Bionica

 

From high on the white dunes, the coastal desert spread out before her for miles in every direction.  She was so far inland that the ocean couldn't be seen nor heard, although from the make of the sky it could generally be assumed that areas where it was darker reflected the water beneath.  Ridges crafted by the dunes wound their way through the porous landscape, which glittered with pools of fresh water strewn across the sandy waste.  Few palms rose from the ground as prolifically as her own pool did, serving as a quasi-oasis in a place that was desolate of life, yet serenely beautiful to those who'd never seen it.  The earth before her was like a distant whisper coming from nowhere, disappearing in the fragments of a wispy dream. 

Porcelina's eyes matched the color of the cyan waters they scanned, searching for any sign of her brother Tetras, who'd gone out hunting and hadn't returned by the time she was expecting.  The answer came when she saw smoke on the horizon, in the direction of the dark sky towards the sea.  Her breath relaxed as the breeze blew her hair back.  Even the most toughened women can't help but feel an ounce of worry if a loved one isn't home when expected.  And Porcelina was tough, especially when it came to mental ability.  Her youth aside, few people in the kingdom fared well in a match of wits against her, a fact she was proud to own but never boasted about. 

Every day it was becoming harder for them to find food, so she wasn't surprised at the delay.  Tetras was a great hunter, and the largest predator among the dunes.  This meant that anything within sight was virtually theirs for the taking.  As the months drew on though, all the clams, crabs, and other creatures of the desert beach had dwindled.  The possibility that a mere couple of humans could change a whole ecosystem in less than a year made her feel gloomy, and not without a sense of guilt.  It's not even the possibility that we can change things so drastically, it's the likelihood, she thought. 

It wasn't until sundown that Tetras returned home.  He trudged over the sand lazily, as if he'd been in a battle for a good part of the day, aching to relax under the lean-to that hugged their pool.  His sister marked the sweat that gleaned off his hairless head, giving his skin a certain luster that only the fading sun could enhance.  She was upset to find that all he'd caught was the 10-inch claw of a vortex crab. 

"I swear, if I have to eat one more crab, I'm going to turn into one... And a crabby one at that," she whined. 

"I know, I know," said Tetras, rolling his eyes, annoyed by her not-so-subtle pun.  "But it's all we've got." 

"Not if we'd kept going to the outlands, like all the others.  But nooo, you wanted to live here, in this sandy dump." 

"I told you, sis, the closer we stay to home, the better.  It will be easier to return once our sentence is removed." 

"Well, I wish it would hurry.  Ten months is far too long a sentence for a spry youth such as myself." 

Tetras went to wash his doublet in the neighboring pool while Porcelina cooked the crab.  Something was off about her brother that she couldn't quite place.  Why had he used the rifle only to bring home a measly claw and not a whole body?  Vortex crabs weren't hard to miss, and they sure didn't move quickly, being bigger than normal crabs.  She decided to prod him on the matter when he returned. 

He was a step ahead of her:  "You won't believe what I saw today." 

"I'll believe anything if it takes my mind off this place.  What was it?" 

"Ships, hundreds of them.  All over the ocean.  They were setting up tall steel structures out in the water... What do you call them, again?  They look like cranes." 

"Derricks?", she asked. 

"Bingo, smarty pants.  How do you remember stuff like that?" 

"Oh, I... I don't know."  She would have found a wittier answer had her mind not been preoccupied by the news.  "It must be those slimy imperialists!  Building derricks in our own back yard...  I wonder if the city knows." 

"They've got to know," Tetras returned, a hint of uncertainty in his tone. 

The city they were referring to lay to the north, at the edge of the desert, where the coast met the mountains.  It was a city they'd grown to love and lived in long enough to hate, a city so settled in its ways that it seemed nothing could ever change it.  They'd come from Bionica, the world's first New Age City, a city so proud of its heritage that any threat to its existence would have been taken more seriously if it had known about the derricks.  

Those ugly things would be a major threat to the economy, thought Porcelina.  Bionica's reliance on alternative energy sources was one of the things that had drawn them to it in the first place.  Now that Old World oil barons had been spotted not 50 miles out, it would change things for good.  Whoever was out there had violated a major energy law in their part of the world. 

