On August eleventh of 2162, the Calafan High Priestess Yipran chooses her successor at the Festival of Lo.
LegendsThe dress was white and sleeveless and ankle-length, with enormous slits on either side, to show leg, all the way up to the thigh. It was designed to show off calloo, the silvery scrollwork that every Calafan sported on their extremities. Calloo was silver for this universe, copper for the mirror.
Except Lili O'Day Beckett was human, and not Calafan, and her calloo only existed in the form of silver sinuous tattoos. It was false calloo, but the intricate ceremonial dress was very real and very required for all female citizens of the Lafa System in August of 2162 – the eleventh, to be precise. She stood in it, inside her house on Lafa II, just outside Fep City.
"How, uh, how do I look?" she asked her husband, Douglas Jay Hayes Beckett. Doug was with her, in their daughter, Marie Patrice's, room. He was slipping a similar dress over Marie Patrice's – Empy's – head. The toddler wasn't struggling too much. Their son, Joss, stood nearby.
Joss was wearing a sleeveless white shirt and trousers with slits down either side. He didn't have tattoos – he was only three and a half. He pointed. "Mommy?"
Doug just stared. "Uh, Doug?"
"Holy cow, you look amazing," he stammered out, as Lili's lover, Malcolm Reed, emerged from the room that his son, Declan, shared with Joss. Malcolm adjusted baby Declan in his arms and nodded his agreement. Doug, Malcolm, and even Declan were wearing outfits identical to Joss's, but it was only Lili's outfit that showed off tattoos. No one else in their extended family had them.
"Everybody looks great." Lili smiled. "But we don't want to be late for the Festival of Lo, now, do we?"
"'Course not," Doug replied. He picked up Joss and a rather full diaper bag, and Lili picked up Marie Patrice, and the three adults walked. The festival was being held at nearby Point Abic, the site of the highest elevation on the northern continent of Lafa II.
As they walked, hundreds of native Calafans, and a few human pioneers, such as themselves, joined them. Everyone was decked out in the same finery – beautiful white dresses, sleeveless tops and trousers, spotless to a man. The Calafans looked like humans, except they were born bald, only sprouting hair in their early thirties.
The other visible difference was the Calafans' calloo, which started off as pure silver, then grew mottled, and then broke down to a pattern not unlike Lili's tattoos, although Calafan calloo was as unique as a fingerprint. Then it would fade in old age, finally disappearing at death.
The four suns were shining brightly and all that white clothing, and all that calloo on display made everything blindingly bright. The paleness of the Calafans' skin helped complete the shimmering effect. The human settlers, even pale Lili, all stood out rather distinctly.
The few other human settlers found them. It was the Ryans, and the Robinsons, the Montgomerys and the Montez family. Lili recognized the Kleins and even old Doctor Morgan with his granddaughter, Cindy. There were the Sulus, too, Mai and Geming, with their daughter, Jia, who laughed with Joss and bade him to chase her.
Malcolm picked his moment to quietly tell Lili, "You look positively ravishing, Lili-Flower."
"Oh, this old thing?" The dress had been specially made and purchased for the occasion, and was more elaborate and expensive than her wedding dress had been. Then again, the entire population of Lafa II, it seemed, was done up in finery. Everybody wanted to look good for the festival.
"Yes, quite," he chuckled. "I do respect Douglas's boundaries, of course, but I was wondering if, once we are done with the festival, if you might hike up the little rise between our two houses and join me for a spot of tea and conversation and perhaps a bit more than that. I know it's outside of our schedule but perhaps he can be a bit indulgent for one day."
"I'll put in your request," she grinned.
"Well," Malcolm eyed her as they walked, "I can make it up to him by relinquishing you for, say, a few extra hours next weekend. And he could make use of the time. Perhaps Melissa has some home repairs, or the like."
"Open marriage," Lili sighed happily, "it's like a Rube Goldberg contraption half the time. Well, we'll sit with Melissa and Norri of course, and you can all figure out the arrangements yourself."
"Very well."
There was a parking area near Point Abic, and public transportation vehicles began to discharge passengers, including Doug's paramour, Melissa Madden, and her lover, Leonora – Norri – Digiorno. The two women were carrying Doug and Melissa's two sons. Tommy was a few months younger than Empy, and baby Neil was just about the same age as Declan. Everyone was decked out the same way; even infants were dressed up and showing off their extremities.
