On His Blindness – Chapter One – ANOTHER ON THE SAME
By SilvyrWingThey weren't really any closer to home… Not since the last time they'd checked anyway. Something was wrong with the ion glide, and while that was usual, Thelma constantly reminded them that they were adding hours onto their trip home. In fact, every now and then she'd relay the exact second count to the crew, which did get annoying after a while.
It was that, plus a combination of the students' cabin fever that led Commander Goddard to the decision that the next planet or outpost they came upon, they'd stop to get supplies, and set Suzee up with whatever she needed to fix their protomix. Unfortunately, none of the crew actually had any money, so they were going to have to barter with the supplies they had. Plus, there was a whole range of alien food in the biosphere, and Seth was sure that would at least be worth something. Still, there was a nagging feeling that he refused to convey to the rest of them… Something seemed wrong. Every time they went on an extravehicular activity, such as boarding a sister ship or exploring an outpost… Something went wrong.
"I'm starting to sound like Bova," he mused to himself.
Harlan turned to him. "What was that?"
Seth shook his head, and Harlan continued piloting the Christa down to the landing strip on the surface of the small planet. "Look, Commander," the earther said. "This is our first real vacation, you know? You really don't seem that excited about leaving the ship, willingly, in a safe environment."
"We don't… know if it's completely safe," Radu said from the navigation console just behind the helm. "I mean, no one in… No one in the UPP has ever been here before." He spoke hesitantly, and rightfully so. He could tell that he was dampening Harlan's mood with every single word he spoke. Their friendship was tumultuous at best, and ruining it – or avoiding its ruination, rather – was always at the forefront of the Andromedan's mind. "But… you know, Commander Goddard, I do think Harlan's right – at least in saying that you should try to relax a bit. You've… been really stressed since we talked about landing."
"There. See?" Harlan asked, completely ignoring both Radu's and the commander's fears.
"I'm cutting power to the secondary rear thrusters," Suzee droned. "We're in the planet's atmosphere."
"Picking up a transmission," Rosie said. Her tone was considerably more cherry that Suzee's. Then again, she tended to make everything fun. It was both what the crew loved about her and hated about her, though everyone had their faults. "It's just audio. Playing it now."
The voice came over loud and clear, though it was obvious the computer's translators were working overtime. "Starship Christa, we presume? We received your transmission ninety-four standard En'hegian hours ago, and have cleared you for landing. We've also taken the liberty of securing a translator for each of your crew… I'm hoping you've got one on your ship, or else I suppose this message is rather pointless."
"We read you, En'hegia," Seth said, realizing after the fact that he, too, hoped the En'hegian official had some sort of translation device. After a second of mental deliberation, he added, "We thank you for your hospitality."
"It was nothing at all," the official continued. "My name is Gzzart. I will be part of the landing party crew that will be meeting you at the terminal."
"Ninety-four hours?" Bova wondered outloud, if for no reason at all than to provide a break in a conversation that was boring him to tears.
"When will you be landing?" Gzzart continued. "We've detected you in our atmosphere…"
"One moment," Seth said, signaling to Rosie to cut the outgoing transmission. She did so, and the Commander turned to Suzee. "Suzee, do you think you can make a calculation taking into account how long ninety-four hours of their time is? I want to make a good first impression."
Suzee shrugged, rolled her eyes back a bit, thought a while, then answered. "Probably about twelve En'hegian hours. That's just a little less than an hour for us, at the engine's current speed, though—"
"That's fine, Suzee. Rosie?" Seth turned away from the rather affronted Yensidian. Rosie instantly opened up the channel again, and the commander answered confidently, "Just about twelve hours, sir."
"Ah!" Gzzart exclaimed. "We look forward to your arrival, then! We have preparations to make, so you'll excuse me if I cut his conversation short? I'm terribly sorry."
"We… understand. Christa out."
Rosie cut the channel once again, and silence became the predominant sound in the room.
Finally, Bova spoke. "You know, for some reason I just don't trust them."
"You don't trust anyone, Bova," Rosie responded, though she didn't sound too sure, either.
---
"Nice landing, Band," Seth commented disinterestedly to the Christa's pilot. He'd actually been quite impressed, considering the last landing Harlan had made had been a crash landing some year or so back.