As she was mulling all this information over, an idea came to the young girl's head.  Tetras had gone over to feed Pavo, a thirty-foot sandamander they'd domesticated in order to travel more freely across the dunes.  Today had been too hot to bring the animal on the hunt, so it had idled by the pool drinking water all day.  She ran over to the two friends in a feverish frenzy. 

"Tetras!  Suppose the city doesn't know, and we're the first to tell them.  That would significantly lessen our sentence, I'd think.  And we might even get more rewards, like a beach house on Corcos Drive.  Wouldn't that be superific?" 

Her brother rolled his eyes again.  "I hate it when you make up words.  But that's an interesting theory.  I didn't see any spy planes when I was hunting."  The city wasn't watching the imperialists. 

He fed Pavo several servings of crab before leaving, much to the beast's lament.  "Sorry buddy, that’s all I found today.  If you'd been out there with me, we'd have found a lot more." 

As night set in, the lazy sky yielded to one brimming with celestial activity.  An old moon that was blue- aptly called Blue Mother- crept up over the horizon, painting the sands in its hue with a lightness of touch.  The stars in this part of the galaxy were more conglomerated than in other parts.  Clusters of bright bodies shimmered like diamonds off to the east where Blue Mother had risen.  The skies to the west were a different story.  There a vast, vermilion nebula burned near the heart of the galaxy, called The Red Storm by many cultures.  Porcelina found it uncanny that people from different ends of the world would call it by the same name.  She ascribed this to some archetypal instinct that rendered the nebula similar to people who shared its description, yet never came into contact in real life. 

She thought about the situation for a good deal of the night.  Tomorrow she would convince her brother to ride with her on Pavo, across the sands to that distant city that had spurned them, seeking redemption with the information they held.  It was all they could ask for in a world that had beaten them black and blue. 

 

The white sun beat down on the dunes with a penetrating force, burning the sandamander's skin as it slithered away.  Soon the pools between the dunes turned into rivers, forcing the crafty animal to use its fins.  Sandamanders are uniquely able to navigate such environments that require the scaly skin of a snake in tandem with the fins of a fish.  It was known to have evolved from an amphibian prototype that resembled a salamander but had a much larger body. 

Soon they came upon a large city shaded by the mountains of the coast.  The buildings were built to resemble systems of nature that provided optimal nutrients for life.  There were bullet trains with noses modeled after bird beaks; wind turbines modeled on the fins of humpback whales; nautilus homes; buildings shaped like plants, their green extensions competing for the sun; honeycombed bee palaces that optimized the positioning of solar panels.  Pigeons and sea lions walked among the humans, communicating to each other with gusto like there were no differences between the species at all. 

"The Green Capital," said Tetras, who never failed to be awestruck by the coral skyline.  "Or should I say, Conspiracy City?" 

"Hush, Tetras.  Don't say that word here.  It's as good as outlawed!", said his sister. 

"What word?" he winked. 

They didn't have any authentic papers at the city gates, so the guards wouldn't allow them in.  Instead, they requested that an ambassador come out to meet them: one who could relay a very important message to parliament.  One guard said to the other: "May as well give them parlees something to do; what else they going to get paid for?" 

Ten minutes later, a regal figure dressed in purple satin approached the siblings.  He rolled his eyes at them, because he presumed people who appeared as uncivilized as they were couldn't possibly provide information that would benefit the city, much less information about anything at all. 

"Citizens of the realm, Versace at your service.  I hear you have important news.  To what do I owe your acquaintance?"  The word "smug" couldn't begin to define the ambassador's countenance.  Porcelina pictured him as the very essence of the type of person who'd gotten them banished.  A sour impression was mutual between all three of them. 

"Ambassador Versa-chee,'' said Tetras, trying a bit too hard to sound professional.  "We've come to report a grave threat to Bionica's economy.  In exchange for this information, we ask that you let us back into the city, as reparation for our crimes." 

"Your names, please," flared the ambassador in contempt. 

"Tetras and Porcelina Ambolina," they said together 

Versace whipped out a seashell smart phone, entering their names at lightning speed. 

"Tetras and... Porcelina... Ambolina.  Banished from Bionica for sedition, on charges brought about by one Aldebaran Arcturus, for inciting false information to bring about the destruction of Bionica-" 

"We weren't trying to destroy-", interrupted Porcelina. 

