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With nothing but her good looks and a few supplies
The White Holes of Kerajaan
Part Two
It should not surprise regular readers of the travel blog, Are You There Yet, that I will do what I must for the story, sometimes at all costs, even if it means losing a girlfriend or time itself. And I don’t mean figuratively I mean losing time literally. So, if there’s a story to catch, I’m running after it.
Case and point, I am chasing Dr. Cah Rea Lyar through the Kerajaan rain forest at speeds I’ve only seen from world-class athletes. She’s kicking up water and mud ahead of me and I am struggling to keep up. I can see her brown tanned legs charging and her dark hair bouncing as she fires through the dark shadowy forest. It is surprising to see her leap over a running creek and clear it no problem. She’s not running from me, mind you, she’s running from what she and I witnessed a few survey markings back and believe me, it scared the waste out of us!
The Previous Day
Having completed his mission of introducing Dr. Cah Rea Lyar to me, Tnetnu Frmanoos fires away in his vehicle and I am left alone with a rainforest scienteer. She pokes around the area; I presume she’s been working most of the day, and she then begins a blab-fest about the plight of HER rain forest and bio-diversity this or bio-neutrality that. I endure a well-deserved verbal beating related to my enviro-footprint and my masculine aggression on the planet with my consumption of bovaneer, which can excrete mushrooms of gaseous terror on the ozone. (Says she.) Her bludgeoning of my soul goes on for roughly an hour and I’m ready to commit suicide except, I’m eager to try the drinks at the Hydeeng 5. That, and her very nice legs, keeps me alive.
She finally gives in or tires of talking. And now she says we can see the white holes tomorrow. I think I just wasted a day. What can I say? I hop into her vehicle to ride back to Kalah Waktu. She says she must return to the Kalah Waktu University for reasons I don’t care about.
But I do my best to talk her into stopping at the Hydeeng 5 Hotel to have a drink with me. I can see her struggling with the idea.
“Alright,” she says.
I smile.
“Just one,” she barks.
Considering she’ll be driving, just one is fine by me. The Hydeeng 5 is spectacular and I must jot down some thoughts for the website. It’s a smaller hotel than its rivals on the main island, but it holds its own with amazing architecture. Driving up and from a distance, the building of steel and glass looks organic. It melds into the surrounding rainforest, making its jarring lines contour like magic. Whether with mirrors or true magic, the hotel is gorgeous.
We are a bit conspicuous in the cocktail lounge. Dr. Lyar, who insists I call her Rea, is a bit smudged from delving into weeds, dirt and who knows what else. She perspires heavily and her body odor is strong. Not bad, just noticeable and extremely alluring.
“Always been a writer?” She says to me.
I sip my stir straw and delight at the taste of the drink I describe in Part One of this tale. “No. But I guess at some point, dastardly pirate, was just not a realistic goal.” She giggles at my humor. “What about you? Have you always wanted to dig into dirt?” I ask.
She frowns at my description of her job and sips her drink. “No. But damsel in distress held by dastardly pirate seemed a bit lacking in the income department As a pirate, you are well aware of this.”
We both laugh at ourselves and spend a good time getting to know each other. But since this is a story of white holes, I will cut to the chase, figuratively and literally, and get on with the tale.
The drive back to the ferry dock features Dr. Lyar operating the old, dusty heap with a floor stick-shift the length of a sword and just as difficult to maneuver. She up-shifts and down-shifts like a pro. Her tiny body bounces with every hole hit on the dirt path. Her tanned legs operate the clutch and accelerator fiercely. The girl nonchalantly drives that manly hunk of junk, effortlessly. The drink does not affect her. I inwardly pray she doesn’t flip the vehicle. I hold on to whatever I can and bounce as she does at every divot in the road. Occasionally I glance at her exceptional legs. I figure it could be the last time I have that pleasure.
