Silver Hooves in the Darkness

Chapter Twenty-Five

The room was as featureless as the one that had contained her capsule. Paola lay upon a floating table of steel. A light spilling from an adjoining room lessened the darkness surrounding her. Through a rectangular window, she spied Alessandro and the tall woman called Lucia, who stared at a bright crystal tablet, which would record the results of her exam. A day had passed since their arrival, and the cleanliness of the healer and his calm demeanor suggested that he had enjoyed a quiet, restorative night in a guest tower. Whatever pampering he had received had also miraculously cleared the bruise on his hand. Her accommodations at Stable 11 had proved less than satisfactory. She had discovered upon questioning an attendant that unlike the stall she had enjoyed during her foal training, the stalls for visiting equinii were merely efficient, barren care boxes, and no more. She decided that Dome Scienza could learn from the other domes' stables, which continued to offer all equinii warm baths, fresh straw, a bucket and a privacy screen. To endure sonic cleansing, to visit a cramped shared room for the purpose of elimination and to sleep by suspension from illuminated tendrils alone had been deplorable.

"We are ready to begin. Do not move," Lucia instructed in a deep voice that broke through her musings and was more suited in its timbre to a man than a woman. The harsh brightness of her tablet only emphasized the woman's mismatched features and the whiteness of her skin. Her eyes were widely spaced, but were an intriguing shade of violet that danced subtly between lilac and lavender with her mood. Her nose was of average length but seemed too small when set against her wide lips. Her short hair was the rare color of a carrot, a vegetable the equina had yet to sample since she had begun to eat real food. But it was also too fine and too short to favor her pleasantly oval face, which was sprinkled with freckles. The tablet floating above her hands also revealed the extra finger on each one.

Alessandro disappeared into the viewing room's shadows. Would the healer abandon her if the Knowledge Keeper discovered her secret? Would she be sent for re-evaluation like the other foal she had known who had disappeared?

A yellow ray shot down from the ceiling and struck her gem. Its warmth suffused her body, relaxing her so much that she thought she would drift off to sleep, and perhaps, have another dream of Cappello. But suddenly the light changed color to red. The equina cried out with pain that felt like a thousand pins pricking her skin. Although the discomfort was over in an instant, Paola rolled off the table and crashed to the floor. The air pushed from her lungs left her gasping for breath.

Light flooded the room as Alessandro raced in, his flaring nostrils registering his anger.

"I am sorry, sir," Paola said with a gulp, once she managed to catch her breath.

"Lucia did not tell me that this procedure would hurt you!" he said. He glared back at the woman who once again studied her tablet. The healer helped the equina to her feet.

A door whooshed open as Lucia joined them. She now clutched her tablet tightly in her extra-fingered hands. "You were exposed to a gem virus that activated the moment you entered the Maze. I will send a Courier to Dome Royale, and they will open an investigation into Dome Biblia. Someone clearly meant to kill you," she said rather casually.

As someone had murdered Gemma.

Alessandro said, "This equina has shared with me that the librarian Annunciata received a new ring for accounts. It is with Dome Biblia's Technician that the probe should commence."

Lucia tapped her tablet, letters darting over its surface. "I have duly noted it in my report. Alessandro, the odd power signature that you placed within this equina's gem did indeed deactivate the virus, but only my light finally destroyed it. That is why she had pain." The Knowledge Keeper had purposely stressed the word "odd". The new energy in her gem had come from the melding of crystals, carnelians and book, not from the healer. Had Lucia been fooled, or had she learned the truth and lied in their favor?

Lucia continued, "This equina is fully certified now to return to her function as a Courier." She waved her hand over her tablet and the light faded, making it look as plain as a slab of glass. "You were raised in a more primitive dome, Alessandro. However, you have obviously developed the skill to create an energy signature that neutralized this virus. Your long affiliation with Gemma and Dome Biblia, gave you access to certain technological tomes; and there were also notes from your father's energy work that probably assisted you in this development. Dome Scienza still mourns the loss of his knowledge and his skill. I always wondered why Dome Royale gave him permission to live in Dome Erba. The Chief Knowledge Keeper at the time was quite...angry, but maybe, the ruling families thought that it was time to expand such knowledge into other domes, rather than greedily possess every technological advance."

What had prompted her to give such an accounting? Did the walls of the laboratory project what occurred and what was said there to unseen watchers?

She smiled faintly, and for a moment, appeared beautiful. She added, "Whatever you did, your healing has left a residue within this equina's gem. But I am sure, as I have noted in my report, that its mark will eventually fade with time."

She knows!

Paola and Alessandro bowed politely. Their secrets had been kept.

"Oh!" said Lucia suddenly. She tapped one plain white wall. A small panel materialized; then, it popped open. A platform extended and upon it sat a little box. "I was told to give this to you when you came to Dome Scienza. It was something your father had left behind, and by law, it belongs to you."

Alessandro took the box. He looked up at the ceiling. He clearly knew something, which confirmed the equina's suspicions about the possibility that monitors existed. "How wonderful!" he exclaimed, and he opened the gift with a flourish. He retrieved a gold ring set with a dark purple gem. "Amethyst was always my father's favorite stone," he said as he placed the ring on a finger of his left hand. It fit him perfectly as if somehow planned. He extended his arm and admired the gemstone. "There is a portrait Giovanni and I have with him wearing it. My mother always wondered what happened to this ring. Thank you. It is not a valuable stone, but it does have sentimental value."

And that was the biggest lie of all.

Alessandro continued, "Could I treat you to dinner at your finest inn?"

Lucia chuckled. "Such a colloquialism marks you as one who lives far from the center of technology, Alessandro di Medico. Would that we had such luxuries, but all of our meals are synthetic and are freeze-dried and reheated products brought from more bountiful domes where plants and animals can thrive. We eat only to live here at Dome Scienza, not to indulge in gastronomic pleasures as they do in Dome Culinaria."

"Such a loss," Alessandro remarked. "One day, you should come to Dome Erba and be delighted by our cuisine."

Where the apples are very sweet, Paola thought, still savoring her new experience with taking in nutrition by eating.

Lucia said, "However, you can escort me to the pillars of water, crystal, and fire. It has been awhile since I have seen that marvel. But we must be there when the dome's orb first begins to darken and before it completely extinguishes at nightfall. We are in our short daylight season, so I suggest, we move along." She handed him the crystal tablet, which the healer took and put into the cloth bag slung over his shoulders.

"What a lovely idea." He pointed to the equina. "Since she was born here, I think your records will have noted the curiosity of this little equina. May she accompany us?"

"Why, of course," Lucia said. "Let it be a reward for her bravery.

Alessandro offered his arm. "Then, shall we?"

Lucia tapped his healer's pouch. "As long as we drop the tablet off at the registry office. Procedure must be observed. It will be cleansed, and I can use it anew tomorrow."

And all the conversations beneath the conversations ended as the three of them left the laboratory.