"The ship burned for days," Keri explained with relish. "The Shields helped fight it. But that wasn't the main problem."
"What was the main problem?" Sariana asked in fascina lion.
"The crew rebelled and tried to take control of all the other colonists. They had the only weapons on board and they threatened to kill everyone who didn't obey orders, See? There's one now. He's going to kill the captain who's trying to stop him."
Sariana was shocked as the poor starship captain died gallantly onstage in a very bloody fight. "How terrible." At least the people of The Rendezvous had been spared that particular trauma. The rigid lines of society had held finn throughout the chaos of the landing and its aftermath in (he east. But they had apparently started crumbling right from the beginning here in the west.
"Oh, everything turned out okay. The Shields took care of the rebels. The Shields had weapons, too, and they used them against the outlaws. The bad members of the crew who weren't killed ran away and hid in the mountains. After that, the colonists found out about the prisma crystal ships. The one that had caused the Lightstonn was just one of many. There were lots more of them hidden in the mountains. Only the Shields knew how to neutralize the weapons on board."
"The Shields protected the colonists?"
"Sure. That's why we have the Pact. Don't you remember?" "I'm not too familiar with the story," Sariana admitted cautiously.
"They brought The Serendipity safely through the Light-storm and they protected the First Generation colonists from the rebels and the crystal ships. If they hadn't done that, none of us would be here now."
"I see. But, Keri, who are the Shields? Where did they come from?"
Keri shrugged. "They were here when we got here." He accepted that astounding piece of information with a youngster's unquestioning faith in legends. "I think my father once said they had come to hunt the crystal ships and got trapped here along with the First Generation colonists. They couldn't get back off the planet any more than we could."
Sariana was reeling with the ramifications of the tale. It couldn't be true, she told herself staunchly. Just another manifestation of the westerners' love of storytelling and drama.
But it was getting increasingly difficult to dismiss the tale of the Shields. Her own life was being turned upside down by a walking legend.
Sariana rose at intermission. She felt a sudden need to escape.
"Where are you going?" Keri asked. "Don't you want to see what happens when the Shields find out they can marry a few of the colonial women?"
"Not particularly. I need some fresh air."
Keri got up. "I don't blame you. The first half is the best part. The next act is kind of mushy." He trailed after Sariana, chatting happily.
"Where are your parents, Keri?" Sariana asked as they emerged into the mist.
"I don't have to meet them until lunchtime. How long are you going to be at the fair?" "I can't stay long." Sariana checked the elaborate little timepiece the Avylyns had given her on her
birthday. Gryph had said he would be returning to the windrigger in the early afternoon. It would probably be best if she were on board when he arrived, she decided wryly. The fewer explanations she was called upon to make to Gryph, the easier life would be. "I'm supposed to meet someone in an hour or so."
"You can't leave without seeing the House of Reflections," Keri said anxiously. "Come on, I'll show you. It's the best thing at the fair. Even better than the play about the First Generation colonists."
"How far away is it?" Sariana glanced around dubiously.
"It's at the far end of the fairgrounds, but I know a shortcut." He caught hold of Sariana's hand. "Let's go. It's a lot of fun."
Sariana smiled down at him, unable to resist his enthusiasm. Keri reminded her a bit of Luri, and she was surprised to realize she missed the youngest Avylyn. "All right. Let's go see this House of Reflections. Then I really must be going."
"It's great," Keri assured her as he pulled her into the crowds.
Sariana was totally disoriented by the time the boy stopped in front of a garishly decorated structure. Unlike the other booths, this was not a tent. The outer walls appeared quite solid and they were covered with intricately beveled reflective surfaces. It was gaudy enough beneath an overcast sky. In the full glare of a noonday sun, Sariana decided, it would be impossible to look directly at the thing because of the intense reflections.
"It's very large," she observed as she stood with her young escort and watched crowds of laughing people walk toward the entrance.
"Once you're inside, it looks like it goes on forever because of the way the mirrors and the prisms work. Wait'll you see it. I've been in there four times already and I'm going in again. I know my way around inside now. Come on, Sariana. I want to show it to you."
Sariana reluctantly bought two tickets and followed Keri through the mirrored doors. "I really should be getting back to the ship, Keri."
"We won't stay long," he promised.
An instant later they stepped into total darkness. Delighted screams of mock fright echoed in the blackness. Keri let go of Sariana's hand. She groped for him, glancing around uneasily and seeing absolutely nothing. The room was perfectly sealed. No outside light penetrated anywhere.
"Keri?"
"Over here, Sariana."
She tried to edge toward the sound of his voice, but the total darkness was confusing. She called out again.
This time there was no response.
"Keri? Where are you?"
Not only was there no answer from Keri, there was no longer a sense of anyone else being present either. The laughter and screams of delight had faded. She didn't brush up against anyone when she turned around in the inky dark. Sariana edged backward, seeking the door through which she had entered.
In that moment the room was suddenly, flooded with light. Far too much of it. Bright, blazing, multi-colored light bounced off a thousand beveled surfaces and ricocheted from an endless corridor of mirrors. Countless pieces of prismatic glass dangled from a ceiling that appeared to have no permanent structure.
When she glanced up Sariana could see a million Sariana Daynes receding into the distance. When she looked down she had a wrenching attack of vertigo. She appeared to be suspended over a bottomless sea of reflective surfaces. Beneath her feet her own image was disrupted and reorganized in a kaleidoscopic array of color and light. She couldn't tell where the reflected images left off and her feet began. It was the most dizzying, disorienting sensation she had ever experienced. The really unnerving part was that there was no sign of Ken or anyone else. She was alone in a hall full of endless reflections.