by Dave Lemel
The door to the bridge opened and Ben entered. He was followed by a hover dolly that held the port key, which was followed by Foggen. “Good timing,” said Todd, “I think the show’s about to start.”
The blue orb sped off around the purple ring. Faster and faster it went until it blurred. Finally, it appeared to morph into one solid blue light ring held within the purple scaffolding. The ring appeared to smoke electric blue. All four occupants of the bridge instinctively shut their eyes and looked away from the intensity of the bright blast that followed. When their eyes reopened, the interior of the circle no longer shown black with the occasional speck of white starlight. Now it was a vibrant, glowing, liquid blue that slowly began to rotate. The rotation maintained a slow, steady pace, which formed a vortex that beckoned the adventurous spirit within any creature viewing it to ignore any lingering survival instinct and charge straight into its heart.
“It’s absolutely mesmerizing.” Simon blinked hard twice before continuing. “Do we start the key now?”
Todd remained locked into the scene in front of him. “We’re supposed to wait for her to contact us again and give us the final go ahead.”
“Yes, that would be standard procedure,” indicated Foggen from behind them.
As if on cue, the screens flanking the windshield notified that a transmission was coming in from the port master. “Receive call,” said Todd.
The port master reappeared, still seated behind her tiny metal desk. “Marshal vessel seven four seven four, you are go for key activation. Once the key has indicated full emersion, you may proceed through the port. Good luck.”
“Thank you, port master. We will begin as soon as we end transmission.” Todd ended the call with the Bopecan and turned to Ben and Foggen behind him. “Well, let’s start the sequence. ”
He stepped around his chair, and Simon followed. All four crew members stood around the metallic cube, one on each of the four sides. Ben looked across at Todd’s slightly overwhelmed expression. “Your honor, your honor. And maybe move it off the dolly first too.”
Todd blinked a few times. “Oh, right! Right.” He stuck out his right hand and placed his palm flat on the top surface. A few seconds later, the control panel appeared, and the cube began to hover. Ben slid the dolly out from under the key, and Todd glanced at his link to make certain he followed Lombargnor’s instructions precisely.
He entered destination one and carefully confirmed that the screen on the control panel now exactly matched the information on his link. He then simultaneously pressed the two buttons above the display, and the cube split cleanly down the middle. Ben took a few paces back as the half across from Todd slowly moved away from him and the hexagonal tube within appeared. The three small purple orbs of light immediately began pinging back and forth as they passed each other in the tube. The whirring noise started, the orbs accelerated rapidly until they turned into three purple beams of light, and the purple glow began.
It emanated from the tube brighter and brighter before pouring up and over the sides. Quickly it spread through the bridge, coating everything in its path. Simon glanced around at the other three. “There’s the weird taste. ”
“I kinda like it,” said Ben.
“You would,” replied Todd with a smile.
Foggen nodded at Todd and Simon. “You two should retake your seats. We can proceed through now.”
Todd and Simon hurried back to their consoles. Todd slowly advanced the Henrietta toward the spinning blue vortex. The very tip of the Henrietta’ s nose crossed the threshold of the port ring surface and poof…they vanished from the solar system.
Chapter 12
The change in view was so sudden, so instantaneous, that the occupants of the Henrietta required a moment to wrap their minds around the phenomenon they had just experienced. The purple retreated back from all directions toward the key. An H-shaped port station, similar in size and structure to the one they had recently departed, came into view off the upper-left-hand corner of the field of vision from the bridge.
As the key closed and sealed itself, the Henrietta received a transmission from the new port station. Todd and Simon turned toward each other as their brows raised.
“I’m certain it is merely the port master welcoming you to the solar system. No need to be alarmed,” announced Foggen from the rear of the bridge.
“Right, right,” said Todd, returning his focus to the screens.
