“So what’s the catch?” I asked.
He smiled, “Kalaya thinks there are four machines, so I need to get four power packs there.”
Figured it would be something stupid like that. “Let me guess, they’re incredibly heavy and you need each of us to carry one?”
Kodo merely smiled and nodded. He turned to Kalaya. “If you don’t mind, four charged packs, please.”
Instantly she disappeared and reappeared by the far wall, but now she was wearing a long sparkling red dress with a nearly indecent slit up the side. Her blonde hair was all done up and coiffed in a braid arranged in an ascending mound. She was also wearing glittering elbow-length gloves and a copious amount of makeup. A panel in the wall opened, and she smiled brightly as she made exaggerated displaying motions toward the four backpacks that hung there behind the panel.
A deep male announcer’s voice blasted through the speakers above us. “Congratulations, contestants! Your grand prize is a KSD-873 Mark III field generator, motorsports edition!” Kalaya didn’t say anything, just walked back and forth swaying her hips as much as possible without falling off the five-inch heels she was wearing and gestured lovingly at the backpacks. “These are produced by the same marketing geniuses that brought you the 850 series portable generators! The 873 is smaller, lighter, and conveniently installed in a rugged and stylish backpack in your choice of colors. You will be the envy of your neighborhood when you pull one of these out of the garage!”
“Simply slide into the amazingly comfortable four-point harness on the pack and you’re ready to go.” She acted out the motions of putting on a backpack as if she was actually holding one. “Now, you’re prepared to handle any activity with ease and comfort knowing you have twenty kilojoules of clean, reliable energy at your disposal, anytime, anywhere. KSD, your hometown provider in portable nuclear power!”
“Ok, Kalaya, no more game shows for you,” I laughed.
“I thought it was good!” Kalaya chuckled…from behind me? The three of us turned around to find a second hologram, in her adventurer girl costume, sitting in an overstuffed red leather recliner with a big bucket of popcorn in her lap. Looking back, Kalaya was still standing there in the red dress modeling the backpacks. But how was she here? “Could be a bit flashier, though.” Suddenly, the room erupted in explosions of light and color as fireworks bounced off the walls and exploded all around us. I dove for cover as she laughed and clapped her hands, giggling happily. Thankfully, the fireworks died down and the air cleared.
“Why are you on the floor? You’re missing the show!” She leaned over the side of the chair and smirked.
“Are you insane? You could have gotten us killed!”
“Nonsense! Holograms never killed anyone. Caused a few heart attacks on rare occasions, but that’s beside the point. Popcorn?” she said, offering me the large bucket. “It’s got extra butter!”
I looked to Kodo for answers, but he just shrugged yet again. “You get used to it eventually.” Yeah, like that was ever going to happen. “But we should probably get moving if we want to be back by dark. It’s already nearly noon outside the ship.”
“We’re ready to go when you are,” said Drik. Kodo nodded and slipped on one of the power packs, making it look like they didn’t weigh that much. I stupidly was the next one to step up and take one. Big mistake, it nearly drove me to my knees! These things must be eighty-plus pounds! And he wants me to carry it how far?
Kodo must have noticed my dismay and he grabbed the handle on the top of the pack, lifting it effortlessly off the ground where I had dropped it. Turning it around, he offered the strap side to me. “I know these are heavy for you, but the straps will help disperse the weight correctly. Most of the weight will be on your hips instead of your back.”
I don’t think I was paying strict attention to what he was saying; all I was really doing was wondering how he was able to hold that thing with his arms outstretched like that. I mean, sure, he was in incredible shape despite being in a pod for like forever. He wasn’t a bodybuilder that I was aware of; shouldn’t his arms, at least, be shaking or getting tired? “Laree, you still in there?” he intoned seriously. Oh, crap, I was daydreaming right in front of him. Undoubtedly, I was blushing profusely again. The others were snickering at me and shaking their heads, but he just smiled slightly and asked me to turn around. With his help, I threaded my arms through the loops and clipped the waist strap and other fastenings into place. Kodo gently spun me around again and looked me over, expertly loosening and tightening straps where he saw fit. It was slightly embarrassing as it appeared that the pack wasn’t built with females in mind, as several of the straps ended up in awkward locations and he didn’t even seem to notice.
Kodo finished and nodded in approval, seemingly happy with the fit. I’ll admit that it didn’t seem so bad either. I got out of the way as he helped get Max and Drik suit up. Kalaya, in boots, glided over to me with a mischievous smirk on her face. “Have a little fun there, did we? Did you enjoy having his hands roaming all over you?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about!” I stammered, dumbstruck by her forwardness.
She just smiled, with a twinkle in her blue eyes. “Sure, you don’t,” she leaned in and whispered in my ear. “You might say that, but your body can’t lie. Increased respiration, dilated pupils, you licked your lips six times in the past minute, and I’m pretty sure if those chest straps weren’t in the way, the boys would see some serious nippage even through the suit.” She leaned in even closer and I felt a tingle on my ear. Did she just…? She did! She actually licked my ear! I stared at her, frozen in both shock and embarrassment, but she smiled and walked off to join the others. What the hell is wrong with that woman?
