“Entry successful,” the ship’s computer said.
Charsworth exhaled happily as Keltie flew the spacecraft downward. The rocky contours of the continent below became even more apparent, like small lines tracing themselves across the face of the land.
“Welcome to the planet Kepler,” Keltie said on the intercom. “And perhaps—your new home.”
Chapter 5
“The temperature today is a balmy minus eighty-five degrees,” Keltie said, evoking laughter from the salon. “But with Macalestern’s patented global warming technology, we can increase it to near-Earth level surface temperatures.”
She turned the corsair and fanned out over the rocky continent, toward a spiral of smoke rising from the ground.
“The gravity here is similar to Earth’s,” she said. “Many of you on this ship may not get that reference, so the nearest comparison would be the planet Forrest.”
Several passengers nodded in understanding.
“If you look to your left, you’ll see a basin of ice. This basin stretches around most of the planet near the equator. With a bit of warming, it’ll become liquid water, just like what you’re used to at home. With a bit of chemical treatment, it’ll even taste similar.”
“What about the weather?” Charsworth asked. “The winds up here are pretty strong.”
A wailing wind rocked the ship.
“You’ll find that it is a bit windy,” Keltie said. “A few of my crew members on the ground dubbed it ‘The Windy Planet.’”
“That’s not good,” Charsworth said.
She turned to him. “But wind has a lot of virtues, Mr. Charsworth. Imagine being able to generate over ninety percent of your energy needs just from the wind alone. I’ve never seen a planet so windy, but honestly, I’ve also never seen a planet with such opportunity. Self-sufficiency is key for you, right? Our company will help you get there.”
“I guess I never thought of it like that,” the man said, folding his arms.
After a small awkward pause, Keltie turned on the intercom and said, “If you look to the right, you’ll see a galaxy hawk, a species rarely observed in the galaxy.”
Seat belts unclicked and the guests stampeded to the window, shifting the corsair’s weight.
“I’m just kidding,” Keltie said.
The guests booed her playfully.
“That was good, wasn’t it?” she asked. “No, my friends—you would be the only life on this planet. My crew conducted extensive biological tests, and there isn’t even a single microbe here that will cause you any trouble. We can’t always give you this kind of guarantee. Especially on an Earth-like planet.”
The passengers liked that. She could tell by the way their body language changed. They loosened up, talked to each other, folded their arms in regard of Keltie’s comments.
She turned to Charsworth again, who was watching the planet with a wistful look on his face.
“Does it look like home yet?” she asked softly.
“Any place is a nice place to visit,” he said, “but—”
“There’s no place like home,” Keltie said, finishing his sentence for him. “From one nomad to another, home is wherever your family is.”
“I guess.”
Charsworth was uncharacteristically quiet. He was going to open up.
She let silence fill the space between them. She spied Alistair in the backseat, and they shared a look of confidence. He could tell what was coming, too.
“We’ve spent ten years working our asses off,” the man said. “Working, dreaming of a place that we could call home. A place where we wouldn’t have to worry about living among alien life.”
Xenophobes. Planet hunters sometimes skewed toward the xenophobic. Most of the time, they were looking for solitude or peace. The Rah Galaxy often found itself in intergalactic conflict. Many planet seekers were simply conscientious objectors or people who wanted to sacrifice everything to live on their own terms. But xenophobes were… well, a little weird.
“Preserving our humanity is important,” Keltie said. “I totally understand.”
“We should have never left Earth,” Charsworth said. “The effects of climate change would have been better than the slow death we’re living now. We’ll either die by those damned Argus pigs, or thermonuclear bombs. One day, we’ll realize it was too late, and that aliens killed our true spirits.”
Total nut. Definitely.
“Have you ever been to Earth?” she asked, trying not to change the subject too much.
“I’ve always wanted to,” Charsworth said. “They say the Crystalith helped roll back the effects of global warming.”
“I read just the other day that in a couple hundred years, people might be able to live there full-time again.”
She had seen the photos as a child. Of a warm planet. Cities underwater. Humans gathered in the northern hemisphere, waves of them searching for food, impoverished and haggard. The Crystalith came shortly after. Earth was little more than a shrine now, a pilgrimage planet that only the middle and upper classes could afford to visit as a tribute to humanity’s first home.
Even Keltie had put visiting Earth on her bucket list. But it was millions of light-years away, and honestly there were other, better planets to spend a vacation on.
“Well, it’s always smart to pay homage to the place where our DNA was born, right?” Keltie asked.
Charsworth nodded.
“I want to show you the place that could be your next home. And if you live here, you can make it better than Earth in every way.”
***
The corsair dropped below ten thousand feet when Keltie’s headset chimed.
Incoming communication
A woman’s picture appeared in the corner of Keltie’s helmet, in her peripheral vision. She had long brown hair and bright hazel eyes. She wore a silk blue button-up blouse, a black blazer over it, and a chevron necklace—a gift that Keltie had given her two years ago.
Claire Westington
Keltie accepted the call. Claire’s photo turned into a real face. Claire was in the cockpit of her corsair. Her face was heavily done in makeup.