After our meeting in the field, she agreed to show me the likely place to find the famous Kerajaan white holes. I could tell she lacked enthusiasm about the white holes thing, but; she agreed. I wondered about that.
As we reach the ferry dock, two things go through my mind. One, whew! We made it. Two, Dr. Lyar seems to hide something from me. I convince myself it is about the white holes. My extra senses working over-time.
“I think it’s best to visit that area in the morning,” she says. She pulls the vehicle into the line of other vehicles to grab the ferry back to the main island. “It’s safer.” The last things she said before they signal to pull forward onto the ferry. The grinding of the clutch loud and then the vehicle jumps forward. She scares the wax out of a few people. She doesn’t flinch. What a blunt object she is, I think to myself. She’s cute, so she gets away with it.
We climb out of the vehicle and I see her reach into her backpack in the backseat. She then comes around to where I station myself, looking down into the water below, thinking about asking her to come clean. Not because of the sweat. I mean, I want to know what is she hiding?
“Wanna swig?”
I turn to Dr. Lyar. She offers a well-worn pewter flask. It’s horrible and beautiful all at once. I can see the mileage on the thing, and surely that mileage has some meaningful history attached.
I take it from her and press it against my lips. She’s amused at my expression, which means I am a doofus. The taste of the junk is strong but unique.
“Good Unc,” I say. “What in Shogville is this?”
Looking at the flask, I see a mostly worn out engraving. It says, Cap’n Grackle. I believe it does. I know that name, but maybe I’m wrong and it says something else. I hold out the flask.
She smiles and takes back the flask. “If I tell you what’s in here, I must tie you up and hide you away for a very long time.”
Hints of this nature are subtle and or camouflaged very well. This was a hint in a league of its own. It was subtle, and it was a mallet across my forehead. Her devious smile confirmed the latter. Blunt, I say. Dr. Lyar was a fireball, hiding in that slight frame of hers. She stepped closer to me and I could smell the day’s heat seeping from her pores. Pungent and alluring all at once. It was so hot that pellets of sweat were running down her face and legs. Mine, too, I suppose.
She drops me off at my hotel. “I’ll be here in the morning for breakfast,” she says and pauses. “Your treat.”
“Of course,” I say.
After another devious smile, she fires off in her apocalyptic vehicle spewing clutch grinding noises down the road. I can only smile and wonder if any man has ever tamed her. Doubtful, I tell myself.
Not a Small Event
The morning starts out in the Mollir Azur Hotel dining room with strong coffee from Eklisivia, modu eggs from Indir Catan and shogage (not real) from the Poneet Islands. Dr. Lyar eats robustly and pays little attention to the man paying for her enormous plate. I chose an equally monstrous plate. I splurged on us. (The AYTY accountant be damned!)
She’s wearing an identical outfit this morning but for the color, which leans towards dull yellow instead of the military green of the previous day. We jump into her ancient vehicle, which looks even more retched today than it did yesterday. Maybe my focus was elsewhere yesterday.
We’re off and flying. “We will travel for a while. I hope you have a strong back. It’s a bumpy ride.” She speaks loudly, doing her best to speak over the screaming engine.
My back can take it. I think. But I must talk now about the hotel. The Mollir Azur is a frequent recipient of five stars only because six stars would just be bragging. The rooms are so calm that only sleep disturbs that calm. An ambient lighting engulfs each room, tuned to the wellbeing of the body. Soundproof walls and doors add to the serenity. Temperatures track the occupants and compensate for body heat. Untainted water, streams from both shower and vanity and the bedding surely must be from the sky on a fluffy, cloudy day. There is simplicity and yet sophistication to their menu as well. Don’t expect too many sprigs of nature thrown onto your plate as some pretension to fine dinning. It’s food, and it’s good. Servings are plentiful but far from gluttonous. If this all sounds as if I am exaggerating—try them the next time you visit the Kerajaan Islands for a rain forest excursion. The experience prepares you for an adventure... as I am.