"What happens at this festival?" asked Melissa as she and Norri began walking with the other humans. Calafans stared at Norri in particular, as redheads were only known on the other side of the pond, the so-called Mirror Universe, a place that Calafans knew well and referred to as the home of the night people. Calafans had a variant version of psionic abilities, and mirror Calafans could be seen in shared dream states.
"It's something to do with the origins of the system, really," Doug explained, "But Yipran is supposed to be choosing a successor this time around."
"I thought she was still sick," Norri commented, adjusting Tommy in her arms. Then, addressing him, she added, "Look at all the pretty people!" She blinked a few times. All the shining silver and white was making her a little dizzy.
"She is," confirmed Malcolm, "but that's the idea. Her calloo is faded to nearly nothing. I imagine the end will come in a year or so, perhaps two if she holds on."
"Treve and Yimar think that their mother won't make it to another festival, or at least she won't be well enough to stand in front of the people and choose a successor," Lili added. "So they'll do the High Priestess succession today. I bet First Minister Ubvelwev is worried. He's got to work with whoever Yipran selects today, and that woman isn't necessarily going to have any governing experience at all."
"Are there any other religiously-based constitutional monarchies in the new Federation?" Norri asked Malcolm.
"I do not believe so. The Vulcans have a high command, a sort of oligarchy. The Andorians and the Tellarites, I confess I'm uncertain. It's the things that one doesn't study during paternity leave."
"I imagine diaper changes and the like don't permit that. What about the other newer members?" she asked.
"The Caitians have a representative democracy, I'm led to believe. You know, I have another two and a half years of leave. I'd best start reading again before I forget everything, eh Declan?" In response, the pale infant just yawned at him in the summer heat.
They ended up at a site where there were hundreds, if not thousands, of plain wooden folding chairs set up, near a series of amplifying dishes made of a dull, grey metal alloy. The array resembled old satellite dishes.
"Where do we sit?" Doug asked a young girl who was dusting the chairs and straightening them.
"You sit where the spirit o' Lo moves you to sit," she explained. Her slightly mottled calloo and still-bald head revealed that she was most likely in her mid-twenties. When she turned slightly, Doug could see that her gown, at its slits, was frayed, and the hem was a little dusty. She spoke with what sounded like an Irish brogue – a Lafa V accent.
Doug selected a row that was not too close to a center raised platform, and not too far, either. There was a large viewing screen which was lighting up in preparation for the festival. It all looked a little like a sporting event. He asked, "This good for everyone?" There were murmurs of agreement as they all sat down while others arrived, and the seats filled up quickly.
In the center, on the raised platform, stood the First Minister, who had been elected to that post a few years previously, in April of 2159. He spoke, and his voice was boosted by some unseen device, as his image was projected on the viewing screen. "I am First Minister Ubvelwev. For our new human citizens, my name means Master of Defeating Evil. And if you have lived here for a while, you know already that we Calafans provide the meaning of our names right on the heels of our first introductions. They are important to us, our names." When he gestured, his calloo, which had broken down to a vine-like pattern, was readily visible on the view screen, which was projecting to all eleven inhabited planets within the Lafa System.
He paused for a moment. "Normally, during the Festival of Lo, the story of the holiday is told by the High Priestess. But Yipran, as you may know, is ill. Therefore, her three children have graciously consented to tell the tale. Please join me in welcoming Treve, Yimar, and Cha-Ilben."
The Calafans applauded, and the humans did as well. Treve, a young man who was the eldest of Yipran's children, was Lili's business partner in their restaurant, Reversal. He spoke first. "I thank you all, and I thank you on behalf of my mother. My name means Messenger." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Once, when the universe was young, there was nothing and no one but Lo. But she was by herself, and lonely. So she broke off a piece of herself and that became Abic," Treve said, "They became lovers and their joy was heard throughout the young universe."
Yimar took up the thread of the narrative. "My name means Student of the Maps. But, to continue the story, Abic and Lo did not know that they lived at a crossroads, and that there were others."
Their younger brother, Cha-Ilben, a tween boy who was usually called Chelben, interjected, "Night people." He paused for a moment. "And my name means Faith of the Heart."
"At night, Lo thought she was with Abic," clarified Treve, "And Abic, he thought he was with Lo. But Abic was with Ub. And Lo turned out to be with Fep. From dusk until dawn, Abic thought he was loving Lo, pleasing her, and being one with her. But it was tricky Ub instead."
"You have noticed our coloring?" Yimar asked. "We are light and pale. The night people – in the other universe – these days, they are dark and red. This story we are telling is of the beginning of the division between our peoples."
