Chapter 6
A golf cart waited for me outside the visitor quarters.
The morning was chill with a low fog clinging to the ground.
Yet, despite the early hour, the now-constant sounds of my life came from all around—beeps from heavy machinery and construction equipment in the background and soldiers going about their daily training routines.
My backpack felt too light as I climbed into the cart—holding only several days' worth of clothes and some toiletries. However, I knew that it was because I’d become accustomed to traveling with the necessities of modern life.
Things that I wouldn’t be able to use on an alien world.
Even if the military had permitted me to take my phone or computer, it was highly doubtful I’d be allowed to keep personal photos of a trip to another planet.
And there would be no way to recharge them once there.
I couldn’t even visit Europe without an adaptor, so the chances of being able to plug in my electronics on Lyll were essentially nil.
Hell, I was only taking my wallet with my ID and passport out of habit.
“Where’s Eashai?” I asked as the driver got the cart going.
“Already there,” the man stated. “Took him and his samples about half an hour ago.”
“Oh.”
He turned onto a road that led deeper into the base. We passed a guard shack, with the man inside merely waving us through.
We drove through a small commercial district being renovated, then past rows of townhouses covered with tarps as windows and siding were replaced.
The scale of it all hit me. They were planning to house people on the base—families with hybrid children. All of them hidden away…
For their own safety.
Xenophobia… homophobia… Eashai’s people knew what they were facing and had come anyway.
They didn’t have time to wait any longer, and were forced to make an impossible choice: watch their species die out, or partner with a world that wasn’t ready.
What could I add to help when they’d already decided that it was worth the risk?
I shook my head. They were focused on their survival. I was focused on giving the kids an accepting atmosphere as they grew up.
The driver turned down a tree-lined road between two groups of townhouses, leaving the construction din behind. A minute later, all I could hear was the whine of the cart’s electric motor.
“Almost there,” the driver stated when he saw me looking around. “It’s just past that curve.”
I nodded and focused on the road. He guided us around the bend, and a large metal building came into view.
We stopped outside a door.
“And we’re here,” he said. There was a beat of silence, then, “Congrats.”
“Pardon?”
He turned with a chuckle. “News moves fast around here. Plus, I can count on one hand the number of humans I’ve brought up here other than the colonel and the general. Only one didn’t have an immediate ride back.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “It doesn’t take much to read between the lines. You’ve got a golden ticket off-world. One of the first.”
“Wow.”
“Have fun out there,” he said as the door opened and Eashai poked his head out.
“Thanks,” I replied as I grabbed my backpack and stepped off the cart.
“Gene, you are just in time,” Eashai said as he held the door open for me. “We are almost ready to depart.”
I followed him in, then froze. A gleaming metallic pod sat in the middle of the building, back hatch opened as several Lalyllte moved in and out.
Eashai took several steps before realizing that I’d stopped. He turned to face me and offered his hand.
“It is perfectly safe,” he stated, misunderstanding the reason that I was standing there gawking.
I let out a half-laugh, half-nervous chuckle. “You don’t get it. The closest I’ve been to a working spacecraft was when my parents took us to Florida when I was a kid. We got to watch a launch from Cape Canaveral. Other than that, it’s been all decommissioned stuff and replicas in museums.”
He blinked several times, then smiled. “It is difficult for me to envision, but… I understand that it has now become a momentous occasion for you.”
I laughed. “That would be an understatement.”
“Come,” he urged. “They are almost finished loading. We should be seated.”
“Ok.”
I followed him to the open hatch and ducked slightly when he patted a low edge. The inside opened up to a small cargo area, four rows of four seats each, two on each side of a center aisle, then pilot and copilot seating.
A man whose color I could only describe as seafoam green sat at the controls. He turned as we sat and spoke to Eashai in their lilting language.
“We have two stops before we depart Earth,” Eashai explained. “From here, we will proceed to the country you call Chile, where additional samples are waiting. Then we are to stop in Russia, where one of my colleagues will join us.”
The pilot turned to face us. “Apologies. I was not sure how much to disclose. I will speak in your language.”
“No, it’s ok. I don’t want to make things difficult for you if you haven’t learned English.”
