Next morning Warp took Zarah to see the city as he had promised. He had kept this carefully as a surprise, because he knew she hadn't ever seen anything equivalent. As they walked down a corridor to a semi-private ship platform, Warp took the time to eye over her again. She looked so baffled, so charming in her excitement... was his first thought. How much, how much he now wanted to capture her backwards and just kiss her so long that her knees would go weak? He felt his fingers itch, she walked there so puzzled in front of him, his waist just there waiting for to get an arm around it and then she'd be appropriate for to be clasped against his chest... A very slick grin appeared on his face. Or maybe, he could catch her and pin against the wall and just kiss her lips...
But, too late. The flight deck door was opened by one of the residents of this wing that had just arrived. A three-legged, walking eyeball rumbled in and politely greeted Warp, even lifted his hat up to Zarah.
"Okayday, Za, are ya ready?" Warp asked and pointed to a roofless, streamlined hovercraft speeder that somehow resembled such ancient transportation vehicles as cars. They sat down, he gripped the controls and a hatch in the wall opened.
Zarah's eyes sparkled with wild amazement when the view widened in front of them. It was truly a city under the ground, built into an immense cave. At the bottom, in the walls, even in the ceiling were buildings. Some of them resembled skyscrapers, the ones projecting from the walls balconies. Occasionally among them, in the middle of the structures were distinguished massive pipes that were a part of the complicated air-conditioning system. Between and above this all cruised ships, similar to Warp's, transporting aliens from building to building. Everything indicated to be very modern and hi-tech, no sign of misery or out-of-date was found anywhere.
Its light the cavity got from saturnal lamp crystals that were attached to the ceiling. Also on every roof there were lights to illuminate the murky shadows. On the ground, in the middle of the buildings were of course some streets. Different life forms shoaled along them, doing trade, working in their open shops and practising their profession.
"This... this is like some dream world! And all these are reformed baddies?" Zarah gasped with awe in her expression.
"Ya! But, you gotta remember one thing. This all would not be possible without taxing laws. Once you get here, it's betta get used to those, unless ya don't want to spend your last days in the dungeons", Warp nodded a couple of times. For him, this all had been a quite a change, since he had always been rebellious, hated all kinds of regulations and it had literally been his hobby to find loopholes to get rid of responsibilities. But he knew that if he wanted to save his flame of life, he had no other chance but to take a firm hold of his vices and toss them away. There was no other place than Xaneda where he could imagine being safe, not in the whole galaxy. The eyes of Zurg were everywhere, as the Emperor had made it clear in his last curse.
"So... who is leading this all, if there are laws and everything?" she broke his thought bubble.
"Um, yeah... well, there are leaders and employees, but all of us are equal here. A group of Eldest keeps the supreme authority. They make it sure that everyone obeys the regulations. Speaking of rules... I unfortunately gotta tell ya, Za, that you're kinda stowaway in my li'l speeder... You're illegally in Xatagah. I've heard that folks can come here from outside, but they keep warning flags high so that they're recognised from certain signs who they are", Warp gave her an uneasy side-glance.
Zarah inhaled for some fright, but he calmed her down by telling that no one would arrest her as long as she'd be with him.
Next Warp told about the richness that kept the cities wealthy along with the trade, working for outer companies and so on. There were vast occurrences of valuable minerals, oil, gas and other natural wealth hidden deep under the surface. And to make more Zarah flurried, he told that landanah, the stone whose mighty features the Galactic Alliance had just come to discover, had been used here to produce energy for thousands of years, at first in the use of the natives, now in the use of the communities.
While narrating this all, Warp was sunken in his thoughts a bit too much and did not notice a transportations speeder that was coming right ahead from the left.
"Look out!" Zarah exclaimed and grasped the control stave. She got the course of the ship to another direction and the collision was slightly avoided.
He wiped some sweat away from his forehead and sighed. "Thanks, Za, I..."
"I noticed that ya're driving the ship with your left hand all the time. You're not left-handed are ya? Since I remember ya used those metal fingers of your monster hand to do ev'ry attentive job", she wondered.
"Uh... it's... how'd I say it..." he exhaled long and clothed it into words: "...it's broken, I'm afraid..."
They flied around for a while, landed to visit the ground level and met some of Warp's good friends. A variety of workshops, mining tunnels and private households was introduced to Zarah, who gawped everything in childlike consternation. How could this kind of place exist in the area of the Galactic Alliance and be so hidden? Did anyone of the higher quarters know about this recess? Zarah asked Warp about the spying and other sniffing that was done from outside. He explained that Zurg had for a while mistrusted that this planet would be desolated. The Emperor occasionally sent his snoopers here, but their sensitive noses were hearingly always bunged.
Soon, Warp and Zarah went back as the time of lunch was ahead. He promised to give her another flight in the evening. After getting back to his flight deck, Warp took the topic of his robotic arm forth. He hadn't wanted to discuss about it among his acquaintances.
"Ya wanted to ask about my wreck?" he knocked the metal surface of it.
"What's the matter with it? Would ya move the fingers a little?" she asked her forehead wrinkled.
It seemed hard for Warp to do that. The metal fist did twist somewhat, but it squeaked and crackled like an old and ungreased joint hinge. She saw quickly that it was impossible to grip anything with it.
"Can ya turn it to blaster or something?"
"No", he grunted. "Seems that the whole thing is rusted or relevant. It started go on strike two months ago."
"Um... when ya were still on Planet Z, did the grubs to some kind of service to it?"
"Yep, that's righto. Opened it up monthly an' assured that I ain't got a screw loose."
"And no one has touched it since?"
"Nope. Actually, no one here knows bioscience. They pout if anyone talks about organic tissue and bolts placed to the same category. Folks can build robots and fancy ships, but there ain' no anyone lending a hand to one poor arm. Guess it's hasta la vista, gotta learn to be a one-armed man", he sighed unhappily.
Zarah observed a bit the arm and lastly fingered the hand part of it. "I need some tools... a nano-multillator, picobiotic pliers, a flask for soldering bio-plastic tissue... um..." she counted with her fingers when Warp stopped her by putting his hand on her shoulder.
"What, YOU would repair my arm?" he stared at her with round eyes.
"Why not? I've read three years biotechnics along with my major studies. I dunno can I repair the blasters and sort, but at least I could try to get yar fingers work!" She looked at him as if the whole thing was a matter of course.
"W-Would ya really do that for me?" Without thinking more, he took her chin in his fingers and moved his face very close to her. She went quite nervous, but with unselfish tone answered: "Warp, don't ya remember what ya did to me? This is the smallest thing I can do for ya."
His hand shook when he held her chin and looked those sparkling, innocent green eyes. Her fresh lips were so close to his, could he...
A blushing attack struck her and she retreated. "Uh... do ya want... hmm... something extra into it... I mean, would the hand be more comfortable with five fingers or something?" she stammered and let her eyes wander along the floor.
Warp burst into laughter. According to him, the whole suggestion had been so comic. "Thanks, Za! Five fingers with two joints. I'll ask the blacksmith and a couple of AI-side guys get the loose hand part ready. The problem namely ain't with the attachments; it's the insides that are jammed."