As they were finishing the tour of Centerl Dome, Kenom asked about the Relig-O-Domes. “Those domes were installed by the Plutons,” responded Patrolman Flyn, “we rent them space down here.” When asked how many God-force Plutons were in the dome compound the answer was a rather vague, “I‘m not sure, maybe 20.” The reason for that is for the most part the Plutons stick to themselves, just happy to be running their God-force channel on the Universal-vision. They come and go but seldom mingle with the patrolmen. They do have a few zealots on “Conversion Patrol” who work the upper floors looking to convert some Zimmnils. There is little hope of success however as the patrolmen in this dome are pretty much science driven. With the tour over, and thank yous given, the two patrolmen boarded a module and set out for Patrol-dome 5.
The tunnel to Dome 5 was a little better than the Dome 4 tunnel but not by much. It was bumpy and noisy. They had to slow the module down several times in order to keep it steady. There were no Vertons working anywhere along the line but Kenom could see equipment laying here and there all along the track.. He was more determined than ever to mention this situation to the commander next time they met even if he had to interrupt.
As they pulled up to Dome 5 they could see a small contingent of Flexlords waiting on the transfer platform. Apparently news of a High LEB ambassador’s son patrolman living in Mini-dome C had spread throughout the Patrol-domes. Among those waiting on the platform was Flexmaster Etel, master of this dome. He greeted them warmly as they disembarked from the module. Kenom handed over the parcel that the Commander had given him as he exchanged pleasantries. Flexmaster Etel offered a tour of the dome, especially to see their new Inter-planetary film viewing theater. He said it is quite popular with the high LEB organics. But Kenom begged off as they had just finished a tour of Central Dome and were ready to go back to their mini-dome for some quiet time. Perhaps another time he said as they walked to the module, we‘ll be here for the entire war season, then with a wave they sped off.
When they arrived at the Mini-dome they found several messages waiting for them on the Vision-Monitor. One was from Flexmaster Tsubo who offered an invitation to visit his art gallery which contained an extensive collection of inter-planetary art. Apparently, because he was stationed in a Mini-dome, Flexmaster Tsubo assumed that Kneom was an artist. He was not. As a matter of fact he knew very little about art spending all his life in the diplomatic core. He had seen a lot of art but only as a spectator, not as a connoisseur. He agreed to meet the next day.
The second message was from the Commander asking about their accommodations, if they were satisfactory. He also invited them to join himself and some of his friends for the Grand Sporting event held by the Organics in Patrol dome #8, a Patrol-dome that had been turned into a sports dome for the low LEBers in the compound. Kenom replied in the affirmative as he thought this might be a good time to bring up the Vertons and the tunnel repair situation.
The third message was from Flexmaster Flyn who wanted to tell them about a new film visual they had just received from planet Ute which was about an artist living there named Shalon Kent. They were screening it that very evening. Kenom declined the invitation saying they had duties to perform and various things to attend to but that maybe at a later date….
It would seem that the whole dome compound thought that they were artists. That didn’t seem to be too much of a problem except that they weren’t sure how they would react once they found out that they weren’t. They weren’t sure if it was an advantage or a disadvantage. But after talking it over for a while they both decided it was time to shut down and rejuvenate. Tomorrow they would put their minds to other matters and let the art thing play itself out.
When they booted up the next day they began by unpacking their supplies and arranging the dome to their liking. As they were unpacking the container from the Galaxy Business Encouragement Center they came upon something from the Artist Business Bureau,- several small abstract paintings to give away as gifts. How appropriate they thought. They could give one as a gift to Flexmaster Tsubo when they went to visit his art gallery.
After a few more hours of unpacking and arraigning they finally had time to set down and enjoy the view. The landscape of OB was spectacular. Primitive plants of all kinds, lush and vibrant, in a variety of colors. It was most pleasing to the brain. Several hours were spent doing nothing more that soaking in nature’s beauty. But eventually they had to get back to the business at hand. It was time to meet with Flexmaster Tsubo. Kenom selected two small abstract paintings from the stack and joined Enew in the shuttle. Thus armed they set out for Patrol-dome 4 to pay a visit to Flaxmaster Tsubo’s art gallery.
No comments:
Post a Comment