Eashai laughed. “It is not something we notice. Our translators handle it. Despite us conversing in a way you recognize, I do not speak any English.”
I turned to him and blinked. “Really? But you seem to speak it just fine, read it too.”
He smiled, then reached for my hand. “May I?”
I nodded mutely.
Eashai picked up my hand and curled everything but my index finger into my palm, then he leaned in and guided my hand behind his ear. Finally, my index finger landed on a tiny bump.
“Do you feel that?” he asked.
“The bump?”
“Yes.”
“I feel it.”
“That is where my translator is implanted.”
I thought back to our first meeting, when he’d mentioned a translator. But I’d never imagined it would be something smaller than a grain of rice.
“And that lets you understand English?”
He laughed as he released me and sat straight.
“Understand, speak, read, and write. Along with many other languages. It interprets what I see and hear and translates it to my language, and when I wish to speak or write, it influences motor control to generate the correct output. It has difficulty with unknown pictorial writing systems, but in most cases, a simple update with enough words and phrases will suffice to generate proper translations.”
“Am I going to be ok on Lyll without one?”
He nodded. “Most will be able to converse with you without issue, as translators are common. They are one of several devices implanted in youth. I should be able to handle anything else. If necessary, we can get you an external translator, but they are not as efficient.”
“I would not concern yourself with it,” the pilot agreed. “Lyll does not have as many visitors as some planets, but we are prepared to welcome them.”
“Ok,” I replied.
A sound from behind me. I turned to see the back hatch closing. Then brightness flooded the vessel as doors in front of it opened.
There was a second where I felt us lifting off the ground, then some system must have kicked in as I felt normal again. We moved forward, out of the building, then rose above the treeline.
“Are people going to see us?” I asked.
The pilot shook his head. “We have visual shielding. Combined with speed, anybody who might see us will only notice a shimmer.”
“What about radar?”
There was a beat of silence, then, “Oh, radio scanning. Not a concern. In addition, your governments are aware of our presence.”
“Oh, yeah.” I paused. “How long will it take for us to reach Chile?”
He said something in his language.
“Around five minutes,” Eashai translated.
“I am not comfortable with your time measurements,” the pilot explained.
“Understood,” I replied, even as my mind reeled. “I can’t believe it’s that fast, though. It would take at least half a day by plane.”
The pilot chuckled. “We are limited within the atmosphere. We will travel at much higher speeds once away from Earth.”
“Wow…” I breathed.
I could just see the landscape out the front window. Trees passed in a blur. Roads came into view and disappeared again within the blink of an eye. Then endless blue as we crossed over either the Gulf or the Atlantic.
Islands flashed as we passed over them, then a sea of green as we approached South America.
I didn’t as much feel us slow, as I noticed the scenery didn’t pass as quickly. Another stretch of water, then the ocean seemed to tilt as the pilot banked and steered us toward a forested mountainside.
We dropped between some trees, then into what appeared to be a ramshackle shed.
There was a slight hiss as the rear hatch opened again. The pilot stretched, then swiveled his chair so he could face us.
“It will not take long,” he stated as he stood and stretched again. “If you leave, do not wander far.”
Part of me was tempted to have a look around. While I’d visited Brazil and Argentina, I’d never been to Chile.
I turned to Eashai. “Shall we?”
He forced a smile. “Go ahead. I will stay here.”
I was about to ask why when the pilot chuckled. I turned to him.
“Eashai dislikes offworld travel,” he stated. “We accommodate by having him board early so that he can prepare himself.”
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted, turning to him. “You told me that it made you nauseous, but…”
His smile was still strained, but more genuine as he reached over and squeezed my hand. “It is alright, Gene. I have done this many times already, and will continue to travel between our worlds as things progress. It is an unavoidable part of my work.”
“Nothing helps?” I asked.
His smile faded and a contemplative look entered his eyes. “Not anymore.”
I understood without him having to continue that he was thinking of his lost mate. It was my turn to squeeze his hand as I reached over with my free one and laid it over his. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“Thank you,” he replied softly. “But I would prefer for you to focus on the experience. Your time with us is short, and it may be your one chance to visit another planet.”