“Greetings, marshal vessel seven four seven four,” said the Bopecan port master. “Either proceed to the port station or your destination. Whatever your decision, please keep moving because I have an extremely backlogged docket at the moment, and I will be getting back on schedule as soon as Bopecanly possible.”
“Read you loud and clear,” replied Todd, “consider us gone.” Todd ended transmission with the port master. “How long is it to Gleeb?”
“Not bad,” Simon responded. “Roughly Mars to Earth. ”
“All right, set our course, and then why don’t we all take a little personal time and get a little shuteye. I call the treadmill first, by the way. Reconvene in the lounge in eight hours. We’ll have something to eat and then prepare for arrival.”
“Fish tacos.”
“What, Ben?” asked Todd.
“Fish tacos. Can we have fish tacos? Man, I got a hankering for some fish tacos.”
“Actually, that sounds awesome,” Simon replied. “The second I wake up, I’ll get started on ’em.”
A touch over ten Earth hours later, Simon and Todd cleared the table as Ben and Foggen exited the lounge.
“You two give the cruiser a final check before you get to anything else,” said Todd. “We’ll be arriving shortly, and since Mission Commander Cain gave us the okay to head straight down, that is exactly what I’d like to do.”
“You got it, boss,” Ben called over his shoulder as he exited the lounge following Foggen.
Simon wiped down the table. “You ready for this?”
“You bet, buddy.” Todd smiled thinly. “And I’m pretty sure we’re not going to run into him the second we touch down anyway.”
“No, that seems unlikely.” Simon tossed the rag he had been using through a bin door by the pantry. “We should get to the bridge and announce our approach.”
“Right behind you. ”
Todd and Simon made the short journey from lounge to bridge. They took their seats, and Simon tapped commands into a screen on his left. The screens flanking the windshield changed to show a face completely covered in short grey hairs with a short snout-like nose and mouth. The eyes were set wide, and the pupils rectangular stretching from one corner of the eye to the other. The mouth at the end of the snout opened, and a question emerged. “What is the purpose of your visit to Gleeb?”
“Just sightseeing,” replied Todd.
“Planned duration of your visit and planet of origin?”
“Ten days and Earth.”
“Very well. What city are you starting your sightseeing tour in?”
“Jandor. We would like to park our main vessel in orbit just inside your moon, and then we have a smaller vehicle to use for transportation to and from the surface.”
“That will be acceptable.” The Gleeban leaned to his right and performed a quick task offscreen from Todd and Simon’s view. “I am transmitting coordinates to you now. Please put your main vessel into precisely that orbit at the location specified. Enjoy your stay.”
The screens switched from the Gleeban face to the coordinates he had indicated.
“Ten days?” asked Simon as he opened the all-ship intercom. “Strap in for decel down there.”
“On it,” came the quick, gravelly response from Ben .
“What?” said Todd. “I didn’t know what to say. He kinda caught me off guard with that question. You think that’s too optimistic?”
“My gut says we’re going to be down there a touch longer than that. Maybe not though. I mean, the days are long, and if we find that m
ap—my gut’s batting nowhere near a thousand, so hopefully it’s way off on this one.”
“Well, he didn’t seem too concerned, so I wouldn’t worry about it either way. We can let Ben negotiate with him if he calls back in ten days and tells them to move it. Who can say no to that mustached face?”
Ben’s voice boomed through the intercom. “We’re all set, guys. Decel when ready.”
Todd slowed the Henrietta, and a greenish globe appeared in the center of the windshield. A black moon rotated around from the other side and orbited toward them. Todd flew the Henrietta through the path of the approaching moon and settled it into the location that had been indicated.
“Welcome to Gleeb, everyone. You may unstrap at will.”
Todd and Simon jumped out of their seats and headed in opposite directions. Todd for the hall, Simon to the windshield. Todd stopped suddenly as he realized he was leaving the bridge alone. “You coming?”