She smiled—a peace offering kind of smile.
“Hey,” Claire said.
“Hey.”
“I didn’t know you were coming, okay? I only found out after I left. By that point it was too late.”
Keltie doubted she was lying. But it still hurt.
“Okay. Thanks.”
“We used your staging set,” Claire said. “Sorry.”
The company owned the staging set. Any agent could use it. If Claire had been with another company, she wouldn’t have been able to use it. But since both of them were in-house, the company let them compete against each other.
“It would have been nice to get a call,” Keltie said. “You know. ‘Hey, Keltie, I’m showing the same planet as you.’ I could have found another place, Claire.”
“I said I’m sorry. I owe you.”
“You’ll pay my expenses? Awesome!”
“I didn’t say I’d do that,” Claire said. “How about drinks?”
“I didn’t know there were bars here, Claire. Crazy…”
“Quit being a smart ass,” Claire said. “Will you just accept the apology or not?”
Keltie ran a hand across the smooth, glass-like surface of her helmet. They were approaching the staging site, and a group of corsairs was parked next to what looked like a settlement of houses.
Claire’s corsairs.
“I’ll accept your apology if I get the sale,” Keltie said.
“Who knows about that anyway,” Claire said. A smirk crept across her face. “My client’s on the fence. They want to tour the staging site again. They’re concerned about the radiation, which is totally unwarranted. I doubt they’re going to extend an offer. Conscientious objectors. My loan officer keeps saying the predictive models don’t like them. Financial jargon. But money’s money, right?”
“Yeah. I’m
landing now. See you, Claire.”
Claire pursed her lips and disconnected the call.
Of course they’d make up, but Keltie tried to focus on the sale at hand.
“I’m so sorry about that, Mr. Charsworth. It was very unprofessional of me to take a personal call like that.”
“Another agent, eh?” Charsworth asked. “I’m not wasting my time, am I?”
Keltie steered the ship toward a landing pad in the middle of the rocky land. Several people waved at her with glowing wands.
“Don’t worry,” she said, preparing the ship for landing, “We’re fine.”
***
The staging crew was waiting for them in red suits as the back doors of the corsair opened.
“Welcome to Kepler!” a young man said.
The guests exited the ship one by one, and the crew handed them translucent tablets with planet specs. The guests took the tablets and covered their faces as the dust settled around them. Above, the planet’s star burned through the pale clouds like a dusty ring.
“Blue skies,” Charsworth said. “That’s a plus.” He cupped his hand to his helmet and squinted. “But God, it just seems like it should be hotter. Is it really subzero out here?”
Keltie followed him off the ship. The blast of cold air hit her, and her suit reacted by releasing waves of warmth across her whole body. Two circular drone bots sprouted from her shoulder, tethered to her by metal wires. Her life support backup system. If the suit failed, the bots would repair a tear and replenish oxygen.
“I know it’s a bit of a letdown to wear suits here,” Keltie said, “but it’s critical. You’re completely safe. Our patented thermal fibers will keep you warm, and our life support systems will protect you in the unlikely event of a tear. But don’t get too used to these suits—if you buy the planet, we’ll guarantee a livable, breathable atmosphere within ten years.”
“The air has nitrogen, oxygen and all the other necessary ingredients for sustained life,” Alistair said, jumping in, sensing the guests’ discomfort. “We even offer some bonuses for air quality that we would love to discuss with you further.”
Keltie charged ahead of the group and pointed to a cluster of buildings in the distance.
“You haven’t seen the best part,” she said.
***
The settlement was staged to look like what a human settlement might if the planet were colonized.
Keltie led them into a small town square and stopped at a stone fountain made from the planet’s surrounding rocks. A wooden sign with golden letters read ‘Welcome, Charsworth & Clan.’
“This fountain doesn’t work yet, of course,” Keltie said. “But we can heat the planet up and unlock a water source not too far from here.”
She pointed to a circular, two-story stone house that looked as if it were made from adobe. It had a satellite on the roof, a driveway, and a backyard with a wooden sign in the middle of a plot of dirt that said ‘Future Vegetable Garden.’
“Our staging crew used a stone construction base,” Keltie said. “The soil here is quite rigid. You would, unfortunately, lose the durability of some of the pod-type homes back on Forrest, but I’m sure everyone is okay with that to a certain extent. We recommend stone as the planet gets warmer. These kinds of planets tend to run hot once the technology kicks in. The stone will stay cool during hot days, and it’s easy to maintain. Don’t let the façade fool you—inside these homes, you’ll find all the regular accoutrements. We would supply you with everything you need for city planning: recommended maps, planet maintenance schedules, infrastructure, etc.”
“How many people can we fit here?” Charsworth asked.
Keltie smiled. “That’s beauty of buying a planet, Mr. Charsworth. As many as you want, though I wouldn’t recommend more than a few million. You and your future children have plenty of room to expand. And don’t worry—you can’t hurt the planet. She’s quite resilient, as all planets are.”
Keltie pointed down a long avenue of homes toward a domed greenhouse. A tall, spiraled column of smoke rose out of a stack on the roof.
