Chapter 3
“There it is.” I smiled.
We stood on the bridge as we dropped out of hyperspace to watch a blue and gray planet situated beneath us. The second we came out of hyperspace, there were multiple pings on the comms. I frowned, glancing at them and tapping to see what was wrong, only for a dozen more to hit my systems.
They were all advertisements that detected my ship entering space near the planet and started sending me recommendations for spaceports and associated businesses.
"If I may be so bold, the Sentar Spaceports are really the best option. It's just a matter of finding one near where Violet's home might be," Tiri said.
Tiri glanced over at the other kikai expectantly. I couldn't help but notice that every time she looked at Violet, her tail went rigid, like she was nervous and constantly waiting for some reaction from the other kikai.
Violet began tapping at the systems before a region highlighted on our display. "Here. It's the city of Toussaint."
I tapped what she was working at and swiped it up to the main screen, searching through all of the messages to find the appropriate spot.
I finished clicking it into place and highlighting the vector to get us there.
"Bring us in, Melgara. I suppose if Tiri recommends this Sentar Spaceports, then it can't be too bad. "
That and it wasn’t as if I had an opinion. It hadn’t occurred to me until we dropped out of hyperspace that we’d have to pick from dozens of commercial spaceports.
"Thank you, Captain." The kikai bowed and swept her tail around beneath her.
"Please, none of those subservient tail movements," I said, having read up on kikai expressions quite a bit when Brick wasn’t stuffing me into the guts of the ship, Melgara wasn’t insisting on more tests, and Lily wasn’t sequestering me for cuddles.
Her tail shot back. "It's not subservient." She said the word as if I had scalded her with it.
"My bad. Perhaps I misunderstood. I am still getting used to kikai mannerisms, after all." I waved a hand, though I was fairly certain that I was right. Perhaps it was improper of me to point it out.
She narrowed her eyes, pausing for a moment before letting out a sigh. "No, I apologize. It seems I was being too sensitive. After all, you did take my recommendation when it came to landing companies."
"Of course. You're a merchant. I assume whatever you use is good enough to be sufficient while not being so miserly that it causes more problems than it solves." It was my turn to smile at her.
"Thank you for the praise, Captain." Tiri bowed.
"I will endeavor to continue putting forward the kind of recommendations you can trust. Sentar is definitely middle-grade, or perhaps slightly on the cheap end.
But more importantly, they value location above a lot of other options.
" She nodded to the map. "They're right in the southern district of the city, so we won't have to take a shuttle to get where we want to go. "
"Location is always an important aspect of a business." I rubbed my chin and nodded along. I supposed that spaceports were rather bulky, and many of them, to save costs, would put themselves on the outskirts of the city.
We continued forward, and it didn't take us long to land.
I found myself waiting as long as I could to watch on the bridge, even after we were caught in a gravitational beam that pulled us down and Melgara left the controls.
Reentry had been smoother than I had expected, but more than anything, I was impressed at the alien world.
Many of the trees were a dense mixture of red, but closer to the city, it was like someone had purposefully blended in other colors.
Purples, blues, and greens popped in more frequently as the city rose; large monolithic towers of metal poked up, though their roofs had sharp angles and large overhangs that made me suspect the area got quite a lot of rain.
***
As soon as the ship touched down, our crew was walking out of the cargo hold together. It seemed we were all plenty eager for what came next. I knew I was excited to explore my first alien planet.
As we lined up in the cargo bay, I frowned at Lily, who had a duffel bag hanging from her hand as she walked out with us. Whatever was in that duffel bag was heavy based on the way it sagged. The straps looked like they were barely holding on.
"Lily, what's in the bag?" I asked.
She glanced down at it and then back up at me. "I packed some things.”
“Some things?” I eyed the bag again.
“Even though we are going off the ship, I am still your security officer, and it is vital that I ensure your safety,” she retorted quickly.
I frowned, half unable to believe what she was saying. But the other half of me knew I was in good hands with her. She was a helivore, and even if we left the ship and her main biomass, I had seen her fight at the Wentworth facility. She was far from a slouch.
