Chapter 58

Future Interlude XI: The Sunflower Field

Aina time: 9:05 AM day 198 of 1474 H.E. (277 days after memory integration, first day of the last month of winter, 18 days before the Festival of the Red Bird and the marriage of Mayoni and Ekela)

Two hours after sunrise the pheromones took effect and the X-tree sunflowers curved their leaves into graceful arcs and bowed down before Mayoni, Kalea, and Ekela. In her earlier adult life, Mayoni had already witnessed this firsthand with her parents and Kahoku, but for Kalea and Ekela it was a new experience, and they both found it disturbing to have the flowers appear to worship them. In silence, the group of three started their hike to the solar tower under cloudy skies, the sunflowers bowing before them as they passed.

They walked single file, Mayoni with her experience taking the point. Ekela smiled as he watched her from behind. She would be his wife in one more month, and he thought she was the most beautiful woman imaginable. Their quiet walk continued, and Ekela's mind drifted to the thoughts of all his briefings of the Hopewell's history with this strange environment.

Through a number of painful and two almost fatal lessons, the Hopewell had learned that the procedure for safe entry was not just a matter of the correct chemical signal from the green pepper bush. The number of people in the party was also important. Three seemed optimal for successful entry, and the number could never be greater than six. It was also essential to perform the ritual approach of walking through the sunflower field. The two near fatal attempts were with missions that approached by sea and by air...

Ekela gulped and shivered as they left the sunflower fields and crossed the short beach. Thousands of tiny powerful crabs with razor claws scurried out of their way. Thorny ivy vines and white pulsating mounds of needlepoint spikes also cleared the annular path around the tower as they approached. Ekela breathed a heavy sigh of relief as they entered the tower and the door sealed behind them.

Following the discoveries of previous expeditions, the three walked halfway around the donut-shaped control room. The great inner core of the solar tower formed the inner wall of the room. Opposite their entrance door, Mayoni applied the X-tree chemical to the inner wall and it opened to reveal a spiral staircase leading up. They went inside and began to climb. After one complete revolution, they walked out onto the second floor of the solar tower.

From the outside, the tower walls looked uniform though the color would sometimes change. It was currently a dull gray purplish color. But from the inside of the second floor, the walls were completely transparent, so clear Kalea had to sense the boundary with her hand to perceive it. She then wandered over to where Mayoni was sitting, at a master control station along the inner wall. She watched intently as Mayoni started activating the control system in front of a large yellow oval along the inner wall.

"You were right Mayoni," Kalea whispered, as she watched Mayoni work. "It is a Ring control system. It has to be," she said pointing. "There's the primary slip-interface system, and on your right are the harmonic feedback diagnostics and polarity control. That upper left console must be the equivalent of a tunable laser array... This has to be a Ring control system..." Kalea paused for a moment and then continued, "but one far more sophisticated than anything we ever dreamed of building at Spirit House..."

Mayoni nodded thoughtfully and continued to explore the functionality of the controls...

Time: December 25, 206659 3:27 PM Colorado Springs (1,755 years after the global tsunami)

The old woman came out of the ground floor medical bay and slowly walked over to the primary-battery status display. Sighing, she decided to skip the elevator and take the stairs to her third floor living quarters. After several minutes of strenuous activity, she made it to a comfortable lounge chair set before a series of large bay windows. She collapsed and caught her breath and relaxed, calmed by the majestic views of the setting sun against the towering snow-capped Rockies.