Chapter 3
"Bossy, I like it."
Hannah
Charlie was smirking when he turned his head and caught my blushing face.
He was highly amused at how embarrassed I was, the jerk.
Damn it, I like him even more now. In my head I’ve already lifted him out of the acquaintance box and up onto the probationary partner in crime shelf.
I think he sensed it too because he chuckled and moved his arm to bar across my shoulders possessively.
“Fine but I’m not being your beard.” He snorted behind his left hand, the right hanging off my right shoulder, and I felt a bit better for catching him by surprise.
“Your friendship will be more than good enough Hannah. I don’t know anyone, and having another like mind to whisper on the back row with in class on an alien planet is very welcome.”
“Ditto, though I have my sister Billie. I haven’t seen her yet…
” I do another visual sweep of the auditorium and note that AI barbie is well in the swing of the talk.
I chide myself, as I haven’t been paying attention and I might have missed something important.
Not to self? Charlie is a bad influence.
“-incredible discovery. Thelia is populated by a sentient species who call themselves the Ucfeni.” She pronounced the c like a click in the back of her throat.
Back on Earth, I shared weekend shifts with a guy called Zakhele.
He was American, born and raised, but his grandfather was a proud Zulu and taught Zakhele from birth the traditions of his people.
I remember hearing him talking in his grandfather’s mother tongue on the phone a few times, and the click of the c in Ucfeni was similar.
There was a nice guy. Zakhele was so my type.
Tall, dark, and handsome with a kind streak, but he was happily married and therefore dating him was never on the cards.
“They are ruled by a Monarchy with a council of advisors. When the pioneer team arrived talks were difficult to establish due to the language and cultural barriers. They thought we were invading their home.”
“Which we are.” Charlie muttered and I smirked at him.
“Shush.” I chuckled at him.
“Thankfully we were able to observe them long enough to decipher their language and open communications.” AI barbie changed the side behind her to show a mind map that was so tiny, she might as well have not bothered.
My eyesight was 20:20, and I couldn’t make it out on the back row.
“It was strenuous at first, as it took time to convince the Ucfeni that we had something to offer in trade for permission to settle on their planet. As you know we don’t have the fuel to return back to Earth or is that a viable option, otherwise this enterprise wouldn’t have been proposed in the first place.
With more ships on their way, our pioneer team couldn’t afford to fail.
” Barbie turns to change the slide again.
I turned my head without taking my brown eyes off her to address Charlie.
“I’ve picked the word pioneer.” I get dibs in, remembering our game. He grins, elated that I had decided to play after all.
“Ah. I’ve gone with Ucfeni.” I pout, thinking he might have picked a better buzzword for our game than me. I hadn’t been keeping track either, so I didn’t know if I had an early lead or not.
“Now.” She resumes with the picture of what looks like a necklace. “We began communicating with the Ucfeni using computers and speakers run by sophisticated translation software. Once the pioneer team opened up lines of communication, negotiations finally began.”
“Three a piece.” Charlie chuckled and I elbowed him in the side playfully with a chuckle.
“The Ucfeni-” I grimace knowing Charlie’s in the lead.
“-are sentient and do have some technology, but it’s not as sophisticated as ours.
” I raise a brow at how proud Allico Inc Barbie sounds.
I doubt she has the right to be a snob, being at most a glorified tour guide for newly defrosted colonists to bring them up to speed.
“Given time the pioneer team-” Yes, back in the game.
“-were able to identify their lack of medical prowess. The Ucfeni-” Shit.
It’s 5-4. “-are strong warriors and have many skills and trades, including scholars and physicians, but they are very susceptible to infection. If their bloodstream is exposed they regularly suffer from sepsis and die.” Charlie was genuinely interested then and sat forward with his arms folded on the desk.
I nodded, remembering he said he was an immunologist. That had to mean immune systems and stuff, right?
“We have increased survival rates tremendously with our understanding of medical engineering and pharmacology expertise. The Ucfeni King has rewarded us in exchange with permission to not only settle on Thelia but to coexist with his people.” 6-4.
I’m not winning now and accept defeat to simply listen now.
“Behind me is a communication collar. Anyone wearing one, Human or Ucfeni, can communicate freely.” AI Barbie swung her right hand behind her to tap the blue tear-shaped pendant on the gold chain on the slide behind her.
“As long as you wear one of these you can remind within Ucfeni territories. They have GPS, of course, but that is protected information Allico Inc uses to track personnel locations for your own safety. This is in accordance with the contract you all signed before departing Earth. This information is not accessible by the Ucfeni. Human translator collars have a blue stone, and the Ucfeni translator collars have red ones. They have their own servers for tracking their people, and we don’t have access to that data either.
