FEDERATION 2 PLAYER PLANET

SEPHORIN: ALICE - LOOKING GLASS SYSTEM

While Sephorin was exploring Strom's neighboring systems--a duty for which her people supplied vast resources and a tremendous amount of support--she happened upon an exceedingly odd phenomenon. Simply floating in the endless void between stars was a strange bit of reflective surface which turned out to be a looking glass from nineteenth-century Earth. The looking glass was about the size of an adult human, but as Sephorin approached it in her ship the mirror grew progressively larger. (Later, while checking her instruments, Sephorin discovered that it was in fact her ship that grew smaller.) A bright flash suddenly blinded both Sephorin and her instruments, and when she could see again there stood above her a verdantly green world of tremendous size, on the order of scale of a gas giant. It seemed she had inadvertently passed through some sort of link.  

Quite apart from its size, this was the oddest planet Sephorin had ever encountered. It was a rogue planet and did not orbit around a star, yet its mean surface temperature was 301 Kelvin, it sported lush vegetation, and it had a pronounced terminator. How could there be a light side and a dark side to this planet when it had no sun? How could plants grow, and how could the surface have such a high temperature? Perhaps a stupendously hot core and intense volcanic activity could explain the latter, but there was no sign at all of geological instability. Deciding to investigate, Sephorin brought her ship into orbit, fully prepared for the gravity that such a large celestial body would generate. To her amazement, though, this huge planet had a gravitational field only about 1/11 as strong as it should--a simple impossibility. Unless the thing was hollow!

Sephorin found the atmosphere to be very pleasant, though quite a bit cooler than her home world of Strom. She could only locate a single place on the planet with sufficient room to set down her shuttle, that being in the middle of a clearing surrounded by dense forest. Exiting the shuttle, she was quite ready to set off exploring when she noticed that none of her instrumentation was functioning. She had no way to keep track of her location or find her way back if she got lost, a distinct possibility in this heavily wooded area. Also, though the clearing in which she stood was bright and sunny (how could there be sunlight without a sun? she asked herself), the surrounding woods were remarkably dark and foreboding. Strange noises issued from the trees, perhaps the calls of birds, and a distant loud roar could only indicate some sort of predator.

Taking a closer look at her location, Sephorin noticed that there was a very large cat sitting in a tree staring down at her. It's fur was grey and scruffy, and it wore an outrageous grin. Feeling a bit silly, but knowing from Catspaws' example that kitties could indeed be sentient, Sephorin asked the cat, "Could you give me directions?"

"Where do you wish to get to?" the Cat replied.

"Well, I'm not really sure..." Sephorin began.

"Then it doesn't much matter which way you go, my dear," the Cat told her, its grin growing even wider.

"I'm concerned about getting lost, though."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that," the Cat said as though speaking to a person of extremely limited intelligence. "If you just keep walking you're sure to find somewhere."

Wondering if the Cat were a bit daft, Sephorin decided on a more specific question. "Could you tell me where I could go to find someone in authority? A town or village? Or a place to trade goods?"

The Cat raised its paw and motioned east where Sephorin now noticed there was a small path wending its way through the forest. She turned back to offer her thanks, but the Cat was no longer in the tree. Curious, she thought, as she walked carefully down the path.

After a short while, Sephorin came upon a disheveled (but cute!) mouse sleeping in the middle of a small clearing. "Excuse me?" No response. "Excuse me?" Sephorin poked at the mouse. "I don't mean to disturb you, but the Cat directed me this way and..."

Upon the word "cat" the mouse leaped into the air, landing in what looked like some sort of Kung Fu stance. "Cat? Cat??"

"No, no, there's no cat here," Sephorin assured the mouse, making placating gestures with her hands. The mouse looked quickly in every direction and visibly relaxed when it saw there was indeed no cat. "The Cat just directed me here when I asked for someone in authority. Are you by chance the ruler of this world?"