Cha-Ilben added, "That's the other side of the pond." He turned and his arms sparkled.
"And it came time and Ub and Lo both became heavy with child. After they gave birth, it was clear that Abic and Fep were not the fathers they thought themselves to be. They made sure the next time, and Ub and Lo became pregnant again. Those four children were banished to the stars by their parents, and we see them today in our sky," Treve said.
"You see," Yimar said, "The first four were all a middle range color. But when their children were born, they were divided, into the dark and the light, the day and the night. You can see that in our stars – the white giant is called Lo, the yellow medium-sized star is called Abic, the smaller orange star is Fep, and we call the red dwarf star Ub. We here," her sweeping gesture with a solid silver arm encompassed the silvery masses, "are the descendants of Lo and Abic. The dark, red night people are the descendants of Fep and Ub."
"These are our gods and goddesses," stated Cha-Ilben. "Today we honor Lo."
"For our new human citizens," Ubvelwev added, "A key part of this festival is to contact the night people. These amplifying dishes can assist, as can the presence of so many of us Calafans. We are, quite literally, composed of the amplifying alloy, callidium. That is what our calloo is composed of. And so now, we ask that you meditate, and try to reach the other side. If you are able to, in your meditations, go to them on that side."
Treve put a hand on each of his siblings' shoulders. "And now we will contact the night people, the others. Be with who you desire."
There was a buzzing noise, as people repeated the exhortation, "Be with who you desire." They closed their eyes and meditated. It was hot, and easy to sleep, but that was the idea.
=/\=
Lili dreamt of a long hall, filled with everyone from the festival, including her nearest and dearest. But it was different, as the Calafans she saw were not silver. They were coppery mirror counterparts. As for the humans, there were few of them, a direct result of the lawlessness and violence of the other side of the pond. Lili knew that her own counterpart had not lived past age nine, and Malcolm's counterpart had been murdered a few years previously. Doug was from the mirror – it was his own counterpart in the prime universe, Jay Hayes, who was missing. But Melissa and Norri both had counterparts: a bored, sexy pilot and a timid, abused schoolteacher, respectively. Those two hung back, undoubtedly unsure of what it all meant. They didn't seem to be attending any sort of festival, and were likely just sleeping in their beds or dozing off in chairs on their side of things, and might not even have been in that side's Lafa System at all. The combined psionic bond was that strong.
The people in the dream paired up sometimes, vanishing to rooms where the doors shut and locked, and then the rooms themselves seemed to vanish. Others searched but did not find what they were seeking. Lili had Malcolm on her left, and Doug on her right, who had Melissa on his right, and she had Norri on her right, and no one tried to pry the five of them apart. But Lili did see Tommy stumbling along, following a little part-Asian girl with pigtails. They ran and played tag in the huge, communal dream.
Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the dream vanished, and the attendees at the festival, human and Calafan, all awoke.
=/\=
People shook themselves a bit, as they readjusted to waking life.
On the huge podium, readily visible on the viewing screen, Treve and Yimar together escorted a very old woman to the center of the podium. She seemed far too old to be their mother but the image on the viewer was clearly that of the High Priestess, Yipran. She very carefully and deliberately looked around. "I … am Yipran. I am … my name means … Student of … the Skies. … My … successor," Yipran labored at each word, "her name … it came to me … in my dream … just now." She took a deep, gasping breath, and Lili feared that the High Priestess would meet her maker at that very moment. But the old Calafan was made of sterner stuff. "She … will be … the student of … the strong favorite. Yi'adioni."
There was some murmuring as people began to look around and ask where the new High Priestess was. Melissa noticed movement, a flash of silver, as the girl who had seated them earlier suddenly took off her sensible white flat shoes and, holding them, ran to the podium.
The viewer found her in the enormous audience and followed her progress as she sprinted, barefoot in her frayed and dusty gown. Breathlessly, the girl arrived on the podium and announced, "I am Yi'adioni. My name means, it means Student of the Strong Favorite." She stared at the enormous crowd, as if she were seeing the people of Lafa II for the first time. "I, I don't know what to say, High Priestess Yipran."
"Say … you will … do it."
Yi'adioni looked around, her jaw trembling a little. Every movement, and every twitch, was broadcast on the viewing screen for all to see. Lili and her family all leaned forward, as if that would somehow coax the girl to respond. Ubvelwev, too, leaned forward. Finally, she just said four words.
"I will do it."