Although the collars were a joint project to allow for communication and peaceful coexistence, they are a contractual obligation on our behalf to wear. ”
“Sounds like a dog collar to me with a GPS signal as a leash.” I whisper and Charlie nods beside me.
“It’s in the contract we have to allow tracking for our safety though, so we don’t get a say. At least our stones are blue. Red isn’t my colour.” Charlie winked at me and made me smile.
“Speak for yourself. My favourite lipstick shade is hotrod red.” We whisper and snicker like naughty children at the back of the classroom, rather than the mid-twenties to early-thirties adults in an auditorium we actually are.
“Most of you will remain within the human settlements, but some of you have been reassigned due to your specialisms. In the name of peaceful cohabitation, certain projects have been agreed upon between us and the Ucfeni. If you are a medical professional you are likely to be assigned to a clinic in Onra, the capital city of the Ucfeni nation. Anyone who is to live in Onra will require a sponsor for the first couple of months to ensure you settle well, and learn the rules of their society, before having free reign in Onra.” My brown eyes widened and I snap my head round to stare at Charlie.
“Did she just say we get alien babysitters?” He looked a tad pale as he nodded, so at least I wasn’t the only one nervous about this sudden development.
“Now now.” Allico Inc Barbie raised her hands to settle the sea of worried murmurs in the room.
“You have been in cryosleep for the best part of a century. The pioneer unit and the first wave of colonists have been well established on Thelia for the last ten years. You are not walking onto an alien world that will gawk and stare at you for being Human. The Ucfeni are used to us, and our people have a way of life that promotes cohabitation. Sponsors are all volunteers who know what they are doing, and in most cases, have been a sponsor already. If for any reason you are concerned about anything? You can press your communicator gem and keep it pressed to connect to our operators. We can deploy emergency services to your exact location within minutes.” That settled most of the room.
I felt a lot better knowing I could basically call 999 at the press of a button if I needed to.
Yet, nothing I heard worried me quite as much as Billie and her absence did.
She was already nervous about how much change there would be for her to get used to and try to adjust her routine.
When we went into cryo, there was no mention of aliens.
How would she take to having to wear a necklace?
An alien sponsor? I don’t think so. She doesn’t like strangers.
Having one tailing her around for a few months will trigger her for sure.
AI Barbie gave them a million-dollar watt smile and waved them out the far door to go on their way for deployment.
“I need to find out where my sister is. You go on ahead.” Charlie nodded and we walked down the stairs to the ground floor.
He continued to the exit but lingered to make sure I was alright.
I cleared my throat to get our orientation presenter’s attention.
She smiled at me and I shoved my hands into my sleeping trouser pockets.
“My name is Hannah Blac and I travelled here with my sister, Billie Blac.” She politely nodded for me to continue.
At least she didn’t intend to be snobby with me.
A good job too, because I let most things go, unless my sister is involved.
“She wasn’t in the same group as me as we came out of Cryo? When will she be thawed out?”
“I’m sure if she hasn’t been reanimated already, she will be soon.” She cooed, and I raised a brow and felt my blood pressure start to rise. AI Barbie wasn’t a snob with me, but she was condescending.
“You don’t understand.” Hannah cleared her throat and tried to channel her inner calm and not our outer bitch. “My sister Billie is a top analyst so I know she’s important to the mission-”
“Everyone here is important to our mission to colonise-”
“No.” I raised a finger and was so close to pointing it in her face.
“As I was trying to say, my sister is important to the mission, but-” I emphasised, and at least she shut her mouth now to listen to me.
“-she also has aspergers. High functioning, but she still needs support sometimes. It was agreed before we left that we were either to be ‘reanimate’ together, or I was brought out first and would be there when she was. There is a whole plan agreed with how to help her to acclimatise to all of this.” I waved my raised hand around the room, but I clearly meant the whole waking up and there are actual aliens to interact with now.
“So if it isn’t you, who do I ask where to find my sister? ”
AI Barbie gulped and tapped her own blue communication gem and waited patiently to be connected. It beeped and she relaxed.
“This is operator Lilly Ellis. Can I please ask for a personal location check on Billie Blac. I have her next of kin here to give authorisation.”
“Yeah I’m Hannah and I authorise the search.” I added just to save time.
“One moment please…………operator Billie Blac is being transported from cryostorage to Medbay 4 to be reanimated. Would you like me to connect you to-”
“Yes, and while you’re at it? Take me there right now.”
“Bossy, I like it.” Charlie chuckled from behind me and made me nearly jump out of my skin. “Well come on?” He raised a blonde brow down at Operator Lilly Ellis and urged her into action. “You heard the lady. Medbay 4. Let’s go.”