She had the. pallor of one who has recently undergone a frightening experience, but her face was split by a great smile of wonder as she waved him inside.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Instead of looking at it in Ma'el's chart they were seeing a similar picture of the land surface through the large square of transparent material under their feet. When first they had begun rising into the heavens, Declan had tried to grip the edges of the smooth, deeply cushioned stool on which he sat lest he fall out of it and tumble to the distant ground, but by some act of the magic that Ma'el insisted was merely Taelon technology, the seat grew five soft, strong arms that encircled his waist and thighs and gave close support to the curve of his back to hold him steady. He watched the caravan he had met earlier shrink to a thin, dusty worm and then begin to slide to the edge of the transparent substance and out of his sight. In front of Ma'el's position there was another and much larger area of clarity that faced forward. The old man's hands were resting lightly on its surface while he moved them about in a succession of strange, arcane gestures.
"… We are now making the transition from high altitude to orbital flight," Ma'el was saying, "and will overfly the path we traveled from Hibernia to our recent location. I am sorry if a few of the words I use are strange, but soon their meaning and the actions and events to which they apply will become clear to you. Are either of you feeling mental distress?"
Sinead, who was staring at the unfolding surface in open-mouthed wonder, shook her head. Declan made a croaking sound the exact meaning of which was unclear even to himself. To hide the apprehension that must have been showing on his face, he turned his head to look inside the djinn which Ma'el called his short-range shuttle craft.
Like the one in the floor at his feet and that facing the old man, there were large, clear openings in the djinn's shell which made it possible to see outside in all directions except one which was shielded automatically no matter what their change of heading, Ma'el had explained, to keep their eyes and skin from being damaged by the sun. Curving beams supported the interior of the hull which seemed to be much larger on the inside than out. It was divided into three globular rooms whose outlines and dimensions were difficult to judge because their walls were also transparent. Grouped around their walls, ceilings, and floors were strange devices of unknown purpose that resembled glass and metal flowers, and larger objects that had the look of furniture. Trying to focus his eyes on some of them gave Declan an aching head so he returned his attention to the distant and more familiar ground that was hurrying past his feet.
He saw the fan of tiny rivers that was the delta of the Nile before the eastern Mediterranean opened out to reveal both the north coast of Africa and southern Italy. By bending forward and craning his head from side to side-the padded arms encircling his waist would allow him to do that provided he moved slowly-he was able to see the great sweep of land and ocean from the Pillars of Hercules up to Finisterre in Iberia. Objects and land outlines on the ground were growing smaller, which meant that the djinn was climbing higher, and he could see scattered over the Ocean of Atlantis the fat, white worms that Ma'el called low-pressure systems. In a clear area where, again in the words of the old man, high pressure dominated, he could make out the islands of Britain and Hibernia and, hazy with distance through a clear area of sky beyond it, another stretch of coastline that ran north to south as far as the eye could see. He became aware that the sky above them was shading from pale blue to black and the horizon was no longer a straight line but seemed to be curving into a bow shape. He was about to mention these inexplicable occurrences when Sinead spoke first.
"There is land, there, west of Hibernia!" she said pointing, her voice high with excitement. "Is that the fabled Westland, Tir Na n'Og, the land of the forever young? Ma'el, if that is where you come from, you are far from home."
"That land holds many people…" said the old man quietly. He made a series of complicated, fluid gestures with both hands and suddenly the land below them was shrinking rapidly, the curve of the horizon increased until it met itself and suddenly they were looking down at a great brown and blue globe flecked with white clouds and, tiny with distance, the lands and seas that they knew as well as many that they did not. "… But I do not come from there."
Sinead gripped Declan's hand tightly as they stared at the bright, tiny globe that had been the vast and, until now, limitless world that they thought had contained all things that were and ever would be. For a moment he wondered if he was dreaming, if Ma'el had put a marvellous enchantment on Sinead and himself, but he hoped not because he did not want this wondrous thing that was happening to him to be a dream.
"Then where do you come from?" asked Sinead.
Ma'el waved a hand, their world slipped to the side and they were looking into an area of sky filled with stars, some bright and seemingly close, others so distant that they were a glowing haze too fine for the individual points of light to be resolved.
"Before I answer," said the old man, "you must first be given instruction so that you will understand the answer I give. Clear your minds and attend closely to my words…"
Speaking slowly and clearly, he told them that the first and most important fact that they should learn was that all objects attracted each other, and the larger the object the greater the attraction. This was what the Taelons called, as well as the future learned of Earth would call, the force of gravity. It was the attraction that held them and all living things to the surface of their world. Any object high above the surface would fall toward it unless it had motion at right angles to the direction of fall. If the sideways motion was precisely calculated, the object would continue to fall toward an object that was constantly moving aside so that the falling object would never reach the larger body but would continue to fall endlessly around it, just as now their vessel was falling around the world below them. This was called being in orbit, just as at a greater distance their moon was circling in a stable orbit around their world, and their world and the other planets were circling the sun. All of the stars that they could see were distant suns many of which had worlds circling them on which lived thinking beings like, but more often totally unlike, themselves…
He pointed toward one of the glowing star clouds and went on, "The place whence I came, the parent sun and world of the Taelon, lies there. I am far indeed from home."
They looked at each other in astonishment but not disbelief, then back to the old man with an expression that reflected sympathy as well as wonder. Declan was too surprised to think of anything to say that would fit the situation but Sinead was not.
"You have been with us a long time," she said softly. "We are sorry. You must sorely miss your family and friends."
Ma'el inclined his head and looked at them for a long moment, then said, "A few of them. But the sympathy from you is unexpected and deeply appreciated. You have been exposed to sights and knowledge that could well have sent your minds into gibbering madness. Instead, my more than servants, you are thinking of me."