NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1) (26 page)

“Butu hotel,” I said with a sigh to the driver when turned his face towards me. He looked at me quizzically. I didn't know what made him turn and stare at me. I thought maybe it was the suit. After a moment he nodded. “Butu hotel,” he said in an odd tone and set off.

These were the first words I ever heard on Mampas soil and for some reason they didn't sound like the Mampasian I’d labored for so many weeks to learn. The thought faded as the view around me changed. The taxi left the airport and pulled onto the belt road. Soon after I noticed the famous Rings of Aesder shining in the sky. To my right was the great desert of Mampas, but I was more interested in the city lights that touched the sky to my left.

A while later the taxi turned left towards the city and soon after stopped outside the hotel. I paid the driver using a credit card under the name Din Naam, one of three false identities the Doctor had arranged for me. After the taxi left I dragged my feet to the entrance thinking how lucky I was not to have any luggage with me. Inside I walked to the counter to the left of the entrance and hit the bell. A clerk came out of the back office and approached the counter.

“Room please,” I said.

He looked at me strangely, exactly as the taxi driver had. I rearranged my jacket wondering if my suit was really that bad, or if staring at people was a common behavior here.

“How my dear sir plans to pay?” he asked.

I only understood the word 'pay.'  The other words sounded familiar but I felt confused. I pulled out my card and looked at him with surprise.

He placed the card on a reader in front of him and worked on the terminal for a while.

“Room three fifteen,” he said and looked at me.

I just stood there, confused by the difficulties I was having understanding him.

“Put your hand on the reader, please,” he said.

My hand, I thought to myself, he wants me to do something with my hand.

The clerk smiled, as if he was used to it. He took my hand and placed it on the identification plate that was in front of me.

I nodded and smiled back. He gave up trying to use words and pointed to the numbers on the plastic card he placed in my hand together with my credit card, and pointed towards the elevator to the right of the counter.

“Thank you,” I said and nodded.

The man forced a smile, but it immediately disappeared and he walked back through the door from which he had come.

I sighed. Two meetings so far and in both I attracted as much attention as a rare animal in a zoo. I walked to the elevator. When it arrived I stepped in and pressed the third floor button. The door started to close. Just before it closed completely a hand shot into the gap and the door slid back open.

“I apologize for holding you up,” said a young woman, stepping in. She pressed the fourth floor button. The door started to close. I’d actually understood her in spite of her accent. The accent made me think about other things I’d learned on Naan, under the watchful eye of the Doctor. The elevator accelerated upward. The sudden movement caught me by surprise. My left leg gave out and my body collapsed to the elevator floor.

She rushed to me. “Sir, are you alright?” she asked, worried.

“I am okay,” I said trying to get up. I wondered for a second if I’d arrived on the wrong planet. Still I did understand most of the words, and the terrain was what I’d expected. The cab driver had recognized the name of the hotel as well, so surely I must be on Mampas. I wondered if it was possible that the Doctor and the network were so out of date that the entire pronunciation of the language of Mampas had changed. 

She helped me up.

“I am okay,” I said again.

When I was finally up, the elevator had stopped at the third floor.

“Thank you,” I said, trying my best to pronounce the word as I heard them now, and limped out of the car.

I slept almost all of the next day. When I woke up in the afternoon I was starving and had terrible leg pain. I rose slowly from bed and walked to the bathroom. I filled the bath with hot water and lowered myself into it. The water eased my pain a bit, and for a moment I relaxed. It was as if I was swimming in the pool at the valley. But this lasted only for few moments. The warmth of the water reminded me why I’d come.

I got out of the bath, shaved and dressed, and went out to the elevator.  Before pushing the button to send it down I got a grip on the handrail and made sure my knees were locked. A light pressure shoved me toward the floor as the elevator slowed and stopped at the entrance level. This time I was ready for it. I crossed the foyer and went outside. 

The hotel was close to one of the exits from the belt road. I remembered this from my study of the maps of Mampas back on Naan and from driving in yesterday. I saw the road far to my left, and beyond it, close to the junction, were a few low buildings. Between them I could see the yellow of the desert. I turned right and started to walk towards the center of the city. My stomach growled in protest as I walked. An appetizing smell caught my attention and I noticed a stand on the sidewalk. It was a small stand on two big wheels with a glass window out front. I walked over to it and the man on its other side gave me the same irritating look.  “What my dear sir wants to eat?”

I waved at three different pastries on a plate behind the glass. He picked them up with tongs and placed them in a bag.

“A great dinner, sir,” he said when handing me the bag.

I handed him the card and said “Thank you.” He smiled but immediately lowered his head. I thanked him again after he returned the card and walked to a bench that was on the sidewalk not far away.

The pastries were good. They even reminded me a little of the pastries I’d eaten on Naan. In the streets of Seragon the food stands offered only various flavors of synthetic food. I didn't know very much about Mampas yet, but if I used the food offered in the street as a measure, Mampas was already far ahead of Seragon.