“If you would like to get a sense for what the planet will feel like once you have inhabited it, we have begun introducing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. The crew even tells me that you can take your suits off inside.”
Several guests beelined for the glass dome. Charsworth followed.
Alistair stood next to Keltie and folded his arms.
“It’s going well so far,” he said.
“It is, isn’t it?” Keltie asked.
“You don’t sound good,” Alistair said.
“I’m fine.”
“Claire really made you mad, didn’t she?”
Keltie started walking. “I don’t want to talk about it. Go get ready for the closing.”
She hated the nasty tone in her voice, but she really didn’t want to talk.
“Got it,” Alistair said, rolling his eyes. “See you later.”
Keltie was halfway down the dusty street when she heard a voice.
“You forgot to tell them about the radiation.”
It was Claire. She emerged from the shadow of two stone homes. She smiled weakly. “I sent my clients straight to the greenhouse, too, and that’s when they came back angry about the radiation exposure.”
Keltie hadn’t expected to see Claire here. It was good to see a familiar face so far from home.
“Thanks.”
“Come on, Keltie, are you still mad at me?” Claire asked, putting her hands on her hips. Her jewelry jangled from within her suit.
“I just need time to decompress. I’m fine, Claire.”
“You won’t hate me after I tell you why I’m here.”
“Why?”
Claire held up her gloved hand.
“Your hand? That’s why you’re here?”
“No. I’m engaged!”
Keltie’s eyes widened. In an instant she lost all of her energy and felt like a horrible friend.
“W-What do you mean you’re—”
“Dex proposed the night after you left,” Claire said.
“And you said yes?” Keltie asked.
“Duh.”
“Oh, yeah. I guess you did, then.” Keltie laughed. “You’re engaged? Holy crap!”
Dex was an engineer. He worked in the space corps and programmed their systems, making sure that they worked properly. Nice guy. Intelligent. Sweet when he wanted to be. Claire couldn’t have picked a better guy.
“I was so excited,” Claire said. “We went to tell my parents, and then we went to eat at one of those little space cafes overlooking the moon. Well, someone there just happened to recognize me from my commercials, and one thing led to another and—”
“Makes sense now. I’m not mad at you.”
“Now we have to work on you, lady,” Claire said.
“Ha! I was thinking about buying a cat. That’s enough for love, right?”
“Stop.”
They hugged.
“You’re going to be my maid of honor,” Claire said.
“I better be.” She hugged Claire tight. “Send me pictures of the ring.”
“Done. How’s your tour going so far?”
“I think they’re going to buy,” Keltie said. “I have a good feeling.”
Claire paused, then sighed. “Wouldn’t surprise me. My guy is still in the greenhouse. It’ll be a miracle if he ever comes out.”
“Conscientious objectors, right?” Keltie asked.
“Yeah. They even talked about bringing Crystalith with them, but I urged them against it. Who are your clients?”
“Human purists.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Claire said. “They’re not from Forrest, are they?”
“I think so. Why?”
Claire pointed at the greenhouse. “Crap.”
The screen door on the greenhouse slammed.
Charsworth was running quickly toward her.
“Keltie!” he said. “Keltie!”
<
br /> “Mr. Charsworth, what’s wrong?” Keltie asked.
“We’ll take it,” he said.
“Take—”
“The planet. We want to do the deal.”
“That’s great news, Mr. Charsworth, but would you like to—”
“Why didn’t you tell me we were up against them?” the man asked, jamming a thumb toward the greenhouse. “A bunch of alien-loving, government hating—”
“Let’s tone it down a bit,” Keltie said. “I can’t let you talk bad about other clients.”
“I don’t care! Let’s sign the paperwork, already!” Charsworth cried.
Then the greenhouse door slammed again. A man in a red suit waved his hands.
“Claire, we want to move forward with purchase! Don’t let those xenophobes buy it!”
Claire shook her head. “I’m starting to wonder if buying planets to get away from one another is such a good idea after all.”
Keltie rubbed her hands together. “May the best broker win, lady.”
Claire puffed. “You’re on.”
Chapter 6
Keltie charted a course, then put the corsair on autopilot. The dusky brown lands of Kepler sailed below her, and the ship turned away from the sun and toward a shadow of darkened land in the distance. Taking off her suit helmet, she walked through the cockpit and into the ship itself, which was made with metal construction but coated with oak panel walls and carpet for comfort. She breathed in fresh oxygen from the ship’s climate system.
It had been a rush to get here. She raced Claire to the corsairs, but Claire’s clients weren’t as organized and she had to circle back to get them. By then, Keltie was far into the sky.
Thank goodness.
She passed through the small hallway of the corsair and into the salon, where all of the guests were gathered, having drinks with their helmets off.
The salon was about the size of two living rooms, with seats ranged along the walls and a large open space in the middle that served as a reception area. Cocktail tables rose from the floors, and soft jazz played from speakers in the ceiling to set the mood. Outside, the landscape changed from a gradient of sunlight to twilight.
Phantom Planet (Galaxy Mavericks Book 2) Page 3