"Actually, it was, wasn't it?" Miss Davenport commented, smiling. "I see someone's been paying attention in class. Well done, Harlan." The earther turned to her, almost expecting to receive brownie points, or whatever T.J.'s equivalent was. Merits? Whatever. The fact was, Starcademy's assistant principal looked all-too-happy to get off the ship, so she was in a particularly good mood at the moment. Harlan wasn't about to spoil it by inserting a random jab in her direction. Probably wise, considering.
"Thanks, Miss Davenport," he finally said. It kept everyone happy, and… well, it would probably get them out of the ship faster.
"Now," Seth started, causing everyone to turn to him. "You're to be on your best behavior here. The people here seem quite friendly… though I don't want you to go completely trusting them." His eyes turned pointedly to Harlan. "It's just as you would do with any people. You act in a professional manner, and hopefully they will act as such to you. Got that?"
Everyone muttered their agreement.
"Band?" Commander Goddard prompted.
Harlan saluted. "Got it, Sir. You don't have to worry about me."
"I've paired us off so that if one of us gets in trouble, the other can go back for help. It's also safer. Rosie, you'll be with Bova. Suzee—"
"Cat's with me," she said, matter-of-factly.
"Yes, but she can't help you if you get into trouble, so I'm putting you and Catalina, with Miss Davenport."
Neither of them looked exceptionally thrilled.
"I will be with Thelma, mostly because we'll be sticking around the ship. That leaves…"
"Me and Radu," Harlan said. His voice wasn't exactly ecstatic, but it wasn't quite offended, either. Harlan had a feeling he'd be stuck with the Andromedan again. They got along fine, but it was a deep-rooted hate of the species that caused him to still be uneasy around Radu. Friends? Yes. It was just something he couldn't place…
"…You okay, Harlan?"
Harlan turned to Radu, fixing him with a momentarily blank expression before he blinked his eyes to clear it away. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."
"We're gonna be meeting the En'hegian party first, then I suppose we'll have free-time for as long as it takes to get what we need… Make sure you meet back at the Christa by an hour before sunset, though, alright?" Seth started moving toward the door. It would be the first time in a year they were on lengthy shore-leave, and everyone followed closely, anticipating. "There's probably stuff to do at night, but I just want everyone to check in."
"Alright, alright…" Harlan rolled his eyes. "Look, some of us aren't children anymore."
Goddard continued down the hall, not dignifying Harlan with a glance back over his shoulder. The boy was right; recently, he'd turned twenty-one, which pretty much meant he was an adult. "No, you aren't children. None of you here are. But the fact remains that you are my responsibility, and should something happen to any of you—"
The Christa's airlock opened.
"Nothing is going to happen…" Harlan began, just about the same time everyone got their first look at the En'hegians.
---
They were wholly inhuman. That was perhaps the best way to describe them at first glance. Tall and impossibly plump, each of them had two yellow eyes on what could be considered a face… Except it was directly in the center of their bodies. Their arms numbered four, and while they had shoulders and elbows, they ended in a small dexterous tentacle instead of a hand. Their skin was reptilian, each a slightly different shade of yellow or green, and their bodies ended in a snake-like tail that was mostly hidden under the bulk of their bodies.
Harlan was too busy being surprised to comment. And that was a good thing, too, because as soon as he thought about commenting, he'd already remembered that they'd been instructed to be as polite and as dignified as possible.
Drat.
One of them slithered forward. Actually, it oozed forward was a word more worth using. One set of "hands" planted themselves in the ground and pulled the creature forward, while the other two remained clasped in front of it, somewhere at eye-level.
The first thing it did was pull a small object out of a pouch that must have been around its belly area. That was vaguely disturbing, Seth thought, as he reached forward to take the object offered to him. It was incredibly small. In fact, it looked as if it would…
The En'hegian moved aside a grayish green flap of skin on its face to show that a similar object had been placed into its ear. Oh! It was the translator! Seth put it into his own ear… and the reptilian creature offered a smile and a nod before distributing similar objects to the rest of the crew. It paused when it reached Thelma.
Thelma said something in a totally unrecognizable language, which the translator instantly translated to "Greetings, fellow potatoes!"
Confused, though smiling, the En'hegian moved away.
Seth massaged his temples.
"…We did not speak until you could understand us, for obvious reasons. Welcome to En'hegia. I am Gzzart. I… believe we spoke over your communications unit earlier."
It was a strange mix of the common language, and the same growling, unrecognizable series of syllables that Thelma had demonstrated seconds earlier. That would be hard to get used to, but at least they could all understand it.
