by Stuart Dodds
***
Williams tried to take it all in, but felt overwhelmed. They were standing in a small grassy area, the light appeared gloomy and the air quality poor with an acrid smell that he could taste. There was a humdrum of noise; engines, the rustle of leaves, beeps, hoots, and voices. The buildings appeared old and worn out. Some packaging and containers lay on the grass near an empty receptacle bin. Williams glanced up. Nothing flew in the air, no AG skiffs, or glide scooters, just ground cars and wheeled contraptions. Loud engine scooters buzzed by, chugging out smoke. Everything worked at ground level. It appeared chaotic.
He took a few breaths, aware that his shoulders were tense and his jaw tight. Have to remember this is real, there are no bots, anti grav drive or weather and air control systems.
Soohan had also not moved. She glanced around, her wide, staring eyes hidden behind the dark glasses.
“Ward, everything okay?” Soohan said in main Inhab-47 language.
“Yes, err, Soo, just realising that I am standing on an alien planet, untouched by the Association.”
“Just breathe normal. We are safe, no scanners here. People just going about their business, ignoring us, unless we just stand here gawping.”
“Okay, let’s walk. Our beverage cafe place is just over the roadway.”
As they walked across the area, Williams stopped, placed his hand on a tree trunk, and ran his fingers between the bark. Soohan joined him.
“Yes, interesting. If you close your eyes and felt the tree, it’s no different from some of the trees on our home world. Ward, we can’t touch everything, it will look odd. Blend in, remember?”
“Okay, let’s get to the beverage cafe and try out our paper credits.”
They reached a paved area that ran on each side of the thoroughfare and looked for a place to cross. Vehicles zipped around. It seemed too dangerous to walk out in front of the traffic. They walked along a short distance, trying not to stare at everything. People, old, young, dark skin, light skin strolled around, taking no notice of them. Clothes varied as well; colourful, drab, shorts, long trousers, short dresses, shirts, and so on. Williams glanced down at his and then Soo’s clothes. Not bad at all. He relaxed a little and again felt grateful that Soohan was with him. She had a subtle confidence about her.
“We can cross here,” Soohan said pointing, “we just follow what other people do, watch.”
Williams saw that people waited at the roadside until a signal appeared, then they walked across the road. Another signal appeared and the traffic started up again. They waited patiently, but nothing happened until a person came up beside them.
“Hey, press the button,” a man said.
Williams just nodded in shock that someone had talked to him. His stomach tightened waiting for something to happen, like planet security or Police Corps suddenly appearing.
“Thank you,” he said. He recalled part of the briefing: remember your manners, saying “thank you” a lot, helps.
They walked across the road whilst checking that the man who had spoken to them had left on his own. Continuing along a line of buildings Williams looked through the windows studying the clothing and food inside.
“The shops?” Williams said.
“Not yet. Beverage place first.”
After a short distance, Williams said, “Here we are.”
He stood outside the beverage building, unsure whether the door utilised automatic hard holo technology. No, you pushed it with your hand, as the person leaving demonstrated.
It felt warm inside and there was a wonderful earthy smell of roasted something or other. Numerous tables and chairs were dotted around a large low-lit room. Some tinkling background music played as people sat in groups or on their own. One person tapped a keyboard with their fingers whilst staring into a hinged screen, another wiped their finger around a small hand-held device. A long counter on one side of the cafe appeared to be where customers obtained drinks. The workers standing behind it all wore identical coloured shirts. Items of food were set behind glass cases.
“Remember, we queue and order, pay with paper money, then take our cups to a table, okay?”
Williams nodded and followed Soohan to stand behind two people. He stared and gaped at everything without moving up the queue until Soohan tugged at this sleeve.
“Hi, what you having?”
“Thank you. Two cappuccinos, please. Drink in.” Soohan said.
“Anything to eat?”
Soohan quickly pointed to two small soft food items, which were promptly placed onto a plate. She got a large paper note out of her pocket and held it ready.
The worker took the money and returned some metal coins and paper notes.
“Thank you.”
Williams watched in fascination as a worker pulled levers and pushed knobs to create the frothy liquid. They found seats at the back, where there were less people. The brown liquid, though bitter, had a deep creamy taste that lingered on the tongue. It was real, not synthesized.
“How did you know what to order?”
“Same order as the people in front of me. Our paper money worked okay. That’s good. We made it here no problem, let’s just take it easy.”
Williams sat forward in his chair, becoming sensitive to the quality of the air and germs. Their table had an empty cup on it and dry, spilt brown fluid on its surface. He held his coffee cup, uncertain whether to put it on the dirty table or keep it in his hand. Soohan had placed hers on the table.
“We’re okay with germs and alien diseases, air borne or from surfaces, aren’t we?”
“Yes. Go with the flow. The probes provided us with enough knowledge regarding diseases. We’ve had all the health inoculations. Sit back, relax.”
“You do this for a living?”
“Nerve-wracking at first, but once you get a feel for the place, it’s okay.”
