EXCERPT FROM THE NOVEL

(C) 2008

Aaniya recovered rapidly in the next few days.  A few Artemesian days later, she made her way downstairs to the main entrance of the building.  Llana was waiting for her. They walked outside and saw a turquoise skiff standing near the entrance.  Embossed on the front and sides was a circular silver seal.  The seal had three pillars with a crescent spanning them on top.  A corresponding crescent spanned the bottom of the pillars.  Bands of colors pulsed up and down the pillars.  The skiff seemed alive.  They got in.

“Destination?” asked the skiff.

“City center.”

“Acknowledged.”

It made a hissing sound as it gently ascended and then proceeded to its destination with a whoosh. They traveled in a northwesterly direction.  Beneath them stretched a vast sandy plain sparsely dotted by plants and shrubs.  Aaniya saw several grey and brown buildings, some of which seemed unused.

“Those were the buildings built by the Langdon Ferris settlers.”

“Langdon Ferris?”

“Yes, the space ship on which they arrived here.”

“Are they being used?’

“Some of them are used for storage.”

There were roadways going into the city.  Aaniya saw an orange tractor pulling a string of trailers.  It was unmanned.

“Most of our basic factories are located here and goods are transported into the city by these vehicles.”

The city loomed in the distance.

“Cyrene was built on the plains a few klicks north of the sea of Cyrene.”

They approached what was apparently the central part of the city.  It was dominated by a hill with an ancient looking building on top of it.

“That’s the temple of Artemis and seat of Artemis Council, the governing authority on this planet. It is modeled after one of the seven wonders of old earth legend.”

The building was impressive.  It had massive columns which ran all around the building and supported a yellowish brown roof.  The building was made of white stone.  On the leeward side of the hill was a leveled area with a smaller and simpler version of the main temple.

“That’s the ante chamber” said Llana pointing to the smaller structure.

“Its used for rituals and as an assembly area for temple activities.”

The sides of the hill were lined with grass and there were steps to ascend the hill.  Running around the hill in the form of a rounded rectangle, was a  glassed-in promenade.  It ran all around the hill and connected many of the buildings which were further away.  Its bright green contrasted sharply with the yellow sand of Cyrene. There were two more concentric rings much further away.  The rings were connected to each other by radial passageways.  Buildings occupied the space in the sectors made by the intersection of rings and connecting passageways.

“That’s the agora.  We call it the passage or the promenade” said Llana pointing at the rings.  There was a large area between the promenade and the base of the hill and they began descending into this area.

“Most of these are administrative buildings” said Llana pointing at the inner ring.  Among the rows of buildings were bright blue domes.  Llana waved at them.

“Those are  educational facilities for our young.  The city is built roughly in a series of concentric oval patterns.  Offices and administrative buildings are in the first tier.  Service buildings are in the second tier.  Apartments and houses are in the next tier and factories/workshops beyond that.”