Chapter 6
Tuvo
Human aircrafts didn’t come equipped with evac pods.
If something went wrong, their deaths were almost assured.
So, if the plane was reporting engine problems they would, naturally, take it seriously and react, regardless of the legitimacy of it.
They couldn’t check until they were on the ground, and they would rather land emergently for no reason than let the plane crash.
A precaution that Tuvo agreed with. From this height, falling into the water would kill Hattie immediately. Her skin was too thin, her body too soft, to survive that kind of blow. He didn’t even think he could live through it, and his body was designed to survive great falls.
The domini were a climbing species. His race had evolved in massive trees as large as the skyscrapers he saw making up cities on Earth. Falling was part of life. His body was designed to take the force of a long fall, his claws strong enough to stop him if he dropped out of a tree.
But this height was still far from the survivable limit for a domini – even accounting for landing on water, which would only be slightly softer than stone.
It was unplanned, an inconvenience, but he would rather the aircraft land and find out that the notification for the engine was the only thing broken than to stay in the air and fall out of the sky because he was stubbornly intent on staying on course.
The landing went off without a hitch and their plane taxied towards the end of tarmac where the island planes were disembarking visitors.
Keith was already taking pictures of himself and the window as the cockpit door opened, and the human male pilot emerged.
Human males were, like their female counterparts, sexual and feminine without intending to be. Tuvo had grown accustomed with their features to them to tell the genders apart on sight, but it had been a bit difficult at first.
The human pilot was named Rodger, and he was a middle-aged male with graying hair and a softening body. He wore a crisp uniform of black pants and a white shirt that he straightened as he emerged from his cockpit and began speaking to Hattie.
“He says, he needs to get in contact with some engineers here on the island,” Hattie translated, looking at him. “They can service the plane here, but it will cost us.”
“Here,” Tuvo said, handing her his phone. The Earth government had taken on all costs for their visit, including this flight. “Did he say how long it would take to fix the aircraft?”
Hattie asked in her tongue. The pilot shook his head, the no gesture.
“He says, he’s not sure. He doesn’t know the exact problem yet, but he’s going to work on it as fast as he can. But he says not to get your hopes up for us leaving today. Probably tomorrow. If not later. He’ll know more once they can run diagnostics, but he needs an engineer first.”
Tuvo grunted in understanding. “Call Bertrand, tell him what’s occurred. We need to figure out where we’re going to be staying.”
Tuvo was loath to leave the plane alone.
Not when he knew it was such a prime target for the anti-alien hate groups that had formed on Earth.
Ones that had already attacked them before.
And while an unscheduled stop meant there likely weren’t any antagonistic forces here, Tuvo didn’t like to be careless with anyone’s safety – much less Hattie’s.
She finished her call and told Tuvo that Bertrand said the plane repair costs were approved and that she could use the credit card she had been given by the Earth government to buy them a place to stay and anything they might need while they were here.
“Go onto the island,” Rodger told him through Hattie. “I’ll stay on the plane and watch over it. I’ll help the engineers. I promise, no one will step foot on this plane that’s not authorized. I’ll be watching them the whole time.”
“I found us a place,” Hattie said after she translated, showing him his phone.
“It’s like one of those rental homes for vacationers?
It’s not very big, but it is on a private beach.
I didn’t have many options considering how sudden our arrival was, but it’s a great deal and it’s not near the city or in a hotel, so it will be easier for you to defend it and blend in.
And look, see? There’s a grocery store within walking distance.
We can get supplies if we need to stay.”
It was a good plan, overall. He told her to rent the cabin before he gathered their luggage. Keith was complaining about something, but Tuvo didn’t ask Hattie to translate. He rather wished the male would stay with the pilot and the plane, but of course he didn’t.
The small human followed them off, grumbling as he carried his suitcase down the stairs.
Tuvo remained close to Hattie as they approached the airport personnel who had gathered at the base of the stairs leading out of the plane.
They stared, shocked, at the sight of him, but he was rather used to it by now. Earth was uncontacted, after all.