The mouse looked startled. "Me? Why no, I'm afraid not. I'm a simple trading mouse. Would you like to buy something?"

Sephorin looked dubious as she doubted this planet could hold many commodities of interest to her people, but she decided there was no harm in asking. "Do you have any tquarks for sale?"

The mouse whipped out a rather large notepad and examined it carefully. "Why yes, we do. How much would you like?"

Sephorin raised her eyebrows disbelievingly. "I'll take 525 tons if you have them."

The mouse made a few marks in the pad. "The total is 372,750. The tquarks will be transferred to your ship."

Sephorin smiled, thinking this mouse was having a little fun with her, but she was willing to play along. "Then I'd best get back to my ship and check on those."

Sephorin walked along the path back to her shuttle, half-expecting to see the cat waiting for her with a mischievous grin, but it was nowhere to be found. She shrugged, boarded the shuttle, and flew into orbit to dock with her ship. Upon examining the cargo holds, she found that seven of them were filled with tquarks and that her account had been debited 372,750 groats.

Mystified, Sephorin walked to the bridge and decided to fiddle with the ship's sensors again to see if she could find out any more about this planet. At least I don't have to worry about being speared by a giant boar or anything up here, she thought. She turned her swivel chair around to sit down... only to find the Cat already resting there comfortably. "Hello again," it said languorously.

Sephorin jumped a foot in the air and let out a strangled "AGGHHH!" The Cat only grinned. "You're no mouse, my dear," it said. "I'm surprised to see you react so."

"What are you doing on my ship??" she asked, her heart still in her throat.

"Napping," the Cat replied.

Sephorin glared at the Cat when it became apparent that no further explanation was forthcoming. The Cat only grinned. Sephorin said a bit angrily, "If you're going to make yourself welcome without an invitation, could you at least give me some information about this planet?"

The Cat studied her. "It occurs to me that you did not receive an invitation before visiting my home. Why do you apply standards to me that you yourself do not hold to?"

Sephorin shifted her eyes to her feet and cleared her throat. Looking back up at the Cat after a moment she said, "You're right. I'm sorry. Please be welcome on my ship."

The Cat grinned and emitted a remarkably deep purr. "Now then," it began, "you said you have some questions?"

"Yes, if you don't mind. What sort of planet is this? Who founded it?"

"Planet?" The Cat gazed curiously at Sephorin and began twitching its tail. "I suppose it could be seen as such, from your point of view." The Cat paused. "As for the founder... I do not know her. No one really does, not even she herself. Perhaps if you were to find her... but she is quite elusive to be sure."

Sephorin considered this. "You seem to speak in riddles, Cat. Can't you answer my questions directly? How is this planet's gravity so low? Where does the light come from? And what about the heat?"

The Cat shook its head. "I know nothing of these things. Perhaps you could ask the founder."

"And where would I find her?"

The Cat grinned. "I have no idea. But I would start with the tree you found me sitting in."

Sephorin sighed. "Maybe I will explore when I feel more comfortable with your world. Would you at least allow me to trade here, though? You have great prices on tquarks."

"I would be happy to see you trade here," the Cat said. "The mouse you met can provide you with all the information you need. And the same offer is good for anyone you see fit to pass it on to."

"That's very kind of you, Cat. Thank you." The Cat grinned. "I'd best be moving on for now, though. My people need some of the tquarks I just bought here."

"Of course," the Cat said. "I hope to see you again, Sephorin." With that the Cat simply disappeared, leaving the chair vacant. Sephorin stared for a moment, then sat down cautiously, wondering if the Cat had simply turned invisible. But the chair was well and truly empty. She began to understand why that mouse was so paranoid.

Leaving orbit, Sephorin directed her ship back toward the link. As she approached the looking glass, which on this side was much larger than her ship, she saw within the mirror a little girl who appeared to be playing a game of chess with a small black kitten.


[Picture by Arthur Rackham - 1907]


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