We bump along for miles after the ferry ride from the main island to Rajka Island. Dr. Lyar was not jesting when she said it would be a journey. It is, and frankly, I am tired before the walking begins. But it is worth the inconvenience if she can show me a white hole. We know little of these white holes and scienteers refer to them as a hoax. There are stories, several stories in fact, of these phenomena going back hundreds of years. You can look them up.
Along the journey I see the typical rain forests I expect. Very green, all kinds of creatures swinging in the trees. Boiling and soaked. But soon and suddenly things change. It’s as if a hard cut transition in a movie takes place. The glow of the green forests turns to an ominous dull violet-orange hue. It is strange as I look up to see the sky changing before my eyes. I turn to Dr. Lyar and she has lost the look of a confident adventurer and her grip on the stick shift is intense.
“You okay?” I ask this, knowing she likely will not be honest. To my surprise, she is honest but only shakes her head and looks at me. Her eyes show me fear and I wonder why she agreed to be here.
The day is near disappearing now. I don’t understand it. The fiery Mujand sun was ablaze minutes ago. Where did it go? It is at this point that Dr. Lyar brings the vehicle to a slowing stop. We coast to the edge of a dense and dark canopy of trees that soar high into the air. There is no doubt we are no longer on the Kanzot. (You can look that up, too.)
“What is this place?” I ask. I didn’t intend on sounding so ominous, but our surroundings influence my voice.
She glances at me and turns the vehicle’s engine off. “We’re here,” is all she says, and she disembarks and moves to the rear.
I sit there looking into the dark forest. It’s strange all right, but something else is catching my attention. There are no sounds. I mean, no creature sounds. No buzzing, no bird chirping. Not even the wind enters this forest. I see it clearly but only for a short distance and then it is just dark. Now I am nervous.
What have I got myself into?
Dr. Cah Rea Lyar slings her backpack over onto her shoulder and I notice she is sans weapon. We are about to head into the wild, ominous rain forest where legends of white holes exist. It purports these unknown phenomenons to be home to creatures. Some folks call them the little people. Others call them evil demons. That matters little to me, but I believe we need some protection.
“No rifle, Dr. Lyar?” I wonder for a quick second if I’m being a bit pusillanimous. She seems content on entering the rain forest with nothing but her good looks and a few supplies.
“There won’t be any animals,” she says with an eerie wave of her hand.
“Nothing?” I just am not prepared to be unprepared.
She reaches into her pack. She pulls out a flare gun. “This should clue a rescue team where they might find our bodies. The general area, anyway.” She turns away. Then turns back to me. “If someone sees it.”
She smiles and heads into the dark rainforest, turns back to me as she slips her farewell gun into her backpack. Her devious smile again. I don’t like her anymore.
Once in the dark forest, the feel of the air changes. Something has changed. My ears, although they have not popped, feel as if I am underwater. There is something here that is indescribable at the moment. (Give me a few more minutes and I’ll find the words.)
I am following Dr. Lyar, Queen of the unknown, and I feel as though I am doing this again. Or my visual perception slows and I now understand the concept; déjà vu. I keep my eyes on her legs and boots. It makes me feel grounded somehow. I look up occasionally at the rain forest and marvel at the dripping vines and leaves. I know it’s not possible, but I believe there is colored water dripping from somewhere or from nowhere. That color is iridescence or some goniochromism. Maybe you would describe this falling water as the color of bubbles from a child’s bottle of soap. It looks amazing, but I get dizzy and lower my vision to the ground. And now I must stop.
“Stop.” I say to Dr. Lyar.
She stops and turns to me. “I know,” she says, knowing exactly what I am feeling. “It’s part of the experience. You won’t fall. You won’t vomit.” She smiles. “Enjoy the view.” She turns to look all around her. “I know he’s here somewhere.”
That last thing she says sounded ominous. “Who?” I ask. “Who is here?”
