New to this project: Start with Part 1
Part 41: Final Flyover Completed
What? No, I’m not asleep. And neither are you. We’re getting close to the mountain range now. Tell you what, I’ll have the ViewShip go south, then we’ll come up over the range the long way. I think it’ll be worth it. Here we go, swinging south.
See how the forest gives ways to open plains? It seems to stretch on for–look! Do you see that huge dark mass? It’s moving! Those are the J’Par! We’ll get a little closer? Have you ever seen animals that big before? They’re fast, and smart, too. The people of the plains originally hunted them for food, but they were too smart to be caught. Those are the wild ones, but I’ve heard that if you can get a young one away from the herd, you can tame it, and teach it to live with people. Eat it? Oh, no. They’re telepathic, I think. If you attacked one, all the others would know. Your village would be pounded to dust. No, these animals are better friends than food.
Image: Walt Disney, Inc.
OK, here we go. we’ll swing up over the mountains. They cut the continent… well, not really in half, I’d say that two-thirds of the continent are on the side where we started. We’re heading northwest along the range now. Do you see that glare? Those are lakes high up on the range. It’s the best–and purest–water on the planet. See how it moves down in streams and small rivers along both sides of the mountains? What? How does the water get up there? Well, that’d be an interesting story, wouldn’t it? See? See that? We’re about half-way along the range now. See that huge lake with the islands in it? There are ruins on those islands. No. I don’t know where they came from. Not yet, at least.
Almost to the northwest end of the range, now. There it is. Do you see how the sea pounds the shore there? Between the violent sea and the mountains there is a natural boundary between the sides of the range. That may insure peace for a while.
OK swinging around, and heading south again. This far north the flatlands are broken up by islands of sharp mountains. And there! You see that very tall one? Look at the tip of it.
No, that isn’t a cloud. It’s birds. Well, something like birds. They are born in the air and they never touch land. Then never go lower than the top of that mountain, either. What do they live on? Sorry. I don’t have a clue. Maybe we can figure it out together.
Moving south now. Do you see those large eight-sided structures? Those are the forts of the Ona. That’s right, the people who believe the critical eyes of God are on them all the time. These days they are fighting among themselves. What? Attack the people on the other side of mountains? I guess it’s possible, even probable in time. If one of the Ona can unite the many forts and their people… if they no longer have each other to fight, what else could they do?
I don’t like it on this side of the mountains. I keep thinking we’ll be attacked. No, I know they can’t. Not yet, at least. All of the people on this world are primitive. Let’s head back to the east.
All right. We’re back, and we’re safe and sound on this side of the world.
What? This world? You want to know the name of this place?
Hey, you’re a writer. You tell me.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio... and isn't it time you experienced some of them?
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These days they are fighting among themselves. What? Attack the people on the other side of mountains? I guess it’s possible, even probable in time. If one of the Ona can unite the many forts and their people… if they no longer have each other to fight, what else could they do?
When I studied political theory and with my ex I learned that people fight outside of their community in order to garner more solidarity within their own. So this is a very interesting thesis.
I would speculate that the other side of the world would be a kind of paradise in which the will for fight has been conquered and the fear that produces flight has been subdued. It would be a kind of heaven or a nirvana within a physical space, then. A lot of names have already been assigned to such a place. For my own writing it gives me something to think about, but as I don’t engage in the popular concept of fictive sci-fi I shall have to give thought in the adaptation of this world view. Just as a possibility I would like to think of some word which would have the meaning of ‘home’.
After all, there are many houses in the world, but not a real home.
Just consulted the dictionary: the original reference of the word home referred to a place of rest. Doesn’t that explain finding heaven after death? And a lot of other concepts. There are seven major definitions in my Websters, each having sub-definitions. What food for thought. Thanks for the stimulating post.
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