Simon stood at the enormous window, taking in the view. “Be right there. I just want to look at this for a minute. ”
Todd strode over to Simon’s side. One of the two land masses was front and center in the planet’s current rotation. The cream, tan, and brown was dotted here and there with clusters of red, orange, and yellow, and sporadically gashed by bright green veins. There were blackish lines along the coasts streaked with sparkling silver that divided land from large emerald-green oceans on either side.
“Man, that is pretty cool,” said Todd.
“Not a bad lookin’ planet,” Simon responded. “I mean, I still prefer Earth, don’t get me wrong, but Gleeb is easy on the eyes from this angle for sure.”
Todd tapped Simon on the arm. “C’mon, let’s go see what it looks like up close and personal.”
Chapter 13
“She’s tip top and ready for action, boys,” Ben growled as he loaded Shelly, their trusted hover droid, into her location at the rear of the cruiser.
“Excellent,” said Todd. “Stay alert up here on this one ’cause if we need help down there, nobody else knows we’re even in this solar system.”
“Plus, we may have a few questions for Foggen,” said Simon, climbing in his side of the black and chrome cruiser. “His firsthand knowledge of Gleeb is sure to come in handy.”
“I will be available whenever you need me,” Foggen replied. “The loaded hiking packs are in the trunk, and I took the liberty of attaching two pods to the side of each just in case. You never know when you may need one, and the cruiser will be quite a distance away once you are in the mountains.”
“Good thinking.” Todd climbed in his side. “We’ll be in touch soon.”
Todd and Simon pulled their respective doors down and shut them. Todd fired up the cruiser and lifted it off the deck of the garage. He slowly guided it through the pass-through gel and then down toward the planet’s surface.
“That is Greepo,” said Simon. “The continent with Jandor on it. It’s right near that large cove on the eastern shoreline in the northern hemisphere. ”
“I see it,” replied Todd. “How ’bout we find a spot to park near that Tenjo’s place and go straight there?”
“Aren’t we supposed to be long-term parking this thing out of sight as soon as we can?”
“We will. First, let’s park quick by Tenjo’s, check it out, and see if we can just score the map right away. If it works, we can head straight up into the mountains after parking the cruiser long term.”
For a moment, Simon allowed himself to consider the possibility that this assignment just might go surprisingly quick and hassle free. “Okay,” he nodded. “I guess. What’s the worst a half hour or so of above-ground parking going to do?”
“Exactly!” exclaimed Todd as the surface of Gleeb began to reveal more detail below.
The heart of Jandor was densely packed with tall, cylindrical spires constructed mainly of a glasslike substance. Even the waterfront adjacent to the center of the city had structures built out into the ocean that seemed to be floating on some sort of platforms.
As they lowered in altitude and continued northward, the emerald green ocean water curled into froth-covered waves nearing the coastline before crashing over silvery sands of the beachfront beneath them. Further up the coast, the beach gave way to large black boulders that transitioned into towering black cliff faces. At the top, the cream and brown grasses waved in the breeze .
Simon’s eyes focused back down the beach onto the raised boardwalk they had discussed at their briefing. He scanned the storefronts, restaurants, and clubs lining the other side of the boulevard. “Are you seeing the colors of these buildings?”
“Seeing ’em? It’s hurting my eyes; if they could throw up, they would.”
Simon flipped the communicator switch. “Call Foggen.”
Seconds later, Foggen’s face appeared on the cruiser’s center console screen. “How can I assist you, marshals?”
“Are you aware of any public lots near the north end of the boardwalk where we could leave the cruiser for a short time?” Simon asked.
Todd leaned in toward the screen. “And what’s with the color choices on these buildings? It looks like the exotic produce section at my local market down there.”
“The vibrant mix of colors for the structures is a result of the Gleebans’ vision varying greatly from a human’s. They do not see color in the spectrum you do. It is mostly shades of greys and blues to them.”
Todd glanced out the side as they flattened out and continued northward up the coast. “That makes sense. How ’bout that lot Simon asked about?”