Part Two
It should not surprise regular readers of the travel blog, Are You There Yet, that I will do what I must for the story, sometimes at all costs, even if it means losing a girlfriend or time itself. And I don’t mean figuratively I mean losing time literally. So, if there’s a story to catch, I’m running after it.
Case and point, I am chasing Dr. Cah Rea Lyar through the Kerajaan rain forest at speeds I’ve only seen from world-class athletes. She’s kicking up water and mud ahead of me and I am struggling to keep up. I can see her brown tanned legs charging and her dark hair bouncing as she fires through the dark shadowy forest. It is surprising to see her leap over a running creek and clear it no problem. She’s not running from me, mind you, she’s running from what she and I witnessed a few survey markings back and believe me, it scared the waste out of us!
The Previous Day
Having completed his mission of introducing Dr. Cah Rea Lyar to me, Tnetnu Frmanoos fires away in his vehicle and I am left alone with a rainforest scienteer. She pokes around the area; I presume she’s been working most of the day, and she then begins a blab-fest about the plight of HER rain forest and bio-diversity this or bio-neutrality that. I endure a well-deserved verbal beating related to my enviro-footprint and my masculine aggression on the planet with my consumption of bovaneer, which can excrete mushrooms of gaseous terror on the ozone. (Says she.) Her bludgeoning of my soul goes on for roughly an hour and I’m ready to commit suicide except, I’m eager to try the drinks at the Hydeeng 5. That, and her very nice legs, keeps me alive.
She finally gives in or tires of talking. And now she says we can see the white holes tomorrow. I think I just wasted a day. What can I say? I hop into her vehicle to ride back to Kalah Waktu. She says she must return to the Kalah Waktu University for reasons I don’t care about.
But I do my best to talk her into stopping at the Hydeeng 5 Hotel to have a drink with me. I can see her struggling with the idea.
“Alright,” she says.
I smile.
“Just one,” she barks.
Considering she’ll be driving, just one is fine by me. The Hydeeng 5 is spectacular and I must jot down some thoughts for the website. It’s a smaller hotel than its rivals on the main island, but it holds its own with amazing architecture. Driving up and from a distance, the building of steel and glass looks organic. It melds into the surrounding rainforest, making its jarring lines contour like magic. Whether with mirrors or true magic, the hotel is gorgeous.
We are a bit conspicuous in the cocktail lounge. Dr. Lyar, who insists I call her Rea, is a bit smudged from delving into weeds, dirt and who knows what else. She perspires heavily and her body odor is strong. Not bad, just noticeable and extremely alluring.
“Always been a writer?” She says to me.
I sip my stir straw and delight at the taste of the drink I describe in Part One of this tale. “No. But I guess at some point, dastardly pirate, was just not a realistic goal.” She giggles at my humor. “What about you? Have you always wanted to dig into dirt?” I ask.
She frowns at my description of her job and sips her drink. “No. But damsel in distress held by dastardly pirate seemed a bit lacking in the income department As a pirate, you are well aware of this.”
We both laugh at ourselves and spend a good time getting to know each other. But since this is a story of white holes, I will cut to the chase, figuratively and literally, and get on with the tale.
The drive back to the ferry dock features Dr. Lyar operating the old, dusty heap with a floor stick-shift the length of a sword and just as difficult to maneuver. She up-shifts and down-shifts like a pro. Her tiny body bounces with every hole hit on the dirt path. Her tanned legs operate the clutch and accelerator fiercely. The girl nonchalantly drives that manly hunk of junk, effortlessly. The drink does not affect her. I inwardly pray she doesn’t flip the vehicle. I hold on to whatever I can and bounce as she does at every divot in the road. Occasionally I glance at her exceptional legs. I figure it could be the last time I have that pleasure.
After our meeting in the field, she agreed to show me the likely place to find the famous Kerajaan white holes. I could tell she lacked enthusiasm about the white holes thing, but; she agreed. I wondered about that.
