Helia "Belladonna" Sarina flies the ship in sparkly pink mode to a perfect landing through the atmosphere. It's an exhilarating experience for her. Despite the hull being streamlined in appearance, it acts like an airframe configuration; Mich tells everyone that there are some virtual control surfaces showing up on his power display.
Zorro Downport is in the southern hemisphere, a little
ways off the equator. It is a large metallic and concrete structure
that sprawls across the surface of the ice.
There is nothing much in the way of news here.
This is an independent world and off the main routes. The information
that is here, is available in both zhodani
and galanglic.
Ed "Shark" Teeth tells everyone that he thinks this
starport was built by Zhodani
Consulate contractors, not Imperial.
Misha Ravanos studies the starport guide. Movement
is pretty much unrestricted. There is a warning that the atmosphere
is tainted, so a filter mask or respirator is recommended. The air
is cold, too, and there's a warning about that. There is nothing
about what may be under the ice.
There are some places selling high-priced local
artifacts; visitors can also take a tour to go out and find some natives
-- it too is expensive, and comes with no guarantee that any of the nomads
will be found.
The starport is administered under the control of
the locals, but with not much direct involvement. Considering the
prices charged for native artifacts, they're probably still making money.
There are trader notes that some plant materials are exportable as specialty
woods; also animal skins, and so on.
Although according to the UWP the tech level is
7, there is no apparent evidence that anything technological is exported,
or used in preparing items for export. There is no mention of local
industry.
Misha asks Robert if they could find natives themselves.
He replies that they do have sensors that pick up intelligent life, although
since the range is short, it would take quite some time.
Teri Cralla will be limited in armament; battledress
is not permitted and she'll have to leave her favorite weapons behind.
Even so she says she'll have no trouble selecting appropriate equipment
for her job.
The starport itself is accessible from the berth through an underground tunnel. The tunnel has moving walkways to help passengers travel to the central hubs. Alternatively they can pay for a shuttle service; use of ships' vehicles is strongly discouraged for traffic control purposes, and all shuttle drivers are specially licensed.
Since they're here to go ashore, that's what they
plan to do. Just Sagan, Vonish Kehnaan, and Shark remain on board.
Grand Admiral Baron Bridgehead will be using a personal respirator to cross
to the tunnel entrance; those with zacks breathe through their facemasks.
The rest of the non-zack crew use respirators, following their doctor's
example. Misha wears his customary outfit over his zack, including
of course his sword.
The wind outside is quite strong, with snow blowing
across the landing pad. Never theless, everyone is comfortable in
winter gear or zacks.
The entrance to the underground passage is a full
airlock, and once inside there's a locker for their winter gear and respirators.
A lighted tunnel with a moving walkway leads off towards the starport hub.
This walkway leads to an interchange, where a lobby
collects walkways from several berths. From there a larger walkway
leads to the starport terminal. Everything is clearly labeled, in
both galanglic and Zhodani.
It's an easy five minutes to the central starport
building. Here it looks like a starport terminal in any other system.
There are directories -- they rent a small handheld map/directory for a
five credits (or
the equivalent in Zhodani). The crew are pleased to find that their
commdots have no problem maintaining communication with the Nightshade.
Most of the booths and stores at this end are typical
traveller's fare. Assorted fast food, merchant company stands, entertainment
stores, several bars.
As they move deeper, it rapidly becomes a less formal
mall. Plants create a pleasant environment, breaking up the straight
sight lines. Various areas for sitting, fountains, and so on provide
ample places to relax and take a break from shopping. The walkways
here moving fairly slowly, making sure that people can barely avoid window
shopping along the way.
There are lot more people here than they would expect
from just local trade. Nothing they've seen or read have given any
clue as to why this backwater would be so busy.
The native craft areas, including the native cuisine
restaurant where they have reservations, are towards the far side of the
starport from the landing fields. The landing fields fan out in about
a 120 degree arc, and the other side is where the building looks over the
icescape -- that's where all the native-related areas are.
They have no problem getting to their destination.
The restaurant is definitely the most high-class they've seen for a long
time. The Baron is clearly very pleased and comfortable. He's
delighted to see such a good civilized place, and suggests they stay here
for a while.
Their reservation is for a fire pit. Seats
are arranged around the central ring-shaped table. Inside the table
is a large metal tub, about 3 meters across. At one end of the tub
is a large wood fire -- an extraction hood removes fumes and heat for safety,
but nevertheless a smell of fragrant woodsmoke pervades the whole establishment.
In the tub is a personal chef, standing beside shelves on which there is
a large and varied collection of meat.
The procedure is clear from seeing the other diners
on the way in. The guests pick out or point out what they want (or
take the chef's selection), and it is cooked on the wood fire for them.
When they are all seated, the chef strips down to
a loincloth -- Helia notes he has no apparent body hair -- and puts on
a pair of what looks like welding gloves of heavy leather. Most of
the party select the chef's choice, being confused by the menu -- the meat
is described in terms of the local name for the animal, sometimes accompanied
by words such as "liver," "brains," or "tentacle."
Helia asks, "Do you have a vegetarian dish?"
"No," says the chef, brightly.
"Something light, not too rich. Oh, and nothing
with wings. Thank you."