“So, I take it you’re coming with us?” Drik was speaking to Kalaya as he finished adjusting his own pack.
“Me? Go outside? Absolutely not! Do you have any concept what is out there? There are bugs and mud and grass stains; the sun would be murder on my flawless skin. Do you have any idea what all that humidity would do to my hair? Oh, and I might break a nail, too! Go outside? Oh, no, no, no. My plan is to sit here and relax as I watch all the sappy romance movies Laree has on her computer and eat chocolate by the pound. So it would be wonderful if you left now; I am going to go back to screaming at Roberto for dumping poor, sweet Angelina.”
There were so many things wrong with that, I didn’t know where to start.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kodo
With everyone suited up, we exited the Aurora the same way the humans entered, through a gaping hole in the side of my ship. Most of the damage was concealed by the centuries of mosses that hung from and covered everything, but the peeled-in sections of decking and outer hull testified to a serious explosion. The floor we were walking across was primarily dirt, but the uneven footing told me that we were standing on something more than simple decking. I stopped and scraped my booted foot across one particularly high spot and was rewarded by the corroded top crown of a dead defense drone. Judging by the piles close to the outside wall, they had put up a serious struggle against something and had given their mechanical lives in droves. If the other areas of the ship that were holed had similar tableaus, it’s easy to see why we no longer have any drones in storage.
Seeing the damage in its entirety for the first time, I felt a hot surge of anger that someone would deliberately have done this. From what Kalaya had explained about the other detonation spots and from what I could see here, I concluded that the charges were meant to cripple but not destroy the Aurora. Following the obvious logic, then, that meant whoever did this wished to acquire the ship and its technology for their own use. Once again, I mentally thanked my old friend Royson for his wisdom in hiding her as well as he did.
When I stepped outside into the muted sunlight, my eyes automatically darkened to an appropriate level. Looking around, I saw that the ship had indeed been covered almost completely by several meters of dirt. Only the smal
l cave-like section where we exited and something that looked like it might be part of one of the engines farther back along the fuselage were exposed. Growing happily on top of that dirt was a forest of small trees and shrubs, with waist-high grasslands appearing farther down the hillside.
The terrain sloped sharply downward for a time before rising again at what I guessed was the buried location of the outer bulwarks of the city wall that would have been built around our landing zone. In the distance, I could see forests and larger mountains, even a few active volcanoes still pumping out small puffs of smoke.
“Just as I thought,” said Laree from a few feet away. She was kneeling down with some kind of sensor in her hands looking at the dirt. “Soil samples indicate a fairly predictable cycle of grasses, followed by forest growth and then, periodically, total burnout by fire and releasing carbon. I would say the burn is probably caused by volcanic eruptions or lightning. The soils here are incredibly rich, perfect farmland. Indications of a good amount of bacteria and insect life in the ground as well.”
Max was looking at her as if she had lost her mind. Finally, Laree put away her instrument and dusted herself off, rising with some effort under the weight of the backpack. She glared back at him. “What? I’m doing my job.”
“Laree, I don’t think Kodo will be too happy if we build a farm on his ship.”
“I wasn’t suggesting we build one here. I’m just saying this would be a good valley to put a farm, in general. The soil isn’t all volcanic rock like where we set up camp. We would probably get ten-foot-tall corn stocks without even having to use chemicals. If the rest of this planet is anything like this, then it would be perfect for a colony…” She looked up at me with an embarrassed look on her face. “But I take it you already knew that, huh?”
“Yeah, just a little,” I whispered.
“Bad news,” Max fumed as he walked over and examined some equipment a few paces away. “Something chewed up the bikes pretty good; they are all shot. So unless you got something else up your sleeve, then I guess we’re walking.”
“Unless you want to spend days digging out a starship hatch with a shovel, then no. Even without your transportation devices, we don’t have to go very far – less than three kilometers. And it’s all downhill from here. If all goes to plan, we will be able to ride back.” The three of them nodded and looked down the hill in our intended direction. The area in question was right at the edge of the tree line; the walls are probably what formed the tree line in the first place, actually.
Behind me, I heard a familiar humming sound approaching. “Thought you were going to stay behind,” I said, not even turning to face the sound. A pair of small, insectoid-looking weather drones, no bigger than a human’s forearm, flew around in front of us as Kalaya’s voice came out of them.
“You didn’t actually think I wasn’t coming along, did you? I’m a woman; we’re experts in the fine art of multitasking. Besides, someone has to be here to save your ass.”
“Right, and just how do you plan to do that with a pair of bug drones? In case you have forgotten, they’re unarmed and basically worthless for this kind of thing.”
“Trust me, if I had anything bigger, I would be using them. But think of it this way, if you run into something, I can fly around their heads and be annoying for you.”
“Congratulations, mission already accomplished,” Max complained. “Now, if you two are done with your pillow talk, I would like to get this stupid thing off my back already.” With a huff, he turned and started trekking down the hill.
I looked at Kalaya as she turned a drone back to me. “Well, remember he started it,” she claimed innocently as we started after him.