"As a means to bring about the destruction of Bionica, and for polluting the minds of our educated citizens with conspiracies and lies.  Under the circumstances, the only chance you'd have of gaining remittance before your sentence is finished would be by saving the city, rather than destroying it.  Nevertheless, I will take up the matter with parliament, should your information be deemed vital to the prosperity of the city." 

"Aren't you even going to ask us what it is?", asked Porcelina. 

"I..."  Versace was caught off guard.  "Of course.  How else would they get the information?", he asked, recovering his dignity. 

He invited them up to his condominium, which was on the 49th floor of a high rise along the waterfront.  The cinnabar walls contrasted nicely with some paintings of the ocean that were hung up on them, putting Porcelina in somewhat of a trance.  She found herself surprised by this colorful ambience, for the man hadn't yet shown any such flamboyance that might have brewed beneath the surface of his rigid appearance.  One such painting showed the turquoise waters of a lush tropical beach overwhelmed by a canopy of planets above, brightened with swirling storms of color.  The bottom half of the painting showed the profile of a healthy array of sea life; whales, dolphins, turtles, and exotic fishes swam in harmony over bright forests of coral. 

"Who painted these?", she asked, breathless. 

"You're looking at him," quipped Versace, eager to impress.  "These paintings are the heart and soul of the city.  Under the water out there, a city of sea life bustles with every ounce of energy as the city above it does.  Have you seen the coral boroughs?" 

Porcelina remembered that long ago she'd gone with her family to see the underwater palaces of coral that shined beneath Bionica's waters.  Their luminosity would sometimes cause the bay to glow with golden shades of light, particularly at night after the sunset had made it more diffuse.  They'd gone under in a mini sub that ambled through the sponges, urchins, and anemones that grew on the coral surface.  In those forests of echinoderms and porifera, she'd seen seahorses the size of mermen being driven like they were land horses by crustaceans wearing capes of seaweed; a vast network of jellyfish that served to light the carved streets of polyp that lined the cities; the bulbous crags of turtle-shelled growth that served as the foundation, their interiors made from caverns of vanilla marble that twinkled in the darkness like it was twilight, far in the depths of that submarine empire. 

The memories drew her eyes to the balcony of Versace's flat, where a flaming sunset was just beginning to allow those suburbs to shine through the surface of the water.  The beach looked like a giant surfboard as it curved its way into a quarter-moon crescent, dotted on its shore by numerous hotels designed to accept the path of a hurricane rather than withstand it; all shaped like windsails, allowing any gales to simply flow around them like the leaves on a tree.  Lining the waterfront was a serpentine tunnel that used scales to retain rainfall for hydroelectric power.  Out in the ocean, the bay was outlined by a series of tropical islands famous for their ideal representations of paradise.  Porcelina needed a moment to take it all in; the flood of memories jumbling in her psyche because of the exquisite paintings; the fantastic view; the charm of a man who was becoming increasingly attractive to her. 

She had to admit there was something about Versace that ran deeper than his status had permitted her to see.  Most alluring was his sense of style and hygiene; the clothes he wore and the flat he kept were in impeccable condition.  Beyond his raw handsomeness, which she'd known right away wouldn't be enough if he'd shown to have poor character, there lay a gentle interior that was conveyed by his actions, however little by his words. 

 

The emerald coast shone like a gem as the ship sailed over the serene sea.  The coastline was mountainous and ragged- a smooth sheen of grass blanketed by wildflowers that received rainfall and sunshine on a daily basis.  Tetras found it strange that anything could be so lush, or so out of this world.  Then he thought of the sands he'd come from and thought again.  The sand pools were every bit as otherworldly when he'd first seen them as this place was to him now.  Surely, they were blessed to live in such a lovely part of the world. 

He looked over at his sister, who shared a view of the cresting waves with none other than the ambassador, who appeared to have taken a fancy to her.  The question on his mind was: what about her?  She couldn't possibly reciprocate his interest.  Versace was a two-timing fraud; he was sure of it.  He suspected he was only using them to steal their glory. 

Tetras had been expecting parliament to allow them an expedition south along the dunes, in search of the derricks offshore.  He was surprised by the consensus that Aldebaran Arcturus should be sought instead, who'd fled north some months ago without any explanation.  Parliament said not a word about why he'd left or where he'd gone.  Most alarmingly, Arcturus had been the same official who'd banished them from the city.  The same government they'd protested was allowing them, along with a crew of seasoned soldiers, to pilot a craft in search of bringing back the only person he ever wanted to kill with his bare hands.  Tetras worried that they'd missed the point entirely, or were using this as a front to take them even farther away from the sands, so they'd never be able to return. 

