“Captain,” Norman said. “Perhaps one of your crew could stay here with Freddy and work on the contract? I’d love to give you a tour of our hive.”
Relief flooded through Josie at the thought of escaping the protracted contract negotiations. “That sounds wonderful.”
She looked at Bao Lei and Reyna. Both of them made their best puppy-dog eyes, but Josie couldn’t face another hour of being told everything was a trap. “Bao Lei, you stay here and help Freddy with the contract. We’ll be back soon.”
Bao Lei grimaced, but nodded. Reyna grinned and clapped her hands in delight.
“This way, Captain,” Norman said. “We’ll take the tunnels, so you don’t have to use the tongues again.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Josie said.
Norman led Josie and Reyna out into the dark tunnels of the hive. They wound their way down through the hive, passing the occasional Delfan, who stared at them in apparent shock. Josie felt reassured some Delfans reacted more predictably to their presence.
Norman led them through an opening in the tunnel wall, into a vast cavern. Mushrooms covered every surface.
“This is our mushroom farm,” Norman said. “We’ve developed a strain of mushrooms that grow quickly. Enough grow each day to feed the entire hive and the others outside.”
Josie watched Delfans moving through the cavern in pairs: one Delfan would pick a mushroom and put it into a net bag; the second Delfan would make a mark on a piece of paper each time a mushroom was dropped into the bag.
“What are those people with the papers doing?” Josie asked.
“They’re representatives from the Protectors,” Norman said. “They’re quality control for the farmers.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to do that at the end, when the mushrooms are collected into one place?” Josie asked.
Norman chuckled. “They do that too. The Protectors insist on controls at five stages of the process. It’s incredibly inefficient. Come on, I’ll show you one of our maintenance teams.”
Norman led them out of the cavern and down another series of tunnels, until they came to a pile of rubble blocking the way. Ten Delfans stood around, making marks on pieces of paper. An eleventh Delfan with a sash watched them.
“Forms here too?” Josie asked.
“They have to fill them out before they’re allowed to clear the tunnel,” Norman said. “This is the second day running on this collapse. They filled the forms out incorrectly yesterday, so the tunnel had to be re-collapsed.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Reyna said.
“Just wait, I saved the best for last,” Norman said.
Norman led them back through the hive until they emerged into a gigantic room. It stretched away as far as Josie could see. On one wall, a long window showed the fields and the partying Delfans outside. Inside the room, rows of desks extended back, a Delfan at each one. Towers of papers covered all of their desks.
A package of forms dropped from the ceiling onto a nearby desk. Josie spotted more purple mouths up there. Lolling tongues curled around parcels of forms, then spat them out onto other desks around the room. Almost hypnotised, Josie watched packages move back and forth. With so many desks it was hard to be certain, but she thought most of the packages were just going in circles.
“Over half of the hive works here,” Norman said.
A Delfan at the front stood up. “Invalid count.”
Norman sighed. “That’s a shame. Yesterday’s crop of mushrooms will have to be destroyed.”
“Why?” Josie asked.
“The count was off between the checks and the actual number of mushrooms,” Norman said.
“But that doesn’t mean that the mushrooms aren’t edible,” Josie said.
Norman wiggled his tentacles back and forth. Josie assumed this was a shrug. “Come on, I’ll show you the living quarters.”
Norman led them further down into the hive, into an even gloomier corridor with frequent openings off both sides. “Keep quiet, please. Most of the Delfans like to use their rooms for silent reflection or sleep.”
Josie glanced through the entrances as they passed. A single Delfan stood in each alcove; some staring into space, others with their eyes closed. As they approached the end of the corridor, caterwauling echoed from an alcove ahead. A Delfan emerged and began spinning around, his tentacles flailing in the air above him.
“Damn it,” Norman said. “Guards!”
Josie heard the dry rattle of running claws behind her. She dodged out of the way as two immense Delfans pushed past. They were twice the size of any Delfan she had seen so far.
“Another one for eviction,” Norman said. “Damned druggies.”
The two huge guards forced the dancing Delfan down the corridor, away from them.
