By Abigail Falanga
The harmonic hall doors slammed, and Spark hurtled out and over the low balustrade to the pavement, rolling to a stop and barely catching himself from going over the edge into the clouds below the floating city of Sonata. It was a two-mile drop to the planet’s seething semi-gaseous surface, and nearly making that trip in an involuntary free dive sent electricity up Spark’s spine.
No time to think about that!
Spark straightened and took off to the left, feet striking telltale reverberations from the pavement. He could already hear pursuit. If he didn’t find somewhere to hide or, better yet, a way to make a quick getaway—
Ah! There. An empty plaza with a breathtaking view of the city to one side and clear skies to the other, with a starskimmer moored to the steps of a dock. No one was in sight—the perfect opportunity to take the small, sleek interplanetary vehicle and make a run for it.
Spark dove under cover in a narrow alley between two walls and waited for his pursuers to pass.
“Easy job, huh?” He huffed out an exasperated breath once the plaza was clear. “Lose my transport. Nearly get shot. Have to sweet-talk the universe’s most aggressive door guard. All for one little box.”
“Shut up!”
The new voice made Spark almost topple into the open, right in front of a passerby who would surely have questions. He turned to find a girl crouched in the alley behind him, maybe in her early teens but not much more, and waif-thin, which seemed odd for the prosperous city. That and the bright, bold colors she wore marked her as an undeniable enigma.
“And who might you be?” he demanded.
“No one.” She edged forward and pointed to the box under his arm. “What’s that?”
“Nothing. Not to a scruffy pigeon like you, anyway.” Spark hoped she would buy the law-abiding tone he assumed, mimicking the upper symphonic engineers he’d just evaded. “A boundary breaker if ever I saw one, and therefore no one I owe answers to, or—”
The girl set an urgent finger to her lips, then pointed to the wall towering over them. It shifted, wavered, dimmed into mist, and then cracked.
“You’re an idiot, talking like that with a vibration stabilizer in your hands,” she whispered with a sudden taunting smile.
“How do you know—”
She shook her head as she approached swiftly and lay a hand on the box and then began to sing—not like the professional choir who kept up a constant responsive chant along the core vaultings in the inner city, but with her own driving rhythm and distinctive lilt. And as she sang, the wall solidified, the crack healed, and a flourish of bright purple certainly not part of the original design appeared.
Then, she guided him into setting down the box and finally said, still speaking low, “I’m Cobai. Who are you and how in all the cloud forms did you get a vibration stabilizer?”
“I still don’t owe you answers, but something tells me you won’t turn me in.” Spark chewed his thumbnail. “I was hired to steal that. Didn’t realize what it could do, and now I’m not so sure it’s worth being chased out of the atmosphere for.”
“It’s worth many times whatever they’re paying you, but it’s way too dangerous to be carrying around.”
“I can see that. It’s how they maintain the city, isn’t it?” He stepped into the plaza and looked around with new respect.
Spire upon spire, Sonata rose, arching bridges connecting building to building, elegantly perfect soft-gray walls of a smooth substance that was neither stone, plaster, polymer, concrete, nor any other building material. Sonata was vast and impressive, pervaded with a strange, unrelenting melodic hum that had nothing to do with talk or traffic. The city was suspended in the air among the dense clouds, firm as if established on a mountain—the wonder of that corner of the galaxy, though how was kept top secret.
“Sonata was sung into being centuries ago, and the vibration stabilizers maintain it,” Cobai said, bitterness edging her voice. “It hasn’t changed in decades. No one is allowed to add anything or build new forms. We only maintain.”
Spark looked at her curiously. “And you think that’s wrong?”
“Of course it is! Look at this place—it could be so much more if we were just allowed to use a stabilizer. This city could keep growing. There could be other cities! There isn’t enough room for everyone but easily could be. Room for homes and…” The girl trailed off, scowling.
“Huh. I see.” Spark looked again at the adornment the girl had sung into existence, wild and new and full of potential nowhere else to be seen in the constrained old city. “Look, I gotta get out of here before they come back.” He walked toward the starskimmer.
Cobai raised her voice, sounding skeptical. “Is that yours?”
“It will be in a moment.” He grinned back at her.
“You’ll never make it. That starskimmer is five yards away, and you don’t have the tether key.”
“Then sing me a bridge, Cobai!” Spark stood at the top of the steps and looked down at rose-colored clouds and then back up at the city. “Sing me a bridge, and I’ll let you keep the stabilizer. Something tells me you’ll put it to better use here than my client would.”
“Really?” A disbelieving grin spread across the girl’s face. She snatched the box and bounded forward on silent feet.
Then, Cobai began to sing, jubilant, percussive, soaring. From the vapor around them, a bridge formed a bold arc toward the hovering starskimmer.
Half hesitant, Spark stepped on the bridge. It held, and he sprinted across, then settled into the starskimmer and waved back at Cobai as he launched.
The stabilizer was better off with her. And Spark hadn’t done too badly. He grinned, securing the priceless tremolo crystal he’d taken for himself.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Spectacular! So imaginative. Abigail’s stories never disappoint
Your world building about world building makes me want to do some world building. ^_^
Creative story and I can’t wait for a follow up!
I wish all buildings and structures were that easy to build –sigh. Really enjoyed this story! So imaginative!
Great read. Well done at communicating the vastness of this world in one short story.
“Sing me a bridge!” What a dramatic moment!
One of the most unique flash fiction stories I’ve read recently. Fantastic.
Sonata might seem idyllic, but it has problems. Bars everywhere.
Very nice! I like the world and the characters and this version of Spark.
This was beautiful! Sonata sounds like a place I’d love to go visit.