It's pretty late and I've had a long day at the lab. But I wanted to post this last letter from the first batch. It gives a little more insight into that starfish-man Thom has been talking about.
"Dear
Barnes,
The old
typewriter is back today. Lowercase g is still off, but I guess I can deal with
that.
I got a
better look at the Asterapomp in last night’s journey. Before he was smoky,
phantasmal. But now I can see him with good clarity. When I asked him about this, he said
something about synchronizing his pattern more in line with my time and space
dimensions.
He’s a
starfish-man, Barnes. That’s as close as I can come to it. The mosaic scales covering
his body look like starfish ossicles. Those four fat tentacles on the bottom
are clearly starfish arms now. As are the wizard-hats on top. The wriggling
things I saw inside it are tube-feet. I don’t know if this makes him less or
more bizarre.
I’ll admit
right now I know almost nothing about my host who has been leading me through
this nocturnal phantasmagoria. The Asterapomp’s
appearance raises some intriguing questions. He is echinoderm, but there are
obvious human elements to his anatomy. The five faces set around his center,
for one. The overall features are quite human-- particularly the noses. But, I
don’t know, they seem more like someone’s impression of what a human face looks
like rather than actual human features. And those strange gecko eyes. The
mouths clearly do not have even remotely hominid mandibles holding them up. The
way they move, they seem more like teeth-shaped plates embedded in the body
wall- specially modified dermal ossicles, perhaps?
His five
hands have thumbs on both sides like Clarke’s Overlords. The fingers are
jointed, but they do not seem like human hands. I have the distinct impression
they are starfish that have been modified into hands. Perhaps for my comfort?
I have
not been able to get much of his history out of him. He is quite evasive on the
matter. It is clear from his name-- like psychopomp- that he is meant to be a
bridge. He did say that there are other
beings that I will meet soon. Beings like him, but not like me. More like his
echinoderm half, perhaps? Am I going to met gigantic starfish?
On
occasion I have seen him bearing a staff that resembles a Khakkhara or sistrum.
He would jangle it lightly as he walked, the sound of which apparently caused
other beings at the hub-station to move out of his way. Is it a staff of
office? Or is it’s resemblance to the Buddhist monk’s instrument more than
coincidental. I thought perhaps it was a control key to open the world-gates,
but I have witnessed him opening them when he did not have this instrument.
I’ve noticed that it bears decorations that
resemble the Bubble-Comets. I have also seen representations of these creatures
in frescoes around the hub stations. They are clearly important to the
Asteroideans in some way. As incubation vessels, perhaps? I recall seeing a few
embryonic starfish inside the “ghosts” at Boston Corner. But the Comet’s seem
to be more important than just brood chambers.
Also, I
finally got around to drawing some of those ships I saw in my dream where I
went to the gate-hub. I’ve included them on the back of this sketch of the
Asterapomp. My meager sketches don’t do the real ships justice at all, but at
least they’ll hopefully give you some idea of the bizarre diversity of
interplanetary vehicles and visitors that came to the hub.
I
anticipate more dream journeys tonight. I’ll send you another letter with my
findings.
Thomas
P.S.
I’ve finished the Schenectady Stockade piece. Though, I’d like your opinion on
the accuracy of the British soldiers. Do you know where I can find a good
portrait of Colonel John Bradstreet?
P.P.S. I
tracked down that book on the Pavilion Lake microbialites. It’s checked out
now, but I’ll grab it as soon as it’s back in."
Make of that what you will.
There are still several more packets of letters to go through. I'll upload some more stuff soon once I get a free moment.
