sharp orange light. Olivia sensed the powerful locomotive taking the strain as it progressed up the gradient toward what she first took to be a blank cliff face. As the light increased, she saw it was in fact a massive wall, like one encircling some ancient city in Europe, built between two of the taller peaks. Towers stood at intervals along its length, the crenellations rimmed with amber light, throwing the ground in front of the wall into deep shadow.
"Quite a sight, isn't it?” Caveman sounded impressed.
"Yeah, it is.” Olivia pointed. "Are those gunports?”
Caveman squinted. "Sure looks like it. I told you the Penumbrans value their independence. They're more than prepared to fight for it.”
The train began to slow as it approached the wall. A quarter mile out, it sounded a mournful double blast from its whistle, raising echoes from the implacable surfaces of stone wall and mountain. The face of the wall flooded with light as a number of searchlights came on. Their beams picked out the approaching train and played over its length, making Olivia and the others squint. In the increased light, she saw debris from the recent railroad construction piled to one side on the sandy ground, the searchlight beams making shadows dance and sway about the heaps.
A bell rang, signaling the train's approach to the mouth of a huge gateway. The echoing sound of the wheels on the tracks increased to an almost painful level as the train passed through the cavernous tunnel and exploded into dazzling daylight.
"Wow.” Olivia shaded her eyes. "I'd forgotten what sunlight was like."
"Ouch.” Hernando winced. "I need to go below and grab my dark glasses.” He pecked her on the cheek. "I'll see you when we disembark.”
Olivia watched him go, regretting his sun-sensitive Quadsang nature prevented Hernando from enjoying the sight of the city as much as she did.
"This must be the Maidan.” Caveman indicated the broad sweep of open ground the other side of the massive wall. "It's the great public area the citizens use for recreation, exercise, and military assemblies.”
"It must measure several thousand acres.” Olivia waved to a group of people standing and watching as the train passed by. They waved back, and she heard their cheer over the engine noise. "Why do they call it Penumbra City?" she asked. "I thought penumbra meant twilight. This is more like late afternoon."
"From what I hear, when the city was established it did lie in twilight." Caveman shrugged. "Perhaps the sun got brighter over time or the world shifted, somehow. I don't know, but it makes you think."
"It does. If we could bring solar panel technology here it would have a terrific impact." Olivia leaned on the sill to watch the world go by.
Penumbra City spread in all directions, its multitude of buildings a bizarre juxtaposition of styles from medieval to modern, crushed up against each other with no discernible plan. The city filled the deep, broad valley between the mountains. Tall domes, steeples, and towers rose here and there. The