"Yes. I'm Commander Seth Goddard… This is my crew. Harlan Band from Earth. Radu from Andromeda… T.J. Davenport, from the Earth colony on Mars. Rosie and Bova from Mercury and Uranus respectively, and Suzee, from Yensid." He considered adding Catalina. After all, she was likely standing there with them, however, he didn't want to complicate matters. Yet. "I've told the crew that they have shore leave. That is, of course, with your permission."
Gzzart smiled. At least, everyone thought it was a smile. "Of course. Just be very careful."
Seth narrowed his eyes. Was that genuine concern, or a warning?
He looked over his shoulder. "First things first. Suzee, you and T.J. search out some information. See if you can barter for engine components…"
"…You do know we can't even begin to read this language?" Suzee quested, pointing to one of the signs tacked to the floor of the landing strip.
Gzzart smiled, turning and calling what must have been a name. The translator didn't bother speaking up. Another one of the En'hegians approached, this one a yellowish color. Suzee couldn't help thinking it appeared to be the shade of fresh vomit. It was careful to keep from fully turning its back to them, yet was doing its best to face Gzzart. If anything could be said for this race, they sure were polite.
"Terbrin. You'll go with these two ladies and see to it they are able to read our language and acquire a fair price on anything they need," Gzzart began. "And if there's trouble, you know what to do."
Terbrin nodded. "If it pleases you, you may come along with me. I know wonderful places to barter…"
Its voice was slightly higher. Seth wondered if it was a female as it led Suzee and Miss Davenport off into the center of the port city. Hopefully they'd be okay… Why couldn't he shake the feeling that something was going to happen?
And what did Gzzart mean by "You know what to do…"?
"Rosie, Bova, I want you to collect some native samples for study in the Christa. Maybe we can find something for the biosphere…" The Commander turned to Gzzart as Rosie dragged a reluctant Bova off in the same direction in which Suzee and Miss Davenport had gone. "I'll be staying near the ship, with Thelma, so if you need anything…"
Gzzart pointed to the two remaining crewmen. "And they?"
"They'll be looking for supplies," Goddard offered. But I needed to talk to them before sending them off. If you'll excuse me…"
Gzzart nodded. Seth turned to face Harlan and Radu. "I'm sending you off to look for supplies. Crystals, food, clothing… whatever you think will be important or maybe add a little comfort to—"
"I doubt we'll be finding clothing," Harlan remarked, looking at the En'hegians. Radu couldn't help but laugh, though the Commander remained quite serious.
"I'm warning you, Band. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here. You said you weren't a child. Prove it to me."
"Alright. Don't worry, we'll be fine." Harlan's expression fell considerably, his brows knitting over his eyes. It was an expression he wore when something actually got to him, and for that, Seth was glad. He wasn't going to tell Radu to keep an eye on him, but that was probably understood. The two turned to walk off.
"Harlan," Goddard called, "Be careful."
---
"Harlan, be careful," the Earther echoed, turning toward Radu. "You know…"
Radu actually rolled his eyes. "Why don't you try to stop thinking about that, and attempt to enjoy yourself. You know, this is an entirely different culture, altogether."
"Entirely different." Harlan seemed to have a thing for repeating things today, Radu thought, shaking his head. Harlan continued. "I can't even tell the streets from the sidewalks here. I mean, I think this is a walkway. But then there's this narrow strip next to it…"
Radu had to consent to that. Both of them had seen things that resembled cars at times, though they, too, traveled along what seemed to be sidewalks. "I'd say we could read up on it, but…"
"Yeah. I wish these translators actually translated writing." Harlan tugged on his ear a little, looking toward Radu. The Andromedan couldn't actually wear it, as it wasn't designed for Andromedan ears. Thankfully, he could easily pick up its whispered translations from the pocket in his jacket.
The two of them walked along the strip that Harlan had previously indicated, occasionally trying to make sense of what was sold in any particular establishment. The buildings themselves were seemingly carved into rock… Not exactly inviting, and neither of them saw any that looked enticing enough to enter.
Eventually, they passed one of the En'hegians that seemed to be walking some sort of pet. As it attempted to walk directly between them, Harlan sidestepped into the narrow strip next to them.
Radu heard the vehicle approaching before either of them saw it, though by the time he was able to call out a warning, Harlan had already been hit.