PreviewMaterial/SiderealFiction
Sidereal Preview Fiction By Geoff Grabowski
Beneath the temperamental dome of Heaven’s sky, Shepherd of the North Star waited impatiently beside the marble stairs leading down to the glittering quicksilver canal, with its broad golden stripe down middle for priority traffic. Standing around him at a precisely polite distance of 17 feet, pretending he didn’t exist, was a small throng of better-than-thou upscale divinities. They were mostly office managers and scribe-pit overseers from the opulent (but by no means royal) townhouses that lined the street.
The Shepherd sighed at their furtive glances and imperious bearings, and they monitored him nervously in turn, afraid the Sidereal would demand the full obeisance his station deserved and ruin both their schedules and the seams on their freshly laundered apparel. The Shepherd politely made no acknowledgement whatsoever of their existence, obviating their need to cast themselves down and grovel. This wouldn’t have happened back in the good old days. Back when things ran properly in Heaven, these stuffy gods would merely have had to check their stride or stop to admire the road of tasteful little walled villas in order to escape any interaction with one another. By the time they got to the bottom of the glitteringly paved road, their fellow second-shift assistant master of accounts would have boarded his, hers or its own gondola and been out of sight up the canal. They’d have made a funny little procession on their way down the hill each morning, each one proud and straight-backed in its Essence, each one malingering just a little further behind to maintain a proprietous distance.
Now, in these fallen days, the procession had a tendency to form an uncomfortable puddle at the bottom of the hill, leaving a small crowd of upwardly mobile gods to mill listlessly and wait until the Celestial Transit System could shift boats their way. And so, they were all just waiting for their gondolas, admiring the heavenly shrubbery and staring in awe-struck horror at the Shepherd of the North Star’s back because this was not the sort of neighborhood that saw a lot of Celestial Exalted traffic. The Shepherd sighed again and set his little audience of Yu-Shan’s middle managers to terrified quivering with his regret for the location of his mistress’ apartment. It was a great location for the little pagoda he shared with the Queen of Nightingales, but every time he decided he didn’t want to take a cloud to work, this happened.
But now, the crane-headed master of the dock beckoned. Shepherd of the North Star took his staff from the hands of his black-clad raven familiar, and the two of them walked down to the dock together. Buku paid the master of the dock, and a boat slid up from the quicksilver depths. It was one of the better sort of dragon boats, and his familiar tipped the dockmaster with more Ambrosia. Buku took the rudder, while the Shepherd gently pushed the boat away from the dock with the butt of his staff. By the time he had taken his seat and the god-raven had gotten the dragon boat underway, the Shepherd had entirely forgotten about the milling little convention of gods back at the dock, waiting for their gondolas. What was there to remember, really? It was just another gold-cobbled lane in a second-rate bedroom neighborhood, seen from the wrong side of a long night of loving in the feathery embrace of Sweet Lament. It was just another footnote to the morning. Another footnote and another delay.
Shepherd of the North Star shook his hand impatiently, gesturing toward the center of the quicksilver canal. “Take the gold road, Buku.”
The god-raven nodded and cawed softly. Then he shifted the rudder, sending the dragon boat on a smooth arc into the golden fluid at the center of the canal. There was an instant of hesitation as the canal scrutinized the boat’s passengers and concluded they had sufficient authorization to use the channel. Then, the scenery blurred further, and a great golden pleasure barge going in the opposite direction passed in impossibly slow motion, the goddesses on the front singing and casting cherry blossoms over the channel before them.
Then, the god-raven was once again shifting the rudder to swing the boat out into the silver edges of the canal, but now, they were at the dock outside the Lotus, where lion dogs meticulously sniffed visitors, checking for bad intentions and hostile sorcery. Another sign of bad times. Shepherd of the North Star stepped briskly out of the boat and passed the checkpoint unchallenged but still delayed an impatient moment to allow the dogs to give his familiar a once-over. The instant they were away from the security cordon, he handed his staff back to the raven.
In was just another morning in Yu-Shan, and Shepherd of the North Star was already late for his first meeting ...
Remainder missing since I took it from a board post. Anyone have the rest? I think thats it, quite a tease by GCG