“What’s going to happen to him?” Josie asked.
“He’ll be put outside with the others. Anyone caught doing wouza is evicted from the hive, never to return,” Norman said.
“Does that happen a lot? There are a lot of Delfans outside,” Josie said.
“There’s a new one every day. Pretty soon, we’re not going to have anyone left in the hive. People these days have no principles.” Norman sighed. “All right, let’s go and see how Freddy is doing with that contract.”
Chapter 3
Doc arced the second shuttle through the atmosphere, and headed toward the hive. Performing a graceful circuit, she studied the partying Delfans below her.
“There it is,” she said, pointing to the first shuttle. She continued her circuit to the other side of the hive and landed there, as far away from the first shuttle as possible.
“This isn’t a good idea, Doc,” Topik said.
“Just remember my orders,” Doc said. “Don’t interfere and don’t tell the captain where I am.”
“As you command.”
“Show me again before I go out there,” Doc said.
A small hologram of a Delfan appeared in front of her. She reached out with her right tentacle and spun the image around, examining it from the back. “What do you think?”
“It looks pretty convincing to me.”
She smiled. “Thanks, Topik.”
Doc moved to the exit hatch. Barely waiting for it to open, she scuttled down the ramp on her newly-made claws.
On the other side of the field, two Delfans stood gathering flowers. Doc danced over to them, waving her tentacles in the air. “Hi there.”
“Joy and happiness to you, sister,” one of the Delfans said.
“And to you, brother,” Doc said. “I’m Doc.”
“I’m Damien and this is my sister, Angela,” the Delfan replied.
“You both seem happy.”
“The power of the flower fills me with joy,” Damien said.
“That and the wouza,” Angela added. Damien and Angela collapsed in a fit of giggles, flailing their tentacles and stomping their claws.
“What’s wouza?” Doc asked.
“You haven’t heard of wouza?” Angela asked, astonished. “It’s joy and happiness on the tip of your tongue. One taste and the world becomes a better place for everyone.”
Doc smiled. “Mind if I get some?”
“Oh, getting it is simple,” Angela said. “Just gather the flowers, sister Doc.”
Angela and Damien went back to picking flowers. Doc followed suit, until her tentacles couldn’t hold any more.
Giggling and spinning, Angela and Damien led her through the crowds of Delfans, before emerging in a clear area. A huge creature crouched in the middle of the space with a wooden box on its back. Four strong legs supported a sinuous, chitin-covered body. Ten times larger than a Delfan, it seemed to have more teeth than a Mormon bachelor party.
“Is that thing safe?” Doc asked.
“Don’t go near the pouka or it will rip you to shreds,” Angela said. She pointed to a Delfan on the edge of the area. “Only Mike can approach it. Give your flowers to him and he’ll give you the wouza.”
&nbs
p; Doc walked over to Mike and held out her flowers. He grabbed them with one tentacle, and tossed her a small paper packet. She tried to catch it, but forgot she didn’t have any hands. The packet bounced off her right tentacle, then her left. After several bounces she caught it. It couldn’t hold more than a few grams of whatever wouza was.
Angela and Damien handed over their flowers and received their own packets. Doc scrutinised them, waiting to see what they did with the wouza.
“Come on, sisters,” Damien said. “Come back to my tent and we can taste heaven together.”
“All right, Damien, you sly dog,” Doc said.
“Huh?” Damien asked.
“Lead the way, brother,” Doc said.
Damien threaded a path through the packed Delfans to a large tent. He closed the flaps of the tent behind them. Inside the tent, a broad, flat stone sat on a group of dirt columns. Angela walked to it and opened her paper packet, dumping its contents onto the surface: a tiny heap of shining crystals. Damien followed suit. Both of them extended their long tongues and licked up the crystals in one go.
Doc scuttled to the table and emptied her own packet onto it. She slurped up the contents. The crystals tasted unbearably sour, but Doc bubbled in anticipation of the effects of the drug.
Damien and Angela raised their tentacles in the air and began undulating them, their eyes on their flowing tentacles.