Hattie was chipper and polite as she explained their problem. The aliens had been broadcast to the entirety of Earth by now. While seeing him was certainly a shock, it wasn’t so much of one that they weren’t able to gather themselves after hearing her story.
And they were kind. The group – which included two women and four men – offered an airport shuttle to drive them to the cabin she rented. They promised to help with the servicing of their plane. They then asked, very nicely, for pictures with Tuvo and Hattie.
Which he was happy to provide. He wanted to foster good feelings, even just through something small like this.
After taking pictures for a while, they summoned a shuttle to drive right up to them on the tarmac.
Hattie had the paperwork necessary to visit foreign countries on her planet, but Tuvo did not.
He had special permissions from the combined governments of Earth, but that wasn’t exactly something that a normal customs survey was equipped to deal with, so they just avoided it altogether.
Tuvo took pictures with the driver as well, and then they were off.
The island they had landed on was lovely. The sky seemed somehow brighter here. The blue was almost blinding in its vibrancy.
The only unpleasant part was Keith taking photos of himself. He was in the front seat of the vehicle, leaving Hattie and Tuvo to share the back. He kept angling his phone to try to get them in the shot – but Tuvo looked away, refusing to give him that.
Petty? Perhaps. But at least the other humans had asked first.
The small home Hattie found was made of heavy stone painted a faded pink far off the main road and surrounded by tropical trees, giving them plenty of privacy.
It was just a short walk from a private beach – a length of sand that belonged to the homes built here, each one separated by a fair amount of distance.
It was a cute home, though not particularly large. Which wouldn’t have bothered Tuvo at all if it weren’t for Keith’s presence. He didn’t think he’d be able to escape him.
A fear that was confirmed when Hattie found the keys within a coded box and let them in.
The home was nice. It was clean, well furnished, and had a pleasant smell.
But it was essentially one big room with a smaller room for a privy in the corner. The front door was closest to the kitchen, and a table with two chairs had been set between the kitchen area and the bedroom area with no other demarcation between the two.
Two beds were pushed against the wall, opposite a human television – like a primitive version of a holoscreen. A thick rug covered the stone floor and the wall opposite the front door was all glass, giving them an amazing view of the beach.
“Dibs!” Keith declared, a word Tuvo didn’t recognize as he rushed to drop his bag on the bed next to the glass, clearly claiming it as his own.
Hattie frowned at him but didn’t attempt to argue as the human male turned from the bed to a machine on the wall. Tuvo realized it was an air-cooling device when he turned it on.
Tuvo set Hattie’s luggage by the second bed, then dropped his near the wall beside it.
Hattie had already opened the fridge, noticing it was empty.
“We’ll have to order something,” she said, looking at him over her shoulder. “We can get food to cook tomorrow if we’re stuck here any longer. Work for you?”
He grunted in affirmation as Keith snuck by him to go into the bathroom. He made some kind of sound of discontent before shutting the door.
“What’s his problem?” Tuvo asked, doing his very best not to sneer, as he joined Hattie in the kitchen corner.
“Hm? Oh, he’s just upset that this place isn’t very social worthy. It’s not really the kind of place you can brag about online. It’s nice, I like it, but I think he was hoping we’d be spending money to get a luxurious, five-star experience.”
Tuvo wasn’t sure what the number of stars had to do with anything, but he understood the rest of the sentiment. “He is very concerned with looks.”
“Yeah.” Hattie leaned against the counter next to him, scrolling through her phone. “He always has been though. He would make this perfect life for himself online, but in reality, nothing was ever good enough for him.”
“There’s probably some wisdom in the Omoni Otorsi about that,” Tuvo mumbled. Immediately rewarded with a giggle from Hattie.
“Oh, how about this place?” She lifted his phone for him to review the pictures of food she had pulled up. “They’re vegetarian, since I don’t think we can order raw food. But they have eggs and a mushroom salad that looks really good. See?”
“I do enjoy Earth mushrooms. Your varieties seem more savory than I’m used to. I think I prefer them over my own.”
“A shame, because I was going to order a caramel milkshake from this place. The britzi mushrooms from Turv taste a lot like caramel. I bet you’ll like it.”
“Order us a couple then. And the mushroom salad. And that. That looks good.”