After I finished eating, I started again towards the city. The buildings became taller. I already knew the city was built like a pyramid. The buildings grew taller the closer you came to the center of the city. There the government campus of Mampas stood. I’d memorized the city map while on Naan, but I knew that would not be enough. I needed to experience it myself. Cities are forever evolving.

I knew that the street to my left led to the shopping center and a few
Messenger
agencies. In two of these agencies were information-centers through which I could connect to the network. I knew there were similar information centers throughout the city. There was at least one on almost every block of buildings. Mampas University was on the other side of the city, and the Doctor had recommended I visit it, but I knew it would not happen today. My legs were carrying me well so far. I felt that I was adjusting to the load, but I didn't want to overdo it.

I walked to the shopping center. It was two long rows of shops, one on top of the other, connected by an elevator and escalators. Along each row of shops was a moving platform with a non-continuous handrail along both sides that allowed people to get off at any of the stores.

The street led me straight into the upper floor. I stood on the moving platform, leaned on the handrail and looked around. High above me was an arched, transparent ceiling and the little daylight that was left penetrated it.  The stores’ entrances were decorated with text, images, and other accessories meant to tempt passersby into entering them. I left the platform in front of a clothing store and a well-groomed woman with a warm smile walked over to me as I entered.

“How can I help you?” she asked.

I gazed at her completely surprised. I stared at her for so long that her smile started to fade away.

“Can I help you?” she asked again with the exact accent I’d practiced for so long on Naan.

“Clothes,” I said rapidly.

“Clothes,” she said staring at my outfit. “Pants and shirts?” she asked.

“Yes, two please,” I replied.

“Two pairs of pants and two pairs of shirts,” she said and I nodded.

She waved me towards a dimension reflector that stood beside a long counter. I stepped forward amazed by the fact that I actually understand what she was saying. She interpreted it as hesitation. “Don’t worry. It's absolutely harmless. The radiation level is very low, I assure you.”

“Yes, yes,” I said and hurried over. My measurements appeared on the screen. 

“Excellent!" she said. "Any specific style?"

I shrugged. "Casual," I said.

"Casual," she said with a smile. "I'll be right back.” She disappeared in the depths of the store.

The face of the taxi driver came back to me, followed by the man behind the counter at the hotel, the girl in the elevator, and the man behind the counter at the food stand. I’d imitated his accent and for some reason and it had embarrassed him. The woman walked over carrying several pairs of pants and shirts. I looked at her. She smiled and then it clicked. They were all Desertian. The taxi driver, the people in the hotel, the man at the food stand.  They were all Desertian

The woman laid the clothes one next to the other on the long counter. I studied her facial features. They were different. How could I have missed this simple fact?

"What do you think?" she asked with an embarrassed smile.

I shifted my gaze to the clothes on the counter and pointed at two of each.

“Do you want to try them on?” she asked.

“No,” I said. I didn't look at her anymore.

She folded the clothes and slid them into a bag. I paid for them and left the store. 

I glided along on the moving platform all the way to its end thinking I need to be more careful. I had no chance of carrying out my plan without knowing basic things about the local people.

A sign with the symbol for a terminal and a neck sensor was on the wall next to the escalators leading to the first floor. I followed the signs until I arrived at the information center. Two glass doors marked the entrance to the center. I went in and stared at the many terminals spaced evenly along long tables. A shoulder height partition divided the table into booths offering some privacy around each terminal. I walked along the table, searching for an isolated booth. 

In one of the rows a couple was arguing about a trip they were planning.  On a screen in front of them, was a video showing the city at night with the Rings of Aesder filling the background with bright and shiny colors. The Rings were part of my education before leaving Naan. The Doctor had explained that they are one of Mampas’ symbols. I walked past the couple, still arguing loudly, and sat down in an isolated booth at the end of the row. It felt good to alleviate the pressure that was building in my hips, and in my knees. I hooked up the neck sensor and surfed. The news agencies were full of stories about Mampas politics and the conflict with the desert people. Their accent came easily to my mind now but I felt unconfident that I completely forgot about them.

I expanded the search and surfed towards Naan. The news reports from Naan were shallow and old. One of the reports dryly mentioned the plague and recommended that visitors should wear warm clothes, as it was always cooler on the White Planes this time of the year. I surfed to Naan's government site and the screen showed a message saying that the site was under construction and that we should expect its grand reopening in few Naanites weeks.

I went back to Mampas and surfed into the local governmental center. I found a few reports about the state of the Mampas economy, about the opening of new business, and also about a new travel agency that received support from the government. I didn't understand how there could be a relationship between a travel agency and the Mampas government. Indeed the reliability factor at the left corner of the report indicated 0 reliability.

When I could feel my legs again, I stood, picked up the bag with the clothes and stepped outside. The pain in my legs returned quickly, so I called a taxi. I made sure I spoke with a Mampasian inflection, but the driver still scanned me from bottom to top.

I used the next few days to improve my physical condition and to get more acquainted with the streets. As one might expect these two activities went well together. I visited the university twice, as well as the three information centers within the campus area. The Doctor was right to suggest the university. These centers were extremely active which allowed me to blend in easily. All of the traffic in the network would also be useful when the time came to escape Shor.