The Other Earth

by Amber LaShell

  I felt a tug at my leg and giggled as Brandon came up out of the water next to me. He looked at me for a few seconds before pulling me to him so we could float in the water together.

  "Well this is new. The water is so clear that I can see your naked body right through it" he said, looking down at me.

  I looked down and laughed, "Yes I can see yours too silly" I said, pushing him away from me playfully.

  "Oh, you think you can push me away, I will get you!" Brandon yelled as I giggled and started to swim away back toward the waterfall.

  There was a small amount of the waterfall actually landing in the water and as I swam closer noticed that this area was more shallow than the middle where I had landed. I was able to reach the bottom with the tips of my toes and figured the Brandon would have no problem standing in the water here.

  "I can touch the bottom here, it's a little more shallow" I yelled to him, turning to see where he was at. As I turned, I saw his body under the water swimming right toward me.

  I laughed as he reached me and pulled me under the water with him. I came back up spitting the water out of my mouth, which actually tasted very sweet.

  My laughter stopped as Brandon came out of the water and pulled me to him as he stood in the water, wrapping my legs around his waist.

  "I know that we might not get to be together while we are here, as the mission comes first. But, looking at the position of the sun, and gaging how hot it is, I would say that the day is just about over. So for the time being, until the morning, I say that the mission hasn't started yet and we take advantage of having this great spot all to ourselves" he said, holding on to me as he slowly walked closer to the water fall.

  "I think you have a good point" I said.

  "Oh I'm about to show you just how good my point is" he said, turning my body so that it was against a grassy spot against the side of the water fall. We were in a small area just between the grass and water, completely secluded.

  I pulled Brandon to me, kissing him hungrily, enjoying the sensation of tasting the cold sweet water on his mouth.

  I moaned into the kiss as Brandon ran his fingers through my wet hair, kissing me as though he was never going to kiss me again. I wrapped my arms around his lower chest, trying hard not to disturb my position. I could feel him hard against me, so close yet still too far away.

  I leaned my hips toward him and feeling my eagerness, came closer and slowly slid inside of me. I gasped at the sensation of the cold water lapping around my body as he started to slowly move, still kissing me with more affection than previous kisses.

  ***

  The next morning I woke up with Brandon shaking me. I opened my eyes and looked around for a few minutes and saw that he had all of our bags ready to go.

  "Good Morning. Time to hit the trail and try to figure out how to get in and fit in." He said.

  I yawned and nodded, "Okay. Why did you let me sleep so late? I would have helped you get ready" I said.

  "I know. Breakfast is ready so as soon as we eat we can lockup the ship and put it into low power mode" he said, walking over to the small dresser and grabbing the gray clothes I had set out for that day.

  As I pulled the covers off and took my clothes from him, he smiled at me. I rolled my eyes at him and started to quickly get dressed as he stood there watching.

  "What time is it?" I asked, pulling my shirt over my head.

  "It's just after dawn" he said.

  Once I was done dressing I grabbed a brush and quickly pulled it through my hair, "I wonder if the women here wear makeup" I said, trying to decide if I should put some on quickly.

  Brandon shrugged, "I don't know. I say don't wear it until we find out if it is a normal thing here. You would look less conspicuous without it when women do wear it, than wearing it when they don't even have it here" he said.

  I nodded, "Okay. I'll go to the bathroom and meet you in the kitchen" I said, standing up and walking past him.

  Once I was done with my morning duties in the restroom I walked into the kitchen where he had an easy breakfast ready. I sat down at the table and quickly ate without speaking. Once we were done eating, we walked out of the ship and using the portable device that controlled it, locked it up and set it to sleep mode.

  Sleep mode was a new feature that they hadn't had before on any of our previous space ships or rockets. It would use very little energy, but still run enough power to keep the freezer working and the water tanks pumping so that they don't stagnate.

  I looked over at Brandon and watched as he sighed, "Are you ready?" he asked.

  I shrugged, "Not really, but we have a mission." I said, scared of what would happen once we left this safe spot behind the waterfall.

  "It will be okay. You will see" he said, taking my hand and pulling me toward a gap in the waterfall that would take us back out to the grassy hills around the lake.

  We started walking, heading in the direction that we had seen the closest colony of people. Brandon had estimated that the walk should only take us a few hours and so we walked most of the way in silence. It wasn't until Brandon noticed something up on the other side of one of the hills that he finally spoke.

  "Do you see that?" he asked, pointing to the hill closest to us.

  I squinted my eyes in the direction he pointed and saw a person standing there waving us over. "What do you think he wants?" I asked.

  "I don't know, but I'm going to wave back so that we don't look suspicious. We will just figure it out from there" he said, waving his hand above his head.

  The man started to walk toward us so that we would meet with him faster, and I kept looking over at Brandon to see if he was nervous about the first contact with the people that lived here. He was smiling at the man and didn't seem to be fazed by it, or he was just keeping his cool, something I probably needed more work on.

