Piper (English version)

Piper (English version) Chapter 4: Arlo

4. Arlo

Life in Jangala City was much more exciting than Arlo had ever believed. Perhaps that was because the place was anything but a city. Arlo knew cities from back home. He had even lived in one. There was practically nothing to do there. Here it was the same, but nothing and no one could stop you - that was a big difference. At home, the robutler would have immediately thwarted Arlo's sneaking away. Here, there were no robutlers. The energy consumption was much too high for the time being, Dad had said. It was all right with Arlo.

All that was needed was to open the door of the living container while Mum and Dad were at the meeting, and that was it. Of course, Dad had forbidden it, but he wouldn't know about it. He, Arlo, would be back long before Mum and Dad got home. Like last week. There he had discovered a hole in the fence of the camp (for now Jangala City was little more than that). Back home in Greater Boston it would have been fixed immediately, but here no one would have the time. Orgial, wasn't it?

In the evening, sometimes the Illuminati could be seen moving across the sky from afar. Arlo wanted to see them up close. He opened the container door and after only a few steps had disappeared into the twilight. When he reached the fence with the hole, it was already dark. Jangalita, the poison moon, swam green and crescent over the horizon. It gave at least enough light to vaguely orient oneself.

The clearing vehicles had broken temporary and unpaved aisles in the vegetation around the camp, which could easily be followed to reach the edge of the jungle. There in the jungle, adults said, when they felt unobserved, there would be a clearing over which the Illuminati would gather at night.

That had to look grandastic! The Illuminati shone quite brightly at night, and Arlo was sure they could be seen from a distance through the treetops. He knew roughly the direction.

He slipped through the fence, and barely fifteen minutes later he reached the forest. For safety's sake, he memorized Jangalita's position.

From now on, progress became more difficult. Matted undergrowth in large quantities grew everywhere, often forcing Arlo to take long detours, and it was also very dark in the jungle. Jangalita was only rarely to be guessed, and the few scattered lights were enough at most to recognize a tree trunk, if one stood very close before it. There was no sign of Illuminati either.

Arlo began to feel uneasy. Maybe it was better he turned back and tried to grab a spotlight to try again next week. He glanced at his wristwatch.

SA 11/18/2209 T-STD.

3-DAY, 16 WK, 20:11 LOC.

The uneasiness turned to a hot lump of panic as he realized he had forgotten to activate the steptracker on his watch. How was he going to find his way back now? Well, first and foremost, slowly and quietly. Turn around. There was the last thicket, so now around to the right. And then straight ahead for a bit, right? Had he passed this tree? Back there, that could only be Jangalita. But the moon was in the wrong position. So turn a little. Then half-left on ...

Half an hour later, Arlo admitted to himself that he was completely lost. The sheer size and loneliness of the jungle weighed him down, and he huddled on a large rock. How had he been so stupid?

Light penetrated from somewhere far above, and something large broke through a gap in the canopy. An Illuminate? No, they glowed in a completely different way. He wanted to run, but where to? And what if he broke all his bones because he could barely see? Maybe better to play dead and wait? The big thing seemed to turn out to be a ... basket? But another big thing followed after it, a dark gray sphere, barely more than a lighter black in the darkness of the night.