Williams sat back in his chair and took it all in whilst he sipped his coffee, realising that his implants were back on the cruiser. They provided a stream of information updates from his assistant, but now all he could hear were general background noises and the screech of the door opening. Images hung on the wall, none of which he could make sense of.
He finished his coffee and ate the small cake. Bit doughy and crumbly, but okay. Guess they have a lot to learn in this area. An auto chef would have produced something special.
He knew it would be difficult to stop comparing everything with what they had back home, but in time he rationalised that things may seem “normal”. It is what it is, get on with it. Another gem of knowledge from Soohan.
“See that small black globe high up the wall? It’s a crude type of camera.” Soohan said.
“Any cause for concern?”
“No, it’s really basic. No image ID scanning or anything like that here. We are just two normal people as far as everyone is concerned. I think we should take our sunglasses off, though. Others have done that.”
Williams removed his glasses and hat. Nothing happened. He rubbed his face a little, but no one took any notice. Soohan had done the same.
“All finished? I would suggest that we visit the privy facilities here and get used to them. They are over there,” Soohan pointed to a nearby corridor. “Men and women are separate here, check you go into the right one. I’ll go first. Just sit here and smile.”
Williams nodded, hoping that no one started talking to him. A while later Soohan returned smiling.
“All good. Interesting, bit dirty. Remember, no auto beam technology here. They use water for washing hands.”
Williams found the door and went inside. It had a strong smell of cleaning products and something nasty, so he pulled at his nose. Hesitant, he watched a man peeing into one of two low ceramic basins. He couldn’t move and just gaped at the man until he finished. He heard a zipper being pulled up.
“Hey buddy, you okay there? Want something, or just looking?” The man walked over towards Williams, then started washing his hands.
&nb
sp; Williams lost his concentration and didn’t fully understand what the man said.
“On holiday. Thank you,” he said, smiled and went over to the low basin.
“Jeez. Well, tell you what, you have a hell of a sun tan,” the man said as he left the privy.
Williams finished peeing, then remembered to zip up and wash his hands. He giggled when placing his hands under a heat blower. Certain that he had caught more germs, he walked back to Soohan who appeared to be talking to a couple at the next table.
“Hi, Ward. Ready?”
“Yes,” Williams said, smiling back at the couple.
“Have a good trip,” the couple said.
“Thank you.”
They ambled along the street for a short while.
“Trip? What did they mean?”
“Told them we were travelling around the area. Our accents are different from the locals. Told them I came from a Greenland, it seemed to work.”
“I’ve got a sun tan apparently. Have to increase the skin colour tablets.”
They continued walking and Williams stopped when he saw a man sitting in a chair with large wheels on the side. The man pushed then let go of the wheel rims, propelling himself along the paved area. Nearby, a woman with hunched shoulders pressed down on a round wooden pole as she walked along.
Soohan noticed Williams staring at the two people.
“Not something you normally see.”
“No birthing pools, pre-birth DNA, artificial remedies, or anything like that?”
“They have only basic medicine here and we are in a wealthy part of the planet. Long way to catch up. But the people know no different, it’s just you making a comparison.”
Satisfied that people still ignored them, they headed back to the grassy area and made their signal. A short while later, the area in front of them started to tremor. The air became denser and it had become silent. A door slid open, revealing the inside chamber. A bystander would have rubbed their eyes in disbelief, as the transporter tube was invisible. They would have just seen an internal seating area, half a metre off the ground against the backdrop of trees and grass.
Williams and Soohan stepped inside and sat down. The door closed and the transporter tube ascended along its location beam to the waiting craft, just outside the atmosphere. Auto scanners and invisi shields meant that local people never saw or suspected anything, and its directional beam ensured no conflict with any air-flying craft.
Chapter 8 - Mapping the alien world
After a debrief with the Captain and security staff, Williams and Soohan made further visits until they relaxed enough with languages and customs to start transporting others down. Williams, in cahoots with some engineers, had created a small device with which to obtain some real paper money. Soohan had reluctantly agreed, but understood that it lowered risk of discovery from an observant shop worker.
Once able to access paper money, Williams booked a large hotel suite and with Soohan’s assistance, they brought the engineers down to the surface one by one. Soohan assessed their skin colour, habits, language skills, and personal characteristics. She ran them through a series of questions in the main Inhab-47 language before letting them out into the alien world. If anyone answered her back in Association language, they would be left in the hotel room for the day.
“You have an interesting accent there, where are you from?”
“The Greenland.”
“Are you here for long?”
“On business, International Exports.”
“Gradian circenta.”
“Ghan.”
“Stay in the hotel room and learn the language a bit more. You fell for an old trick by replying in Elytian.”
“But no one here knows Elytian, do they?”
“Walls have ears, we can’t take the risk.”
Only allowed outside in pairs, the engineers were given a verbal communication device to use for contacting the base controller in the hotel room. The controller was forbidden to leave the hotel room, unless accompanied during the cover of darkness and only then back to a transporter pickup area.
