The Sinners of Erspia

“I wonder if there are people here,” Histrina murmured, looking over his shoulder.

“We'll find out soon, I imagine. If there are, you had better behave yourself!"

He frowned. A flock of birds, or some other flying creatures, had appeared ahead. He blinked. For a moment they looked almost like flying humans. Then they appeared to become startled and flew off.

A mass of treetops approached. The station gyrated, swerved, then made for a clearing through which there ran a silvery stream. It was effecting a more controlled landing than it had managed on Erspia-2.

Gently, with hardly a bump, it set down right way up.

“No need to check the air,” Laedo murmured. “There will be people around somewhere. All these worlds have been designed for human habitation."

“People...” Histrina echoed greedily. She licked her lips.

“I told you to behave yourself!” Laedo snapped. “I won't stand for any more of your crazy behaviour!"

She pouted. “But I want to have fun."

“Don't we all.” Laedo inspected the scenery on the viewscreen. The trees were gargantuan, much bigger than on Earth or Harkio. They were spacious, too. One seemed to be able to peer through the forest for an indefinite distance. The enormous boughs spread and intertwined in all directions, fit to make pathways through the air. The leaves looked pretty near large enough to bear a man's weight.

The ‘sky’ did not appear on the screen. Probably he could see it by raising the viewing angle, easily done by fiddling with the control slides, but he decided to reserve that pleasure for his first excursion outside. It must be quite a sight.

“You know something? I'll bet people round here live in the trees. They're big enough. I don't see any tree houses, though. Perhaps we're in an uninhabited part. Okay, Histrina, let's take a look outside."

He led the way to the hatch. This time there were no complications in reaching the ground. As soon as he opened the hatch the stairway extended itself.

They stood on the platform and gawped. Above them reared the ‘sky', but it was not a sky. It was another landscape poised upside down, like a map stretched out overhead. The sight was stunning in its stupendousness but somehow not oppressive. After a while, Laedo thought, one might cease to become aware of the other terrain.

He studied the inverted world. Was it the same as this one? A mirror image, even? Widespread green swathes mostly covered it, also sparkling inland seas and wandering veins that could be rivers. There were also brown patches, deserts perhaps. He didn't recall seeing any of those on the approach to the lower world.

Cloud drifted over the upper landscape. It suddenly struck him that both worlds were in broad daylight.

Peering through the encompassing forest, he was able to locate a small bright sun—presumably another artificial sun like those which lit Erspias 1 and 2. It sent down slanting rays from a position near the rim of the upper world.

Examining it carefully, noting the shallow angle of its rays, he realized that it was ‘set’ from the other world's point of view. It was not currently visible there at all.

Where, then, was the upper world getting its light from?

The question would have to wait. Stepping from the platform, Laedo descended the stairway. Once outside the station's resident gravity field he was surprised by an abrupt drop in body-weight.

Experimentally he jumped off the step, to find himself floating slowly to the ground.

Evidently Erspia-3's gravity was maintained at only a fraction of Earth-normal. Why was that?

Behind him, Histrina was also experiencing reduced weight. To her, it was a complete novelty. It had merely puzzled her when she saw Laedo falling with the slowness of a leaf, and on stepping down the stairs the new sensation left her confused. Unlike Laedo she was not accustomed to walking in low gravity and she bounced along the turf like a balloon.

Turning to him, she laughed the laugh of a delighted child on some fairground amusement, jumping high in the air and giggling uncontrollably as she sedately descended.

Laedo smiled. “You walk like this, see?” He showed her how to step with sliding movements which did not send one rocketing upward. She quickly mastered the trick, but for the moment seemed more interested in leaping about with abandon.

Laedo meanwhile stood quietly gazing about him. The being or beings who had made the Erspia worlds had a real talent for it, there was no question about that. A forest of normal-sized oaks might look like this to a small animal such as a squirrel, he told himself. He saw no sign of animals of any kind, but one would not necessarily see animals in a Harkio forest straight away. Arboreal creatures were good at keeping out of sight.

He recollected the flying creatures he had seen. Peering up through the foliage, he squinted.

Here they came again.

A clarion call sounded through the aerial glades. Flit turned to Gauzewing, trying to put a look of courage on his delicate features.

“We are called to arms."