New to Space Traveler Fargone? Start at the beginning.
“Flowbo blows around the planet, but its path gradually rotates. Once per year, it blows directly over the canyon. Most of the wind stays above the canyon, but there are occasional bursts of strong wind that dip into it. Strong enough to blow the contents off of a diastand. So we cannot use them.
“There are stairs carved into the canyons for use if necessary, but they are exhausting to climb and worthless for moving anything heavy. So we have to stock-pile anything we need during Flowbo season,” Cava said. “And the noise Flowbo makes is deafening. Most of us wear ear coverings, but it can be difficult to sleep at times.”
“How long does Flowbo season last?” Em asked.
Longdistance answered. “Time runs a little different here. It is roughly equivalent to an Earth month. Maybe a little longer.”
“I would rather not experience that,” I said.
“Then you should leave no later than five Caya days from now.”
“That soon?”
“Maybe sooner. But we will hear it getting nearer before it hits.”
“Then we better see as much as we can in the next couple of days.”
“What do you think I am trying to do?” Cava said.
Longdistance laughed.
We worked our way down to the canyon floor and walked out to the river. The view was amazing. The canyon towered over us on both sides. The diastands and cables seemed more impressive, and intimidating, when viewed from below. Cava led us to a dock where we boarded a barastand. Which is basically a barge. Some barastands carried goods, and some carried passengers. Two Caya with long poles stood at the back of the barastand. They propelled it by pushing the poles into the riverbed. It reminded me a little of the gondolas of Venice, except the barastands were huge and flat. Still, the principle was the same.
“Is the river always this calm?” I asked Cava.
“Yes. It circles the entire planet, so it has nowhere to go.” He burst out in laughter.
“Old Caya joke,” Longdistance said.
I smiled.
Looked at Em, who was taking video, and Flow, who seemed to be intensely focused on what she was seeing. I realized I was enjoying myself. This gig turned out to be far better than I imagined. Even with Em as my co-pilot. I was cruising down a canyon on a planet no one on Earth knew existed. For the first time in my life, I could say I love my job. I locked my hands behind my head and leaned back in my chair.
“Wake up, Sleeping Ugly.”
I recognized that voice. It was Em.
“We are at the park.”
“Why did you let me fall asleep?”
“Are you kidding? The time you spend sleeping is the best part of my day.”
“I thought it was when you dream of me at night.”
“You wish.”
“Not really.”
Longdistance interrupted our verbal battle before it got going. “Alright, let’s not start that again. We have a park to see.”
The park was breathtaking. Even more so because I didn’t see it coming. All the cables and diastands were gone. There were no caves, only a couple of openings a thousand meters above us where water poured out, creating incredible waterfalls. The water fell into a stream that ran out into the river. Surrounding the waterfalls was a forest of trees that looked like pines, but the trees had white trunks, like birch trees. A bridge crossed the stream near the waterfall, close enough to feel the mist from the water falling. We stood on the bridge and enjoyed the cool spray.
On the other side of the bridge, there was a clearing covered in some type of grass. Around the clearing, there were food stands, tables, and benches. Dozens of Caya happily picnicked on the lawn. Others were doing some sort of exercise that reminded me of yoga. And dozens of Caya children played on huge rocks.
Em said this would be a perfect place to interview Longdistance, and he agreed. Em started the video by talking into her cam.
“Hi. Emma here, with Space Traveler Fargone. Today we have a super special video for you. Not only did we discover a planet where the residents live in the walls of a canyon that circles their entire planet, but we found someone you all know and love. The original space traveler, Paul Longdistance. That’s right. Paul Longdistance is alive and well.”
Em turned the camera at Longdistance and asked, “What would you like to say to everyone back on Earth, Paul?”