The chef grabs something... the flesh looks
a little like squid, with a heavy black skin on it. He sticks it
on a metal skewer and arranges it carefully on the fire so that it holds
the meat in exactly the right place to cook. The placing of the meat
clearly takes precedence over the comfort of the chef -- it's clear why
he has no body hair.
The food is prepared and cooked individually.
The utensils consist of a wooden knife, and a two-pronged fork about a
half a meter long. The method of eating is to cut off a hunk and
stab it with the fork.
The chef, noticing that they're clearly new here,
tells them something about the cuisine, which is completely authentically
native. He explains where some of the creatures live, and so on.
Helia's meat is from a south polar creature, which lives only within about
10 degrees of the south pole; it's quite a challenge to catch, as it hides
very well. Its meat is light, with a delicate complex flavor.
The texture is rather like a lightly cooked scallop.
The meal consists solely of meat, and there are
no sauces or anything like that. The chef explains that the cooking
process is critical -- placing the food, moving it from one part to the
other. There's an art to placing the food so it absorbs the flavors
of the smoke. Helia's, for example, starts out at a cooler part of
the fire over a light aromatic wood, so the flavor is infused into the
depths of the meat; it's then moved to a hot part, over a light clean wood,
to seal the flavor in.
Helia says, "Ah! We have some woods like that
at home. I understand. Only at home we usually don't cook much.
It's just the way our world is."
The chef replies, "The cuisine here developed over
cooking, if for no other reason than it's too cold to eat unless it's eaten
immediately, or frozen."
"Not too much grows in this climate."
"Quite a lot does."
"Plants?"
"Yes. All these woods, for example."
The rest of the group choose the chef's choice,
which is a good selection of meats cooked in various processes. The
textures vary greatly. There is some very light stuff similar in
texture to Helia's, all the way to something quite dry and chewy like jerky.
It's all in the smoke flavors, and whether the juices are drained, or drawn
to the outside and caramelized. There's meat with a stringy structure,
where the outside of the strings are crunchy and the inside soft and juicy.
Served with the meal are various drinks. Fruit
juices, teas, fermented drinks. The wine is brewed from tree sap,
and it does have a bit of a resinous taste to it. It complements
the food very well.
For Helia, the beverage steward recommends a light
tea. She nods, and finds the concoction very pleasant indeed.
The meal itself is a long, relaxed, affair taking
about three hours. The first course is produced quickly, while other
courses continue until all are full. The chef takes great pride in
pacing the cooking time of the food with when they are anticipated to be
served. Helia's other courses are also very light, and very good
too.
There is recorded music playing in the restaurant.
Itsounds like woodwind instruments doing a fine impression of wind, in
woods. The chef tells Helia she can buy such recordings next door
at the craft shop.
The clientele is mostly upper class, almost exclusively
human. There is one table of vargr
in the corner, speaking their own language in an enthusiastic barrage of
barks and growls; they clearly are enjoying the eating experience thoroughly,
and are also obviously consuming the local wine in great quantity.
They were here before the Nightshade's crew, and are still going
when they leave. The total bill for the crew comes to 1800 Cr;
the Baron is so delighted by the experience that he picks up the tab for
the whole group.
After the meal, they go to the craft shop.
Helia selects a sampler box of the various styles of native music -- woodwinds,
strings, percussion. She also picks some books on the world, local
history, crafts, and so on, to add to their growing collection of local
interest materials.
Prices are extremely high. On the positive
side, it's clear that these are all genuine items.
There are all sorts of crafts. There are cloth
items. There are ceremonial weapons, of which the ultimate is a large
curved wooden sword, about 3 meters in length. There are carved bones,
carved tusks, skins. There is a cloak made out of the entire skin
of an animal. There are musical instruments. Almost every culture
has some sort of hollow tube with finger holes, and this one is no exception.
Helia is pleased to see that there are children's
items, games, toys, candies. All are produced by native inhabitants.
The larian tastes a wide variety of the candies, ordering a lot.
She also takes some of the native child's clothing, including a warm but
cute fur cloak.
Baron Bridgehead is in fine mood, and picks up the
bill for everything the crew selects. He suggests that if they're
going to be here for a day or two, they take up residence in the hotel
attached to the restaurant and craft shop. Helia agrees once she
finds they can have a great big suite with a great big pool.
Misha checks with the people back on the ship --
Shark, Vonish, and Sagan. None of them object. Vonish wants
to do his usual shopping, while Sagan wants to look around. Shark
would like some brief shore leave, but suggests that while Misha is ashore,
he'll stay on the ship -- for the time, anyway. Robert will return
to the ship rather than stay at the hotel, at least after tonight.
The Baron, on the other hand, doesn't even want
to go back to the ship for luggage. He'll buy whatever he needs.
He will also pick up the tab for the suite -- which comes with an included
extensive room service menu.
Mich is staying ashore, and so therefore will be
Teri.
The suite is arranged around a central imitation
hot spring. There is a large central warm pool, with cooler pools
and fountains off to the side. Anytime they want service, the servants
are available.
Helia settles in rapidly. She orders a bathing
suit and some "splashy" drinks.
The accommodations and service are excellent, just
as one would expect for 20,000 Cr a night.