Neither scenario was good, making it very difficult to trust Versace, who outranked even the captain on this ship. 

Hunger clenched at his stomach.  He looked t0 the sky, watching the gulls as they circled lazily about, waiting for any detritus that might be food floating in the water for them to eat.  What he'd give to have a crossbow with him, so he could down a couple birds and eat them instead.  The food on this ship was horrendous; it tasted like leftover gruel that had already expired.  Weren't these guys sailors?  Didn't they know how to catch fish?  And was it too much to ask the government for a cook?  Tetras thought they wasted so much money on other things that one more couldn't hurt. 
 

Farther north, the winds shifted drastically.  It came off the land instead of the sea, bringing with it a kind of frigid air that nobody on the ship had ever experienced.  Freezing temperatures made life difficult for all on board, especially those who'd been used to wearing loose clothing.  The thick parkas that everyone wore seemed like a second body they'd have to drag around once they made landfall. 

Porcelina increasingly felt that her brother was right; that the only point of this mission was to take them so far away from Bionica that they'd never have a chance to get back.  The only thing that left a sliver of hope was Versace's possible interest in her.  He'd talked a lot over the course of the journey, mostly about himself.  Either he was trying to impress her, or he really was so self-absorbed that nothing about her life interested him in the slightest.  He hadn't made any moves, and she was usually good at detecting when someone liked her.  She hadn't seen any evidence that it would be difficult for him to leave her behind, which worried her most.  Yet still that sliver of hope gleaned, that he might be divulging all his exploits only to woo her, so she smiled at him, and smiled more.  She'd smiled so much that she thought her mouth would freeze in place, ultimately condemning her for the fake emotions she was using to gain her redemption. 

One day her prayers were answered.  The ship's lookout saw what appeared to be the ship belonging to Arcturus.  All the ships they'd seen up that point were just local fishing boats, only out to catch prey.  This one was a splendid three-masted clipper, poised on the coast like an innocent bystander. 

Versace gave the order to intercept it. 

A chase began which lasted an entire day.  The Arcturus brought them into an icy harbor that looked like it had mistaken itself for a tropical one.  Giant fruits were stuck in the faces of ice; an orange here, a watermelon there, a bunch of grapes lodged in an iceberg floating just off the starboard side.  Much of the ice was sculpted to resemble glasses to drink from; these all had straws with umbrellas dangling out of their tops, as if tiki cocktails had been their models.  Palm trees, sharks and beach balls were also found among the artwork, so that it was like a natural museum of ice and fruit.  It appeared that some enormous being(s) had made all this, though none of the visible wildlife remotely gave them the impression that they had done it. 

One of the crew jokingly asked Versace if they could land on a fruity island and drink its juices.  We wouldn't have to worry about scurvy for a while! he cackled.  Versace dismissed him, calling him daft and stating quite obviously (in his opinion) that the fruit might be contaminated by whale vomit. 

"I could sure use some fruit right about now," Porcelina muttered to Tetras, lamenting on all the questionable food they'd eaten on the voyage. 

"Versace knows something isn't right here," said Tetras.  "Some freak-of-nature ice gardeners made this stuff.   'Probably doesn't want anyone to know there are giants in these parts." 

"Giants!?", gasped his sister.  "I thought they weren't real." 

"Legends aren't always the stuff of imagination," he said, a little too uncomfortably for her. 

The hours passed and they finally came upon the shore.  In the distance a tall, colorful gleaming lit up the sky from a place in the mountains.  The sky was getting dark, so both ships made camp for the night.  Versace was sure to idle far away enough that the other ship couldn't see them.  Yet Porcelina was certain that his guards would be watching theirs as closely as theirs would be watching his.  

What a world, she reflected.  What a strange and inspiring world.  Little surprises around every corner.  Unbelievable sites, often inexplicable.  If this is the pattern, nothing will make sense anymore.  That glowing in the mountains... That deep, penetrating color... It's some kind of rainbow city, it has to be.  Or the North Pole.  I wonder if we're headed there next.  Where else would Arcturus be going?  Swindling coward, we'll get him if it's the last thing we do.  But oh, I can't wait to see it, whatever it is.  The Frost Capital of the Ice Giants, yes, it might be that indeed. 