  We finally reached him, "Hello friends! Are you with one of the underground city coalitions?" he asked, holding out his hand as though for a handshake.

  Brandon reached out and shook his hand, "Yes, we were told you would be here waiting for us" he said.

  The guy nodded, "Yes, you are already my second batch today. Okay, so do you two have a specialty?" he asked as we all turned and started to walk back toward the area he had come from.

  "Science" Brandon said without hesitation.

  The man nodded, "Great. I'm James by the way. Nice to meet you two. Welcome to sector 1" he said.

  Brandon smiled at him, "Nice to meet you. I am Brandon and this is Randi" he said, pointing to me.

  "Hello" I managed to squeak out.

  "Okay, so I only have one job available in the actually scientific building, working with the marriage programmer, and that job is only available to a woman, so we will put Randi there." James said, handing me a package that was stamped with a symbol of the planet with a large number one imposed over it.

  "Brandon, there is one job we have available in the code enforcement building, do you think that would work?' James asked Brandon.

  Brandon nodded, "I think I can make that work" he said, taking his package from James.

  I looked up as we turned, and noticed that we were walking toward a large stone wall that looked as though it went on for miles.

  "How exactly are we getting in?" I asked, pointing toward the long wall.

  James smiled at me and I noticed for the first time that he was actually quite attractive. He had dirty blond hair that fell just to his collar, high cheek bones and striking green eyes.

  "There is a secret back entrance that was created by someone in the coalition years ago to get us in and out easier than having to smuggle through the entrance with code enforcers there to stop us." He said.

  My head was starting to spin as I tried to fathom a reason that they would need a code enforcer to keep people from getting into a city, or how bad life was that they had a steady stream of coalition people there.

  "Okay here we are" James said, pointing to a blank wall that was on
ly marked by a small v in the stone. He walked forward and slowly pushed it open, looking inside for a few seconds before looking back at us.

  He handed Brandon a rolled up paper and two patches, "Here is a map of the entire sector with important buildings marked. Take note in your paperwork of the building you will be working at and learn the map before heading out. Using the map to walk the streets will look too suspicious." He said.

  Brandon handed her one of the patches and following Brandon's lead attached it to the left side of her shirt on her chest.

  "When will we begin working and what is our cover?" Brandon asked him.

  James nodded, "You will begin work promptly tomorrow morning. In your paperwork you will see your transfer papers from Sector five, which houses the university. The house you will be living in is on the map, and located just a few feet from this entrance. There you will find Flora. She will be your cover and your roommate in the house. Once you arrive she will take your pictures that she will attach to the documents I gave you, making them official. There will be plenty of clothes that are specific to this sector in the house for you as well." He said.

  I tried to keep up with what he was saying, but was still trying to look at the map that Brandon had handed to me to see where we were going to be living.

  "Thank you very much" Brandon said, taking his hand for another hand shake.

  "Good luck here at Sector One, I'm sure I will be seeing you around" James said, waving to them as he walked back to the hills, obviously waiting for the next set of coalition people to get there.

  I looked at Brandon who was already moving toward the open stone and looking through, "Are you ready?" he asked.

  I shook my head, "Do you know where we are supposed to go?" I asked.

  He nodded, "I took a quick look at the map and our house should be three houses down on the left once we walk through this wall." He said, pulling me behind him.

  I took a deep breath as he disappeared into the hole and quickly followed behind him, pushing the large stone door shut behind me.

  "Okay, I'm following you" I said quietly.

  He nodded and started to his left. We were directly behind a group of houses that were all exactly the same. They were decent size two story, square houses, with gray siding and white slated roofs. They each had a small backyard with a low wall around them for a fence. I looked around as we walked and saw that the front yards were the same, and from what I could see, the houses across the small cobblestone street were the exact same as well.

  "This should be us" he said, pointing to a house that looked just like the others ahead of her.

  "Do we go around front?" I asked.

  He shook his head, "No the map said back on it, so I'm assuming that means to go in through the back."

  I nodded as we walked up to the back door and knocked. The door immediately flew open and an older woman with dark brown hair and large coke bottle glasses that magnetized her dark brown eyes to make them seem much too large for her small head stood in front of us.

  "Yes?" she asked.

  "We are looking for Flora. We were sent by James" Brandon said simply.

  The woman nodded and stepped aside, letting us walk around her and into the dark house.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I stepped into the house and noticed that we were standing in a medium sized kitchen. It didn't look to be too fancy, just very plain but efficient. It was an open kitchen with gray granite counter tops and a large silver refrigerator. I sighed in relief that it at least looked somewhat like what I was used to seeing back home.

  "Hello. I am Flora. It's nice to meet you" the woman said.

  "Hello Flora. I am Brandon and this is Randi" Brandon said, introducing us.

  Flora nodded and pointed to the doorway out of the kitchen, "Follow me" she said.

  We followed her out of the kitchen and through a large dining room with a table that was big enough to seat six people. It was a simple wooden table and I actually smiled as I had almost expected everything to be gray, as it seemed to be the color that was everywhere.