“I can see the love,” Angela said.
Doc stared around her, but the tent looked just as boring as before. “What does love look like?”
“Glowing sparkles and shiny sunlight surrounding us,” Angela said.
“I can’t see anything,” Doc said.
“Harsh,” Damien said. “You must have got a bad batch. It happens sometimes. Grab something to eat and stay mellow. We’ll get more when this wears off.”
Doc’s stomach rumbled. She realised she was quite hungry. There was a bowl of mushrooms in the corner. Doc grabbed a couple and threw them into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. The room around her shimmered and began to glow. Light streamed from the table in front of her.
“I think the wouza just kicked in,” Doc said. She looked at Damien and Angela. Both of them glowed violet, long waves of light shining from them. They were both beautiful, but Damien’s light was deep and vibrant. Doc giggled. “You know, Damien, you’re kind of handsome for a Delfan.”
***
Josie did her best to wobble the shuttle into the bay and land it with a moderate crunch instead of a crack. She sighed and turned it off. Lifting the pile of paper on her lap, she set it aside and tried to squeeze sideways out of the seat. The entire shuttle overflowed with paper. Freddy didn’t kid around when he wrote a contract.
Moving piles of paper from in front of her to behind her, she waded to the hatch and slapped it open. Waves of paper spilled out into the shuttle bay, pushing Josie ahead of them. Bao Lei and Reyna stumbled after her.
“Topik,” Josie said. “Can you send some bots to get all of this?”
“Of course, Captain,” Topik said. “Where would you like them to take it? Your cabin?”
She looked at the piles of paper still spilling from the shuttle and shuddered. “Is there somewhere you can scan it in and examine it, Topik?”
There was a splutter of static from the speaker. “You want me to read the contract?”
“Well, I figured you’re smarter than the rest of us. You’ll be able to make sense of all of this. There have to be a hundred thousand pages here.”
“I’ll get the bots to take it to my AI core room, Captain,” Topik said, not falling for Josie’s obvious flattery.
“Do we have a conference room?” Josie asked.
“There’s one on the top deck, beside your cabin,” Reyna said.
“Topik, let the rest of the crew know to meet us there,” Josie said.
***
A long onyx table with bands of black, white and red running through it, sat in the middle of the conference room. Even without a second row, it would seat at least twenty.
Josie slid her chair closer to the table. “Puffnow has major problems. They’re drowning in bureaucracy and drugs. I called you all here to see if you have any suggestions.”
Pol snorted at her from the far end of the table. “I never had to ask for suggestions.”
“Should we tell the captain about your success rate from earlier?” Marc asked. “I forget. How many was it again?”
“I didn’t become a… legendary space captain, without getting the best possible input from everyone,” Josie said.
“Whatever,” Pol said, folding his arms and pushing back. If he got any further away, he’d be in the corridor.
“Topik, what are the best methods for deal with drug addiction?” Josie asked.
Pol gaped at her. “Now you’re asking the AI?”
“Isn’t the AI the smartest individual on the ship?” Josie asked.
“That’s very nice of you to say, Captain,” Topik said. “The Delfans have criminalised wouza. Criminalising drugs has never worked for humans throughout their history. The only successful tactic is treatment. Drug addiction is also almost always a symptom of wider problems in society. For real improvements, you need to look for the root cause.”
“I’ve got a feeling I know what the cause of their drug use is,” Josie said. “They’re drowning in paperwork.”
“We reduce the bureaucracy and they all stop doing drugs?” Reyna asked.
“Right now, their choices are a drab existence in the hive or a big party outside. I’m surprised there any left in the hive,” Josie said.
“How are we meant to get rid of their regulations?” Bao Lei asked.
“Couldn’t we tell them to do something with…” Josie scanned the table. “Hang on. Where’s Doc?”
Everyone else glanced around in confusion.
“Captain, I can’t tell you where Doc is,” Topik said. “However, the second shuttle is down on the planet near the Delfan party and Doc was in it when it landed.”
A round of groans went around the table.
“She can’t resist a party,” Reyna said.