“Continue on the course you are currently on. Just as you get to the black boulder field, turn inland. Around the corner, directly across the boardwalk, there is a lot. You may park there all day if you can find a spot. ”
“Perfect. Thanks, Foggen.” Simon ended the call. “We’re coming up on those boulders now, and that looks like the corner he was talking about.”
Todd nodded and banked the cruiser around the corner and down to street level. The lot was right behind the building on the corner. He slowed the cruiser and guided it in. He found a spot among the many boxy vehicles and lowered the cruiser into it.
Simon had a map up on his link as Todd shut the cruiser off. “Tenjo’s should be two blocks dead that way.” He opened his door upward and raised his eyebrows twice. “Let’s go check it out.”
“Hang on,” said Todd after exiting the cruiser. He made his way to the trunk and popped it open.
“We don’t need the packs yet, man.”
“I know, just wanna throw on one of my new shirts.” Todd pulled out the purple pinstriped one with the square collar and pulled it over his head.
Simon shook his head in response as the two marshals strolled out of the parking lot and back toward the boulevard. Both sides of the street were raised a few feet above the road, and although both were also crowded, the boardwalk side across from them was teaming with beings. Most had the familiar goat-like Gleeban face, but many were from other planets.
Todd tapped Simon on the arm. “Look at that.” He pointed down at the road. “I thought as we flew in the roads were gravel. They’re some sort of clear acrylic epoxy compound. That gravel is underneath it.”
“That is kind of cool.” Simon stole one more quick peak at his link as they stepped down the small staircase at the corner to get to the street level. “Next block, then right.”
They came to the next corner and rounded it. Both began craning their necks to look for the name they were seeking. Gleeban writing looked like interwoven Norse runes, but thanks to their language upgrades, they could read it clear as English. The two marshals stopped in tandem in front of a bright-pink, two-story building with a picture window overlooking the street.
Simon turned to Todd as he reached for the door. “Well,” he said while pulling it open and looking Todd’s shirt up and down, “ladies first.”
Todd smirked and glanced up and down Simon’s grey hoodie and jeans as h
e stepped inside. “You look like a pissed-off twelve-year-old about to sneak out with the neighborhood kids to pull some sweet pranks.” Simon grinned and followed him in.
The interior of Tenjo’s was warm, both in atmosphere and temperature. The walls were a soft yellow and the floor, tables, and bar were made of an unfamiliar-looking species of wood. It was quite light with very little grain running through, and if a stain had been applied, it was virtually clear. Todd began to roll the sleeves of his new shirt up, recalled his link, thought better of it, and rolled them back down .
Behind the bar, which ran the length of the wall to the marshals’ left, a voice called to them. “Don’t get many humans in my establishment.”
Todd and Simon turned to see an older-looking Gleeban with many white hairs around his eyes and the end of his snout leaning on the bar. There were four others in the small cafe, seated at the corner table, and they halted their conversation at the word “humans” and turned to inspect the pair standing inside the door.
Todd smiled at the foursome in the corner, then turned his focus to the older Gleeban behind the bar. “We heard you have some great pastries. Thought we’d come in and give them a try. If we’re not welcome, we’ll gladly be on our way.”
“You’re more than welcome. Not sure where you heard we have lovely pastries. I pick a few of these up,” he tapped a small glass display sitting on the corner of the bar, “every morning from a place around the corner. They have lovely pastries. I just jack the price up and try to push ’em on my lazy customers.”
The largest of the four Gleebans seated at the table spoke up. “Hey, I buy one every time I come in here!”
“And every time you do, I get to eat the other three for free.” He leaned back and with his two thick fingers rubbed his round belly. “Now you know why I’m so nice to you.”
The foursome at the table erupted in laughter before returning to their conversation.
“Grab a seat wherever you like, if you want to stay, and I’ll get you a couple of menus. ”