Free Star Blaze by Keith Mansfield

immediately in front of them, was a moving walkway, a travelator wider than a motorway, that led toward a large, domed building. Still bouncing up and down, the Chancellor fell onto it and got to its feet with its robes even redder. The others followed. It was a relief not to have to climb any morestairs. Bentley lay down on the walkway, his tongue hanging out as he panted loudly.
    Johnny swatted away a couple of insects buzzing around him and turned to look behind. The nosecone of the
Spirit of London
was visible above the top of the steps. He was proud his ship didn’t look at all out of place. He turned back to find Clara and Bentley peering through the walkway, which was solid yet see-through. Melania didn’t stop on the surface. Beneath their feet the vast city continued, many kilometers down, buzzing with activity like an ant colony. Flying ships and winged aliens wove their way at frightening speeds between the tops of underground towers, reaching up from below like enormous stalagmites. Clara nudged Johnny and he looked up. The walkway was flanked on one side by seven statues, tens of meters high, ancient yet still recognizable as they glittered red, their diamond structures reflecting the sunlight.
    â€œThe other emperors,” said Alf. “From Themissa to Ophion.”
    Clara caught Johnny’s eye. The very first statue wore a powerful, yet kindly face. It reminded Johnny of their mum.
    â€œThemissa created the Empire after the fall of Lysentia,” the android continued. “She brought order out of the chaos—the galaxy has been grateful ever since.”
    â€œThe galaxy has outgrown such fairytales,” squeaked the Chancellor. “It is the Senate that maintains order. Speaking of which, we have arrived.” The wide travelator ended in front of a giant, curved wall, made of some sort of smooth black shiny stone. “The Senate sits in emergency session. You will wait in an anteroom until you are summoned.”
    The Chancellor led Johnny and the others through a massive entrance, thirty meters high, that opened into a courtyard, covered by a clear domed roof through which one of Melania’s twin suns shone weakly. At the center of the courtyard stood a round building, made of white stone, crumbling in parts, whichlooked so ancient it smelt of history. This had to be the Senate itself. But they turned away from it and walked across the giant flagstones (engraved with strange hieroglyphs), passing aliens of many different shapes and sizes. Their hides like elephants, the floating balls that were Hundras hovered above spots where different species gathered, glowing red as they translated the various interstellar languages. Johnny had to stop Bentley barking at them and was glad he’d put the Old English sheepdog on a lead.
    Eventually, they went through another oversized opening and into a side chamber with golden walls and a spectacular ceiling glistening with precious stones. As Johnny stared upward, he saw that they had been positioned to represent specific stars—massive rubies twinkled in place of red giants, while occasional sapphires showed the few young blue stars that were visible in the skies above Melania. What dominated the ceiling, though, was a vast circle of blackness—the supermassive black hole at the very heart of the galaxy.
    Although the room was indoors and covered, a stream ran through it, lined by trees with long leaves like ribbons that swayed in a non-existent breeze. Bentley collapsed underneath one of them and began to lap at the water.
    The Chancellor gave the sheepdog a look of total disdain, but didn’t prevent Bentley drinking. “Wait here,” said the Phasmeer, and floated away out of the room.
    Clara sat down by the stream to get her own breath back and started stroking Bentley. Alf disappeared in search of some sort of news service to catch up on what had been happening, leaving Johnny to gaze around the antechamber.