“If I’d have been left in charge, I wouldn’t have lost a crew member,” Pol said.
“I didn’t lose her,” Marc said. “She’s probably fine, doing alien drugs… and stuff.”
Josie stood up, waving to Bao Lei and Reyna. “Pol, you’re in charge while we’re gone.”
Chapter 4
The sun was already resting on the horizon. Josie pushed through the dancing Delfans, scanning the area around her for any sign of Doc. Instead of calming them down, the oncoming night had – if anything—made the Delfans more active. Everywhere she looked was a sea of waving tentacles and whirling claws. “How are we meant to find her in all of this?”
A cheer rang out from her left. Reyna grabbed her elbow and pointed. “Just follow the sounds of celebration.”
They pushed through the crowd. As they got closer, they saw everyone cheering a wooden stage with a band on it. Beside the band, a Delfan spun and flailed their tentacles.
“Bingo,” Reyna said.
“Captain,” Bao Lei said. “Sometimes she gets violent when she takes alien drugs. That was the Delfans’ plan all along.”
Josie nodded. Continuing her oblique advance, she made it through the crowd to the stage. She leaned in as close as she dared to the flailing claws and tentacles. “Doc, is that you?”
The Delfan stopped whirling and looked at Josie. “Captain! Hi. Come dance with me.”
“Doc, can you come down from the stage for a second?” Josie asked.
“Sure.” Doc ran to the edge and dived off, landing on a carpet of raised tentacles. She crowd-surfed around until they finally dropped her back, next to Josie.
“Can you see the sparklies?” Doc asked. “The flowers are full of power, sister.”
“Sure. Listen, we should get you back to the ship,” Josie said.
A rumble ran through the cr
owd and two muscular Delfans emerged, trailed by Freddy.
“Captain,” he said. “Thank the mushrooms you’re still here. There’s been a terrible mistake.”
“We haven’t finished those forms and things yet, Freddy,” Josie said. “It’s going to take us a while.”
“The head of the Protectors wants to talk to you about that,” Freddy said. “He thinks he can cut through the red tape.”
Josie smiled. “That would be appreciated.”
“Please come with me,” Freddy said, as the two guards cleared a lane for them toward the hive.
“Bring her,” Josie told Bao Lei and Reyna, indicating the whirling Doc.
***
Freddie led them much further up the hive than they had visited before. The tunnels this high up had frequent windows to let in light. Passing through a cave with a dozen muscular guards inside, he stepped up to a decorative tapestry and disappeared.
Up until now everything had been open to the tunnels, so it took Josie a moment to realise the hanging on the wall was a curtain. She hurried after Freddie.
The room inside was dark. She could barely make out either the desk on the far side or the Delfan behind it. As she fumbled her way closer, the Delfan leaned forward into the dim light revealing grey, wrinkled skin and a tired-looking tongue. “Hello, Captain. I’m Mr Chucky. I understand you have a proposal for me.”
“Yes, absolutely,” Josie said. “The Alliance of Prospectors are willing to teach you all about space travel in exchange for the gold on your planet. Then, once you have your own spaceships, we want you to join the Union of Friendly Stars with us.”
“A spaceship with a flower engine,” Doc said in the back of the room.
“Who is this person?” Mr Chucky asked.
“Sorry. She’s with us,” Josie said. “One of my crew changed their appearance to look like a Delfan. She’s a human otherwise, though.”
“She took wouza?” Mr Chucky asked.
Josie shrugged. “I guess so. She’s not normally this bad.”
“How many humans are there up in the stars?” Mr Chucky asked.
“Eh…” Josie paused.
“Sixty-six trillion,” Reyna said.
“Amazing,” Mr Chucky said. “We’d love to fly up and join you. I think we can come up with something a lot simpler than the contract you got from Freddy.”
Mr Chucky pushed a single sheet of paper across the desk to Josie. “If you sign this, we’ll help you get all that gold out of the ground and into your ships. Once you’ve taught us how to make spaceships, of course.”
Greenstar Season 1, Episodes 1-3 Page 6