Deep Yellow (5 page)

Their craft docked
around the back of an empty moon and immediately dispatched space
security probes. Once the captain was satisfied that there were no
immediate threats, the planetary probes were launched. The probes
were of military quality with full invisibility. Returning data
suggested little capability of space travel, and planet weaponry
was basic. Gravity readings confirmed it was virtually the same as
Elytia. The captain relaxed, stood down weapon techs, and
communicated to Williams that space and planet zones were safe for
travel.

***

Williams and Soohan
went about creating clothing, refining their language skills, and
turning off their implants. He had chosen a plain shirt, trousers,
and black shoes, with Soohan picking a female shirt, casual
trousers and black boots. She had stood by, whilst Williams removed
all jewellery, gadgets, and anything else from their home worlds.
He had to satisfy her that he was wearing the correct style of
underpants. Their “look” was finished off with a hat and sunglasses
in order to take someone's eye off their faces. Being from Elytia,
though similar in appearance to the city people below, they had
more yellow skin pigment than seemed the norm.

"Remember to use their
main language and call me Soo. I'll call you Ward. If we lose each
other, use the hand gesture for immediate transportation. The
sensor team will be continually scanning our movements."

Once the captain gave
permission, they travelled in an invisi shielded craft near to the
planet's atmosphere and transported down into a small area behind
some trees.

***

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.

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.

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.