"Lily, that doesn't answer what's in the bag," I said, continuing to stare at it as if it had offended me. "I trust you, Lily. I'm just curious."
"Don't worry. If I need it, I'll use it. It’s not like I’m going to kill the entire city with the contents of a duffle bag," she deadpanned.
Brick now looked utterly terrified. I was sure he was having some strange ideas as to what could possibly be in the bag. But then my gaze lifted from our crew to what lay beyond the cargo bay doors.
There was a massive city laid out before us, and this was just the tip of the iceberg.
The spaceport’s landing opened up to a vast mall.
Dozens upon dozens of shops lined the space before us.
Signs filled my vision in every direction, offering lodging, mechanical services, and just about anything anybody needed to purchase.
"See? Good location," Tiri offered.
I couldn't help but agree, nodding along with her. "It does seem we’ll be able to get what we need. As long as we have the funds for it."
Of course, the bit of everything included enough signage to blind a person. Honestly, it was well past the point of overstimulating. Dozens of signs, both high and low, flashed a variety of advertising. I could have sworn that they even changed models to a human when I looked at them.
"Well, before we do anything else, I think a little bit of food would put our heads in order," I said to our group. The second those words left my mouth, every advertisement facing us blinked and began rattling off restaurants.
I couldn't help but stare in disbelief. "Did it hear me?" I whispered, a little freaked out.
"Of course it did." Melgara stared at me, confused at me asking. And based on her face, she was not happy about the ads listening.
"Problem?" I asked.
"It's against federation laws. Sometimes, the backwaters can be like this. When there's no enforcement, the rules might as well not exist." Melgara sniffed.
"I see. So listening to us and advertising based on what we're talking about is illegal within the federation?" I hummed in understanding.
"Highly." Melgara didn't hide her disdain.
"Otherwise, if they didn't protect our data, do you realize how much power advertisements would have?
Though many would like to pretend they are immune to flashing ads and pretty people trying to make decisions for them, the reality is that if you hear something is good enough times, even if you know people are being paid for their opinions, you start to believe it. "
I nodded, having seen the damage of unrestrained advertising even in my prior life. With technology of the current era, I could only imagine how much worse it could get.
"Alright, let's ignore these and just see what sounds good," I said, leading the group.
As Brick joined us, every advertisement before us changed as if it had honed in on him.
Credits began spilling down all of the screens, and images of grogax wearing heavy jewelry filled the screen, grinning.
Some even had diamond-studded teeth. One such grogax pulled down a pair of gold glasses that shone and glimmered as he moved them.
"Oh, looky there." His voice poured out of every speaker around us. "It seems we have a lucky customer." He winked.
I heard Brick groan. "Let's get out of here and get inside a restaurant," he said, sounding very uncomfortable.
"Where are you going?" it shouted after him, the advertisement seemingly responsive to his movement.
"We've got mugball, knowledge quizzes, even the most prestigious guessing games right here.
We offer it for a low, low cost you'll only find here and nowhere else.
Come now, open up your tablets, and bet like your life depends on it, because it just might.
You never know when you need a little more! "
Brick, however, was shoving himself through the crowd to get away from the advertisement as quickly as he could, leaving me somewhat stunned.
"Brick?" I asked, staring at Brick's retreating form.
He didn’t stop to respond to me, like he was fleeing the advertisements.
"Well, it seems this place is a little more loose with the rules than I expected." Melgara watched as Brick ran into one of the restaurants with Tiri and Violet right on his heels.
"For those of us less informed, why was he almost afraid of that gambling ad?" I asked.
"Sometimes I forget how little you've been out in the universe.
" Melgara shook her head. "Grogax have a very interesting neuroplasticity.
Most species have multiple ways of learning.
For example, as a human, you likely have an extreme bias against things that are painful, so you learn what not to do with very few negative stimuli.
That combined with your curiosity and propensity to mimic one another is the basis for your race reaching a higher level of cognition. "
I bobbed my head, somewhat understanding where she was going. "And grogax?" I asked, gesturing at his retreating form.