As we reach the ferry dock, two things go through my mind. One, whew! We made it. Two, Dr. Lyar seems to hide something from me. I convince myself it is about the white holes. My extra senses working over-time.
“I think it’s best to visit that area in the morning,” she says. She pulls the vehicle into the line of other vehicles to grab the ferry back to the main island. “It’s safer.” The last things she said before they signal to pull forward onto the ferry. The grinding of the clutch loud and then the vehicle jumps forward. She scares the wax out of a few people. She doesn’t flinch. What a blunt object she is, I think to myself. She’s cute, so she gets away with it.
We climb out of the vehicle and I see her reach into her backpack in the backseat. She then comes around to where I station myself, looking down into the water below, thinking about asking her to come clean. Not because of the sweat. I mean, I want to know what is she hiding?
“Wanna swig?”
I turn to Dr. Lyar. She offers a well-worn pewter flask. It’s horrible and beautiful all at once. I can see the mileage on the thing, and surely that mileage has some meaningful history attached.
I take it from her and press it against my lips. She’s amused at my expression, which means I am a doofus. The taste of the junk is strong but unique.
“Good Unc,” I say. “What in Shogville is this?”
Looking at the flask, I see a mostly worn out engraving. It says, Cap’n Grackle. I believe it does. I know that name, but maybe I’m wrong and it says something else. I hold out the flask.
She smiles and takes back the flask. “If I tell you what’s in here, I must tie you up and hide you away for a very long time.”
Hints of this nature are subtle and or camouflaged very well. This was a hint in a league of its own. It was subtle, and it was a mallet across my forehead. Her devious smile confirmed the latter. Blunt, I say. Dr. Lyar was a fireball, hiding in that slight frame of hers. She stepped closer to me and I could smell the day’s heat seeping from her pores. Pungent and alluring all at once. It was so hot that pellets of sweat were running down her face and legs. Mine, too, I suppose.
She drops me off at my hotel. “I’ll be here in the morning for breakfast,” she says and pauses. “Your treat.”
“Of course,” I say.
After another devious smile, she fires off in her apocalyptic vehicle spewing clutch grinding noises down the road. I can only smile and wonder if any man has ever tamed her. Doubtful, I tell myself.
Not a Small Event
The morning starts out in the Mollir Azur Hotel dining room with strong coffee from Eklisivia, modu eggs from Indir Catan and shogage (not real) from the Poneet Islands. Dr. Lyar eats robustly and pays little attention to the man paying for her enormous plate. I chose an equally monstrous plate. I splurged on us. (The AYTY accountant be damned!)
She’s wearing an identical outfit this morning but for the color, which leans towards dull yellow instead of the military green of the previous day. We jump into her ancient vehicle, which looks even more retched today than it did yesterday. Maybe my focus was elsewhere yesterday.
We’re off and flying. “We will travel for a while. I hope you have a strong back. It’s a bumpy ride.” She speaks loudly, doing her best to speak over the screaming engine.
My back can take it. I think. But I must talk now about the hotel. The Mollir Azur is a frequent recipient of five stars only because six stars would just be bragging. The rooms are so calm that only sleep disturbs that calm. An ambient lighting engulfs each room, tuned to the wellbeing of the body. Soundproof walls and doors add to the serenity. Temperatures track the occupants and compensate for body heat. Untainted water, streams from both shower and vanity and the bedding surely must be from the sky on a fluffy, cloudy day. There is simplicity and yet sophistication to their menu as well. Don’t expect too many sprigs of nature thrown onto your plate as some pretension to fine dinning. It’s food, and it’s good. Servings are plentiful but far from gluttonous. If this all sounds as if I am exaggerating—try them the next time you visit the Kerajaan Islands for a rain forest excursion. The experience prepares you for an adventure... as I am.