We hiked silently down the hill at a comfortable pace. I was no expert on flora and fauna, but Laree was correct. This land veritably hummed with growth and life. Rich smells, high humidity, and buzzing insects descended like a heavy blanket on our shoulders compared to the dry, cool air inside the Aurora.
For the moment, it was all travel time, Laree asked the inevitable question and I had no way to hide from it.
“Kodo, you say you’re not human, but you look like us. Is there physically any difference between us?”
I could have sworn I heard a derisive snicker from one of the circling drones. I dipped my head in resignation. “Laree, you already know there is much that is different between our two races.”
“Yes, but I just wanted to hear you explain it. I was also hoping for an example. I’m sure this pack wouldn’t feel so heavy if my mind was occupied by something scientific.”
Might as well get it over with. “Very well. Our two races differ in several areas, mainly being our internal organs. Muscles and nervous systems are close enough that you probably wouldn’t care, but our brains are ‘wired’ differently too. Would it surprise you to learn that the Quetanae were originally an aquatic species?”
“Define internal organs,” interrupted Drik. “You have two hearts or something?”
“No, nothing like that. I suppose if you cut open an average Quetanae, the first thing that you would notice is that we have no gaps between our ribs. Instead, we have interlocking solid bone plates joined by cartilage, not so different from a normal joint. Gives us a bit more durability without too much loss of mobility. You would also find a larger heart and three lungs. However, the liver and other filtering processes are smaller, and we only have one organ to perform the job of your two kidneys.”
Laree was definitely a sharp one and caught on to what most of that meant right away. “So your respiratory and circulatory systems are better than ours, meaning you could probably outlast us in a sprint. However, your ability to process toxins is weaker than ours. I’ll go ahead and assume your immune systems are weaker than ours, too.”
“All correct. However, I am somewhat of an exception. I’ll start with Quetanae immune systems. You are correct; the oceans on our home world where we evolved were acidic in nature so that cut out our initial exposure to many bacterial strains in our initial development. We also have been a space-faring people for so long now that we’ve been pre-exposed to just about any bacteria and other organisms that thrive on worlds like this.
But as you can plainly see, I am not currently on a starship and have most likely been exposed to something that would normally have killed me or, at least, made me very sick by now. For centuries, it has been common practice to inject newborns with a cocktail of drugs, vaccines, and nanites to bolster and improve our immune systems.”
“You inject newborn babies with robots?” Laree asked, horrified.
“The process is painless and prevents the child from getting sick. Think of them as intelligent antibodies. They aid in the child’s growth and assist the parents in monitoring the types of foods and exercise the child needs to thrive. They can even be ‘fine-tuned’ to increase the host’s strength or intelligence.”
“You’re not worried about criminals hacking into the nanites and wreaking havoc?” asked Drik.
I stopped and looked at him, puzzled. “To what end? What possible profit could be made from such a thing? And if profit was not the goal, why would someone do that? To cause anarchy? Quetanae do not even remotely think that way unless they are seriously deranged, and in that case, there are medical solutions. No, crime on our worlds came primarily from outside our systems in the form of pirates looking to hijack our ships or raid our mining colonies. Most of them came to a bad end. Our society values order, and while we never had a huge navy, we did utilize a substantial and capable police force.”
“So how are you an exception, then?” Laree pressed.
“Well, to start with, I have more implants than I care to count. All of which are there to improve something about me or to help me with my work.
“Is it normal for your people to modify themselves extensively just to become better at your jobs? And if so, like what? I mean I can see your funky eye thing, but what else do you have?”
I sighed to myself, might as
well tell them and get it over with. I noticed Kalaya’s minions were suddenly hovering protectively nearby. “No, it’s not even remotely normal. As you noticed, I have a second set of eyelids that work like a lizard’s do. However, mine are there to protect my eyes from harmful light, which can vary from a bright room to welding-level intensity. I also have thicker skin to help protect me from damage and electrical shock. My muscles were enhanced to make me stronger. And to top it off, the doctors did some extensive rework on my spine and brainstem to give me the equivalent of a computer grafted into me. In many ways, I probably have more in common with Kalaya than I do with an average Quetanae. Essentially, you would consider me to be a cyborg.”
“That sounds…painful,” Laree said, her eyes filled with concern.
“You have no idea,” I said under my breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Laree
Kodo’s demeanor changed drastically in the final part of his description. For the first time since we met him, I could actually see emotions coming to the surface in him. But this is not what I was hoping to see. Pain, betrayal, extreme sadness, and despair all seemed to flash across his face before he mentally seemed to slam the door on his personal demons and returned to the Kodo we were used to.
Kalaya’s two drones moved closer to Kodo as if she could somehow shield him from the cruel world with two tiny robots. They didn’t say anything to each other, at least not verbally, but I don’t think they really needed to say anything either.
“So…is that all we’re going to get? I mean, come on, he was just getting to the good part,” Max said, walking alongside me.
“I think it’s best if we drop that subject for a time, brother.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. When are we going to get there anyway? I’m getting tired of lugging this pack around.”
“Well,” Drik replied, panting slightly, “we seem to be headed toward the top of that smaller rise over there. Hopefully, that’s where we’ll find a way into this underground garage we’re searching for.”
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