The Sinners of Erspia

“Are we going to stay here?” Histrina asked lazily, tickling herself with a stalk of grass. “It's nice here, isn't it? And there are such pretty people."

“We may have to stay for a while, Histrina."

Until I figure out how to take control of the projector station's drive, or to fix my spaceship, he told himself in aggravation. He was going to have to keep close tags on Histrina. The flying folk were not the helpless children the people in the orchid forest were. They would retaliate if she harmed any of them.

He got to his feet. Over the gargantuan treetops a group of flyers came in sight. This time they carried no weapons. They glided gracefully down into the clearing, their wings sculling the air as they pulled up to set their feet on the ground with perfect skill.

There were six of them, including Gauzewing and Flit.

“You asked to see one of our gnome prisoners,” Flit said.

Laedo nodded. He wanted to question a representative of this reputedly skilled race.

“The elders see no objection. However, wingless as you are..."

Two fairies unrolled a long mat which one of them had been carrying. It was made of wooden slats linked together, and was gaily coloured red and blue. At each corner was a thong. Four fairies stationed themselves one to a corner, placing a thong over one shoulder.

“It would take you a long time to walk to where the prisoner cages are,” Flit said. “We will carry you on this litter. We use it for transporting sick and injured people."

Laedo blinked and swallowed as he imagined himself borne through the air on the flimsy mat. He tried to estimate the impact velocity if he tumbled from a height in this gravity. Still enough, he guessed, to cause death or serious injury.

Or would the fairies simply zoom down and catch him as he fell?

It was not something he cared to put to the test. “I don't have wings,” he said, “but I can fly. Wait here for a minute."

Like any spaceship, the exterior of the projector station was studded with footholds and handrails. Laedo clambered up these until he came to the port of his cargo ship. Inside, he went to the equipment store room and found one of two gravpacks, strapping it to his back like a satchel.

Back at the port, he put a hand on the control knob on the chest strap and soared gently up and forward.

Flying with a gravpack was simplicity itself. The knob controlled the degree of ‘lift’ or inertial push, enabling one to rise or sink in a gravity field. To go forward, one leaned forward. To go back, one leaned back. To turn, one simply—turned.

Playfully he rotated, dipped and rose, showing off in front of the fairy people before setting himself down on the grass. They didn't seem as impressed as he would have thought, but simply shrugged and rolled up the litter again.

“I don't know how you do that, but very well,” Flit said. He paused. “It's just as well the gnomes don't have anything like it. Our one big advantage over them is that we can fly and they can't."

“I doubt if they'll get that clever,” Laedo responded.

Suddenly he noticed Histrina's reaction. The girl was enthralled. She didn't know about gravpacks, of course.

He turned to her. “Histrina,” he said firmly, “I want you to stay here until I get back. I would prefer it if you stayed in the station, but in any case I don't want you to go wandering off. Do you understand?"

She pouted. “I want to come. Show me how to fly like you just did."

“There isn't another gravpack,” Laedo lied. “Stay here, I won't be long."

He followed the fairies as they flittered into the air. It was easy to keep up with them. They flew with arms dangling and bodies aslant, much as he did. The enormous trees fell away below. From a height the forest canopy looked like a panorama of hills, dells and meadows, all covered in a frizzy moss. Here and there were clearings and glints of streams.

The fairies did not seem to tire as their wings bore them onward. They seemed able to fan their wings indefinitely. At length, they dipped, and as they neared the tree cover Laedo saw a cleft in the foliage which would not easily have been visible from higher in the air. Through this the flying party slipped, then went spearing and side-stepping among the boughs, making for the shadowed depths.

Soon they were on the ground, walking the bank of a rippling stream. Despite the size of the trees—or perhaps because of it—there was no gloom. Sufficient sunlight filtered through to dapple the forest floor with glowing, dancing spots.

A cave of branches opened up: not a clearing as such, but a domed hollow matted with boughs end foliage. Laedo wondered whether this was deliberate camouflage. Did the gnomes in the world above possess telescopes?

About a dozen cages were set in the hollow. In them, figures huddled. Flit led Laedo to the nearest one.

And so, for the first time, he saw a gnome.