We bump along for miles after the ferry ride from the main island to Rajka Island. Dr. Lyar was not jesting when she said it would be a journey. It is, and frankly, I am tired before the walking begins. But it is worth the inconvenience if she can show me a white hole. We know little of these white holes and scienteers refer to them as a hoax. There are stories, several stories in fact, of these phenomena going back hundreds of years. You can look them up.
Along the journey I see the typical rain forests I expect. Very green, all kinds of creatures swinging in the trees. Boiling and soaked. But soon and suddenly things change. It’s as if a hard cut transition in a movie takes place. The glow of the green forests turns to an ominous dull violet-orange hue. It is strange as I look up to see the sky changing before my eyes. I turn to Dr. Lyar and she has lost the look of a confident adventurer and her grip on the stick shift is intense.
“You okay?” I ask this, knowing she likely will not be honest. To my surprise, she is honest but only shakes her head and looks at me. Her eyes show me fear and I wonder why she agreed to be here.
The day is near disappearing now. I don’t understand it. The fiery Mujand sun was ablaze minutes ago. Where did it go? It is at this point that Dr. Lyar brings the vehicle to a slowing stop. We coast to the edge of a dense and dark canopy of trees that soar high into the air. There is no doubt we are no longer on the Kanzot. (You can look that up, too.)
“What is this place?” I ask. I didn’t intend on sounding so ominous, but our surroundings influence my voice.
She glances at me and turns the vehicle’s engine off. “We’re here,” is all she says, and she disembarks and moves to the rear.
I sit there looking into the dark forest. It’s strange all right, but something else is catching my attention. There are no sounds. I mean, no creature sounds. No buzzing, no bird chirping. Not even the wind enters this forest. I see it clearly but only for a short distance and then it is just dark. Now I am nervous.
What have I got myself into?
Dr. Cah Rea Lyar slings her backpack over onto her shoulder and I notice she is sans weapon. We are about to head into the wild, ominous rain forest where legends of white holes exist. It purports these unknown phenomenons to be home to creatures. Some folks call them the little people. Others call them evil demons. That matters little to me, but I believe we need some protection.
“No rifle, Dr. Lyar?” I wonder for a quick second if I’m being a bit pusillanimous. She seems content on entering the rain forest with nothing but her good looks and a few supplies.
“There won’t be any animals,” she says with an eerie wave of her hand.
“Nothing?” I just am not prepared to be unprepared.
She reaches into her pack. She pulls out a flare gun. “This should clue a rescue team where they might find our bodies. The general area, anyway.” She turns away. Then turns back to me. “If someone sees it.”
She smiles and heads into the dark rainforest, turns back to me as she slips her farewell gun into her backpack. Her devious smile again. I don’t like her anymore.
Once in the dark forest, the feel of the air changes. Something has changed. My ears, although they have not popped, feel as if I am underwater. There is something here that is indescribable at the moment. (Give me a few more minutes and I’ll find the words.)
I am following Dr. Lyar, Queen of the unknown, and I feel as though I am doing this again. Or my visual perception slows and I now understand the concept; déjà vu. I keep my eyes on her legs and boots. It makes me feel grounded somehow. I look up occasionally at the rain forest and marvel at the dripping vines and leaves. I know it’s not possible, but I believe there is colored water dripping from somewhere or from nowhere. That color is iridescence or some goniochromism. Maybe you would describe this falling water as the color of bubbles from a child’s bottle of soap. It looks amazing, but I get dizzy and lower my vision to the ground. And now I must stop.
“Stop.” I say to Dr. Lyar.
She stops and turns to me. “I know,” she says, knowing exactly what I am feeling. “It’s part of the experience. You won’t fall. You won’t vomit.” She smiles. “Enjoy the view.” She turns to look all around her. “I know he’s here somewhere.”
That last thing she says sounded ominous. “Who?” I ask. “Who is here?”
TO BE CONTINUED...
Dr. Cah Rea Lyar
Yes, Dr. Cah Rea Lyar dresses like this almost every working day -- Timit Garz
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