 

It was the biggest tree Tetras had ever seen.  Lit up by hundreds of large, multi-colored bulbs, it soared to the sky with a towering reach that challenged the mountains surrounding it.  Many garlands and ornaments decorated it in a mesmerizing sheen, transforming its shadows into globes of light.  Versace said it was called a Christmas Tree, which Tetras had heard of but never seen in person, and never imagined could be so large.  They all watched as Arcturus and his crew abandoned their ship, trudged through the snow in a wide valley between the mountains, and made their way to the base of the tree, where they boarded what appeared to be a steam locomotive that traveled up the wire connecting the lights.  It went around the tree many times before stopping at the top, where the crew departed onto an illuminated platform beneath a shimmering star that overpowered half the night sky. 

The soldiers followed, staying as far away from the middle of the valley as possible, lest they be seen by someone on watch.  When they arrived at the base of the tree, the absence of the locomotive caused them some tension, until Porcelina noticed an electrical switch, which turned the light above it from red to green once activated.  Once it was switched, it took the locomotive fifteen minutes to reach the base of the tree, where Versace's crew waited eagerly to board. 

Tetras was the last to board.  Before he was able, they were all surprised by the light turning red and the locomotive taking off without anyone turning the switch.  Tetras ran to catch up to the accelerating train, just barely making it on before it lifted off the ground and ascended through the tree's branches by way of a curved bridge.  Versace thought Arcturus might have turned the switch on his end, causing it to take off prematurely.  Certainly, the men up top must have been suspecting the worst once they found out the locomotive had gone back to the ground.  His crew would have to be aware of a trap when they reached the top. 

Once in the branches, they were met by thorny pines that ran 30 feet long.  A giant drummer boy hung in the shadows, nestled in the nook of forking branches.  The first ambience of color that the lights exuded was a hazy red that burned through the pines.  It had been snowing for some time, and many natural icicles hung off the branches, rivaling the ornamental ones. 

Tetras looked at his sister, who looked as if this were one of the most exciting moments in her life.  She always relished in the vastness of a scenic drive, never cowering at the prospect of falling off the ledge.  The view from the train revealed a great cavity of white, but within it were etched the outlines of the far mountains, their crags drowning away in an endless snowfall.  Normally the view is more captivating than what's on the ledge, but this time the opposite was true; it was the stable side that better caught the eye.  The lights in the tree had illuminated a wonderland of cheerful relics for her: angels and stardust and reindeer and bells, the shiny tokens of childhood tales.  The higher they went, the tighter the spiraling path became, and the more her spirit yearned for the prize at the top; a present, yes, something this place seemed to owe everyone, with all its suggestions of giving. 

But the yearning came too soon.  Suddenly a green bulb unhinged from its socket and began charging up the wire toward the locomotive.  In its hands were pieces of icicle shards that looked like spears ready to be thrown.  She called for Versace, who immediately assembled his crew into fending off the heathen monstrosity.  Other lights were coming at them too.  Every time they passed one on the railway up, it would leave its socket and begin charging up the wire, taking over for the wearier lights behind it. 

Tetras grabbed the tip of an icicle and broke it off.  He aimed for the heart of a blue bulb, lunging forward for a swift throw.  The impact completely shattered the bulb, causing it to fall thousands of feet to its death.  Soon the others were following his lead.  Whenever someone missed, it wasn't a problem, because another crew member would be right behind him to try his hand at it.  Soon it was like a sport.  Whoever picked off the most charging lights would win the game. 

The lights began to fall behind as they neared the top.  But then a thundering noise crashed into the Earth and the entire tree shook at its foundation, causing the locomotive to nearly derail. 

"What in Satan's ungodly name is that?", gasped Versace.  Out of the sea of white emerged the outline of a rounded figure making its way towards them, as tall as the tree and nearly as large as the mountains.  It had a corn-cob pipe and two very angry eyes made of coal.  "Arcturus, you fool of the highest order, what have you done?", he whispered to no one in particular. 

The lights chasing them suddenly stopped glowing, collapsing off the rail.  The train slowed as it neared the top, where Arcturus and his men were busy scampering down the tree bare-handed as the giant snowman took a swipe at the intruders.  Many men fell to their deaths, without the abominable thing's help. 