  "Through that door is the shared living area where many coalition meetings will take place. Down this hallway here." She said, pointing to the left. "Is a guest bathroom and large pantry that houses our food. Once you start your jobs they will provide you with food cards. You can give them to me, and every Friday, I shop for food. If you would like anything out of the ordinary, just let me know and I will pick it up for you at that time." She said, now pointing in the other direction.

  We then followed her up a narrow set of stairs that were not surprisingly covered in gray carpeting. At the top of the stairs it opened up to show three doors. She pointed to the right door and looked back at us.

  "This right door will be one of your bedrooms. You can choose which one you would like, it does not matter as they are the exact same room. Through the middle door here is a bathroom with a shower that will be shared between the two of you. There is also an entrance to the bathroom in each bedroom." She said before pointing back at the left hand door.

  "The left door is the other bedroom. This is your living space and will remain as such. My living area is a suite that is just off of the living room. I will not come into your living area and you will also respect mine in the same way. Go ahead and settle your things in and freshen up if you like, meet me in the living area in one hour and we will take your pictures for your documents." She said, turning and walking back down the stairs.

  I looked over at Brandon and he motioned with his head to the right door and I followed him through it. We stepped inside and saw a basic room. It had what she would consider a full sized bed that was in the middle of the room in front of a window, a bedside table on either side of the bed, and a small desk with a chair against the opposite wall.

  I walked over and set my bag down onto the bed which was covered in a shockingly gray blanket. I laughed to myself as I thought this.

  "What's so funny" Brandon asked, looking around the room.

  "Oh, I was just thinking how this place really loves the color gray." I said.

  He nodded, "Yeah I noticed that too. Come on let's check out the bathroom and the other room. You can take this room, I'll take the other one." He said.

  I left my bag on the bed and followed him through the door on the left hand wall and we walked into a decent sized bathroom. It had a shower with a large glass door, a toilet that had its own small room with a half door that would close. There were two sinks on either side of the door to the hallway, and plenty of storage spaces between the two.

  "Not bad" I said, looking around.

  "Not bad at all. I think it's actually bigger than my bathroom back home" he said.

  I laughed, "Well, you did have an awfully small apartment" I said, following him through the last door that would lead them to the last bedroom.

  I looked around as we walked in and nodded and it was exactly like the room before, just as Flora had said it would be.

  "This is going better than I hoped it would" Brandon said, throwing his bag onto the bed and sitting down next to it.

  "It is going surprisingly smooth" I said.

  "I honestly didn't think we would find a way in and would have to retreat back to the ship and try again tomorrow. It's almost lucky that these coalition people are basically doing the same thing we are right now and so being an outsider has helped us to fit in more. That's so odd" he said.

  I sighed, "It was almost a little too easy. But I have a good feeling about things. We are going to have jobs and everything and being in the main sector as James said, we should be able to get a lot of intelligence and understanding of how the planet works and learn their history" I said.

  He nodded, "Yes, I think it will be good." He said as he stood up and walked over to the large cabinet and opened it up.

  I looked over as he laughed and saw when he stepped to the side that it was full of gray clothes. I shook my head as he pulled a few things out and looked them over.
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  "Why gray I wonder?" I asked him.

  He shrugged, "Maybe they don't want anyone to stand out. It's like they just want everyone to be equal or something" he said as he looked at some of the clothes. "That's odd."

  "What is?" I asked him.

  "They are all the exact same color. There isn't one grade of difference in the shade. It's almost as though they only have one gray shade to work with. The thing is though that there are multiple styles of clothes." He said.

  "Like how?" I asked confused.

  He pulled out a few things and moving his bag to the side, laid out some of them onto the bed. "You see here. This shirt is more like a polo shirt, while this one is a t-shirt. Then you have these pants that are like slacks, but then you have some other ones in here that are almost an identical fabric as jeans. Only, everything is the exact same shade of gray."

  I looked over the clothes, "That is odd. It's like its okay to be different enough to mix and match the style of clothes, but not the colors" I said.

  "Yes. Exactly my confusion too. So look, let's go ahead and unpack our bags, and change into some of these clothes. That will give us time to write down what we are thinking in our journals while it's still fresh before we have to meet Flora downstairs for the pictures." Brandon said.

  I nodded and turned around, walking through the shared bathroom and into what would now be my bedroom. I opened my bag up and dug out my journal, eager to write down all of the gray I was seeing.

  ***

  I walked into the hallway and saw that Brandon was already there waiting for me. We nodded at each other and walked down the stairs, going to the small sitting area. As we turned the corner I saw Flora sitting on the couch flipping through a stack of papers as though she was looking for something. I looked over at Brandon and he shrugged, not knowing what she was doing either.

  "We are ready" I said, trying to give her a warning that we were standing there.

  She looked up quickly, "Great, did you bring your packets?" she asked.

  "Yes" I said, handing her my package.