“His grey-white skin, spiky teeth, bad breath, and staring eyes would freak out the locals. Culturally, he is used to standing very close to people. Too much of a risk. Base controller duty only,” Soohan had said to Williams.
The only advice Williams could give which Soohan had not covered was, “Boys, don’t stand and gawp at other men when you are in the privy.” Soohan raised an eyebrow but she understood what he meant. However, when he said, “Any problems and Mr Scotty will beam you up.” She had no idea what he was talking about.
Williams gained confidence and got back into his schmoozing ways. He found that if he kept the hotel staff supplied with paper money, they all received good service, twenty-four hours a day, whichever hotel they were staying in. The front desk also enjoyed receiving money, and Williams hired and paid for vehicles through them, meaning that he didn’t have to interact with the drivers too much.
One of the technicians drunk too much local intox and ran up and down a hotel corridor naked. Despite his body shape, the hotel staff didn’t think anything of it and quietly just popped him back inside his room. They must have thought he had an accident at birth, plus they probably weren’t expecting someone from another galaxy to be running around naked in their hotel.
They had all been watching hilarious alien encounter films together in William’s suite. The technician couldn’t resist a little showing off. However, Soohan was not happy, so the technician was sent back up to the cruiser.
“We got too complacent,” is how she phrased it. Williams made eye contact with her and she rolled her eyes, giving a slight smile. They tightened all their procedures after that, but there were some narrow escapes with the aliens.
One episode occurred when Williams and an engineer visited a city square. Williams wandered around admiring the buildings, leaving the engineer to calculate any scanner obstructions, which he scribbled into a notebook. Williams glanced back at the engineer and was unsettled to see a Police Corps type officer approaching him.
“You are taking a lot of interest in the buildings here. What are you up to?”
“I’m from Greenland,” the engineer said, swallowing audibly.
“You’re not from around here, are you?”
“International exports.”
“Got a right one here. Hey,” the officer gesticulated to his colleague, “come over here a minute.”
Williams looked back at the engineer standing between two officers. Remember what Soohan had said: “Do not panic. Just talk and smile.” If it became a real problem, he would have to call for an extraction. If he did, it was all over, back to the cruiser and a solemn return journey to Vorsan.
“Hello, officers, he’s with me.” Williams approached the officers with his best smile whilst taking off his sunglasses.
“Is he with you?”
“Yes.” Williams gave the engineer a reassuring nod. The engineer froze, turning his head back and forth not knowing whether to speak or run.
“What are you, his carer or something?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Williams said. He racked his brain for carer. Care giver? He understood.
“He has a thing about buildings; looks at them, then draws them. You know, keeps him occupied. He’s fine. I will look after him.”
The officers exchanged glances. One of them scratched the side of his neck. A tinny voice suddenly emitted from the little black box fastened to his shoulder.
“Got a call, got to go,” the officer said to his colleague.
“Harmless delusions,” he said back to his colleague, who nodded.
“You take good care of him. Keep him out of trouble. Have a good day.” With that, the officers walked off at a fast pace.
Williams waited until they were out of earshot.
“You can breathe again. No problem, they’ve gone to deal with something.”
“What did he mean by ‘harm
less delusions’?”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s an alien thing.” Williams blew a breath out, went back to the hotel, and reported what happened to Soohan. She was okay with it. The Police Corps here had little technology to assist them, no ID scanners for example.
Over the days, they made a list of prospective locations for holographic reconstruction. They had to be places that were not too large, but enough for the audience to take an interest in. Williams eventually drew up a physical geographic outline of the places he wanted captured.
They had to abort from three of the suggested locations. Skin colour aside, they stuck out as being too different, and all the locals zoomed in on them trying to do things for money. They couldn’t walk down a street without being approached by someone in a wheeled contraption asking if they wanted a lift. The hotel staff continually ran around trying to offer assistance, when they both wanted to be left alone. Soohan became the subject of glances continually from the men, and as calm as she normally appeared, Williams detected her discomfort in crowds. They transported back up and took stock for a while on board the cruiser.
After a quick revisit to their favoured locations, Soohan went back up to record her findings for the Association’s First Contact library and Williams organised the engineers.
Back on the cruiser, a technician transferred the geographical outlines into wire diagrams and then transposed them onto a grid mapping system. Next, he programmed the co-ordinates into their first class military grade invisible scanning cameras, which the engineers released into the air. Flying silently around external and internal locations, the “sense-around” cameras recorded smells, sounds, and images. Any problems, obstructions, or unnecessary bumps would cause the device to self-destruct. Quite a few were lost in various locations, but self-vaporisation meant no fragments remained behind.
Working with a creative engineer, they designed some scenes to be played out whilst the challengers were inside the worlds. For example, Williams had seen some people performing a mock fight outside a popular tourist location. This would add some interest, a bit of culture in between the death. The finer details such as the hard or soft beam people requirements and the scope of the security bots would be worked out later. The Twins were employing a military experienced holo engineer who would head up some of this work.