Tetras jumped off the locomotive as it came to a stop.  He immediately made his way inside the platform holding the star, now light-less like everything else on the tree.  As a former repairman, he knew exactly what the purpose of the panels on the platform were.  They were precipitation panels, designed to intercept rain or snow and turn their kinetic energy into electricity.  Arcturus had shattered them all in an apparent attempt to sabotage the tree's energy source.  He was trying to destroy alternative sources to oil: an enemy of natural energy!  His connection with the oil rigs suddenly made sense; he must have been commissioned by them.  And the truth about why he and his sister were banished- 

The Snowman took another swipe at the tree, pulling one of the branches toward him, causing everything to sway in the chaos.  An awful grunt came from the orifice that was his pipe, steaming the air with his fury. 

"Porcelina!", cried Tetras. 

His sister had fallen off the platform onto a candy cane that was tied to the branch below.  She slipped down the sugary surface and held onto the tip.  The Snowman became entranced by the spectacle.  He lifted the candy cane off the tree, dangled it before his mouth for a few seconds, and swallowed it whole, with the desperate girl clinging for dear life. 

Tetras sank to his knees.  The shock would have overwhelmed him if not for a rallying cry from Versace, which brought him back into focus.  They had to get off the tree, or they'd be next. 
 

Deep in the belly of the Snowman, Porcelina found herself on a bed of.... Wood?  More men were falling into the belly of the beast, both from her ship and the other.  There was no sign of Versace or her brother, just the remains of the candy cane, several men in agony, and a whole lot of wood.  An idea came to her faster than any she'd ever had; the Snowman was made of snow.  If she found a way to light the wood on fire, the whole thing would melt.  “Does anyone have a match!?”, she screamed. 
 

Men were disappearing all around him, either to the frightening darkness below or to the mouth of the Snowman.  The only thing left was to try their luck on the locomotive.  Versace summoned all his men on board, giving the signal to flip the switch.  The locomotive started chugging along just as the Snowman reared back for a final, deadly swipe.  Suddenly its arm paused in mid-air and its face contorted.  From out of its pipe, Tetras identified what could only (and most naturally, he might add) be the signature of a steady plume of a smoke.  The hesitation was enough to throw the Snowman off balance, stumbling backwards before making a futile lunge at the tree. 

The train chugged along, bend after bend down the tree, while the giant writhed in agony.  It seemed to be clenching its stomach, where a red glowing was now lighting up its belly.  "By the eye of Blue Mother, have you ever seen anything so terrifying?", gaped Versace. 

"Not in thirty-seven years.  And after today, I don't plan to," replied Tetras. 

Soon the white monster started turning liquid, from the bottom up.  It struggled in vain to retain its structure, the fire was too much.  Smoke now blotted out the horizon, and when the train reached the bottom, a newly formed mountain of snow stood in their path back to the sea. 

"She's in there!", cried Tetras.  "We've got to find her.  Start digging." 

"Are you out of your mind?", resisted Versace.  "I loved your sister too, but there's no way she survived.  She's dead, Tetras.  No amount of digging is worth confirming that." 

Before Tetras got the chance to wring his neck, one of the soldiers was picked off by an arrow that came from the train.  Someone had snuck onto the train and followed them; Tetras had a good idea who it was.  When the man went for another kill, Tetras lunged for a dead soldier's body, picking up a shield and sword.  He ran for the train, fearless in the line of fire.  Every time the archer took a shot at him, his arm moved to shield himself from the impact, unafraid of his own death now that his sister was gone.  The loss of a loved one is a great motivator; it makes us do miraculous things, if not foolish. 
 

When Tetras came out from the train, he had Arcturus locked in his arms.  The other soldiers came to help, tying him up with rope.  The sneaky saboteur hadn't counted on anyone being brave enough to come at him and his crossbow.  He'd even shot Tetras in the leg, yet still the madman had come at him, like it was his final mission. 

Arcturus' capture was interrupted by a wooden log popping out of the ground, with Porcelina and several of the crew gasping for air on its soaked surface.  Tetras didn't think twice about landing a punch on Arcturus before running to help his sister out of the water. 

