cosmic-backup/gopher/Trobairitz/parting-the-veil-01.txt

The Saggites of Dron, the summer star—Schedar in the Cassiopeia
constellation of old Earth—have a story to tell. I am Dinah
Musafa Trobairitz, and it is my duty and pleasure to tell it.

A brief introduction must come before we begin. I am the first of
the Trobairitz to touch the Quantum Entanglement Communicator, so
many of you will not know us. We are storytellers and travelers
missioned to share the tales of the universe with humanity. We are
not journalists. We are not interested in fact or avoiding bias,
of arguing philosophy and passing judgements. We share the
stories.

This story begins in the 855th year since the founding of Beroun,
when a young woman named Sinda began her first holiday. She was
leaving that industrious city behind for respite in the
picturesque town of Ausix. More importantly, she was going to see
and old friend.

The late morning air was warm despite the spray of salt water. The
ferry inched along toward the harbor against a determined wind,
forcing her to squint at the wooden homes peeking through the
trees. Their colorful roofs, a signature of Ausix, dotted the
hillside in its gentle arc toward the Ausentia mountains in the
distance. Beyond them and as far as the eye could see were the
tall sentinels with their perfectly perpendicular trunks and
prickly needle boughs. Together they formed an endless blanket of
green growing softer and hazier as the kilometers stretch on.
Directly ahead, approaching at a snails pace, jutted three great
wooden platforms painted in white that made up the small harbor.
Boats were arrayed with their masts jutting into sky and lines
wrapped amongst themselves like some nautical spider's fantasy.
Everything smelled of fish and salt and dirty engines. And peace,
thought Sinda.