Versace ordered his men to set up camp under the tree, where a large fire would warm up the survivors.  The events of the day provided for some exciting campfire talk.  First, everyone reasoned that the snowfield between the mountains must have rested on a large bay that was iced over.   The fire had melted the ice holding it up, allowing the survivors to submerge and navigate the waters away from the snow pile in order to find a place thin enough to break free.  Secondly, Porcelina told them how she'd been lucky enough to find a large amount of wood in the Snowman's stomach, and that even more fortunately, one of the crew happened to have a match with which to start the fire with.  This same crew mate deflated everyone's mood when he told them the Snowman had likely eaten their ships, for they'd used the flammable material of a mast to start the fire with.  Thirdly, they feared the Snowman had built all the ice sculptures out on the sea, which lead them to the frightening conclusion that he was perhaps part of a race, and that there may have been more of them in these parts.  Finally, they discussed the only survivor of the other ship, Arcturus, who sat alone away from the party, tied up and cold, sulking in dismay.   

Versace verified what Tetras had suspected at the top of the tree; that Arcturus had destroyed the precip panels in the star in order to take advantage of an oil discovery offshore.  The Christmas Tree powered many cities in Borealis (as this country was known), so the deception that precip energy had failed would have allowed the oil industry to organize a monopoly.  They were already trying it in the south, where Bionica was threatened.  Thanks to Tetras and Porcelina, who were praised as heroes by the survivors, parliament had finally pieced together that Arcturus had gotten many protesters banned because their tendency to embrace government conspiracy was a threat to his office.  He was right; he'd fooled them all, until two of the very protesters he'd banished had caught him brewing up a multinational storm.  Ironically, it was only because they'd been banished that they'd found the derricks in the first place. 

Versace assured them that this would be enough to redeem the siblings, and many of the others whom Arcturus had framed.  Tetras wanted to leave Arcturus to die in the cold, but Versace said he needed to be prosecuted for his crimes, like every other criminal.  It would be a long journey home.  They'd need to use bark from the tree to haul across the snowfield, where they'd build a new ship on the ocean to take them home.  Back through the bay of iced fruits, along the coast of emerald mountains, and into the surreal shores of Bionica, still the only city in the world built on models of biomimicry. 

"Versace," said Tetras as they were rebuilding the ship.  "I never thanked you for letting us into parliament, and for saving our lives.  I was wrong about you; I had you pegged as a two-timing opportunist, out to steal our glory." 

"What makes you think I'm not?", sneered the ambassador. 

"You're a courageous leader.  Without you, we wouldn't have survived what happened yesterday.  I've only seen a handful of men with the kind of integrity you have." 

"Nor would we have survived without you," the ambassador replied with a smile, finally breaking the ice that had propped up the wall up between them. 

"So that means we get the beach house on Corcos Drive.  You didn't think we'd forget, did you?" 

"Ah yes, well there's something you should know.  This is a sensitive matter, so please don't be upset.  Porcelina has decided to move in with me.  She was afraid to tell you because you've looked out for her so long, and she knew it would hurt you.  Don't worry, you'll get the beach house and the glory and all that jazz... Why aren't you saying anything?  You ok?" 

Tetras looked out at the coast and saw all the multi-colored fruits that reminded him of home.  He was a hero now, and his sister no longer needed him.  Things would change for the better, even without her.  He'd already considered the possibility of her moving in with the ambassador.  In that case he'd get a chance to start a new life, take on new responsibilities, maybe find himself a woman and settle down.  And he'd get to keep Pavo as a pet, who'd be a total chick magnet.  He'd miss taking care of Porcelina, and would have to make sure Versace did it just as well, if not better, than he ever could.  Finally, he reflected on the possibility that government programs just might come in handy, sometimes. 

"Versace, I'm golden.  Just promise me one thing: you take care of her as well as you took care of your crew yesterday, and we won't have a problem." 

The two shook hands as the crew hoisted up the last of the partitions that would make their new ship.  It was ready to sail.  They could take off as early as the morning. 

On the long voyage home, Porcelina spent many days singing, combing her hair, and dreaming about a wedding she hoped would come.  Her heroism allowed her to mature into a conventional woman, even if that meant taking an unconventional path.  The vast ocean rose before her, in waves of bridal serenity.  Bells were in the future, bright and brimming with joy.  The earth whispered its womanly dream, binding in merriment all that a life of struggle withdraws, casting sunlight where the shadows grow thick.  In her own dreams she waltzed through Versace's paintings, a child now free from the wilderness, domesticated by an artificial one.  A new life was dawning, one where all the sand and all the ice and all the fury would be put to rest, settling on the floor of her past like the frosty fragments of a snow globe.