Helium Fall Page 7

  "Yes, we did not detect them or you. It is a technology we do not possess on our planet. How do you hide in plain sight?"

  “My father created the devices that create nothing. We made more after he was killed."

  "I'm sure you know they produce a shimmer, that's how we knew you were watching us in the daylight."

  Tayana looked even more puzzled and leaned towards Grant. "You can see us, shimmer? What is that?"

  "The device generating the nothing, we can see an outline of a shape, sort of like how the haze reflects the light in different ways. You don't completely blend in with the surroundings. It works, but I saw a foot poke out on one of our monitors."

  "You need to show me your monitors, I do not know what that is, but I must see what you mean."

  "I will gladly show you when you visit our ship again. This time no sneaking around, come knock on the door." Grant gave her a reassuring smile and Tayana accepted his invitation.

  As breakfast came to a close and things were being put in their places Grant noticed Sam was not in the dining hall. He hoped he had not wandered off and gotten lost. They still did not know what manner of beasts inhabited the forests.

  "Your thoughts are loud as well, Grant. Sam is being given a tour of the village by a couple of the women. Would you like a tour as well?"

  "Yes, as long as you're my tour guide." Grant rose from the table. His stomach was full of some of the best food he had tasted in his entire life. He hoped it would agree with his systems and not cause any issues later. So far, so good!

  Tayana smiled as she slid her arm around Grant's and they began to walk. There were structures scattered throughout the village. Some mixed in with the dwellings and others stood a good distance from anything. He could not make out the rhyme or reasoning in its design. He could not get over the beauty of the dwellings and their tidy little gardens in front either. The average dwelling stood twelve feet tall and was covered in an opaque material stretched over a series of flexible ribs creating a bulge a quarter of the way up. From the bulge the dwelling tapered to a two foot diameter circle at the top. Grant assumed it was like an Earth teepee and the hole was for smoke to escape from the fire inside. However, they had determined there were no fires in the dwellings because of the helium fall. Each dwelling was surrounded by a small pond and the walkway was made of grey round stones sticking out of the water about four inches. They were in staggered patterns and sizes varied. There were various aquatic plants in the pond and what Grant believed were fish. Nothing like he had seen before. The sky and the trees reflected off the water's surface creating an illusion of great depth to the water. The interior of the dwelling was much more spacious than it looked from outside. Inside there was only one room. It was sparsely decorated with colorful bedding and more plants. The outer material sort of hummed and he wondered what caused it. He noted there was neither a kitchen nor a restroom. "Do you eat all of your meals together?"

  "Yes, for the most part. It builds community and everyone has a part. We take turns serving in different capacities. You may be a server one week and a guard the next. We are all well versed in every aspect of this village. The olders teach the youngers and we all teach each other."

  "Amazing, I applaud you and your village for the amount of cooperation it must take to coordinate every meal and every job."

  "My planet is pretty much the opposite. We gather, but not for community, it's more to be accepted. We do not teach others, we are taught in groups by individuals and their knowledge is shared with us. There is little emotion and even less care. We live in communities, but we rarely interact with our neighbors and our families are scattered across the planet. We travel great distances to celebrate holidays and events."

  "That seems cold and uninviting to me."

  Grant could see Tayana was struggling with the idea of family not being together for every meal and living long distances apart. The tour was thorough and informative. Grant was thankful to have Tayana as his guide. He learned the dwellings were called pods and were living plants they lived with symbiotically. The hole in the top was so the plant could breathe and maintain its membrane. But he still had lots of questions.

  His most pressing question, was, "Um, where do you go to use the restroom? I didn't see any place in the pods."

  "What do you mean, restroom?" She looked puzzled but was trying hard to understand. Grant thought of how to explain a toilet or a urinal to her, but the words wouldn't come.

  "Oh", she said with surprise. "You mean, where do we release our excess? There are smaller pods with room enough for one, possibly two if a little one needs help."

  "I need to use a pod. If you could direct me it would be appreciated."

  Tayana pointed to camouflaged pod.

  Grant had not seen it before, but now saw several. "Thank you, I'll be right back."

  "Be careful Grant!" The words didn't have the impact they needed to and Grant, thinking he was walking into the restroom on the shuttle stepped into the dark pod. With the slight glow of the bio-luminescence he found the toilet, but the hole was much smaller than the shuttle's. He pulled down his pants and took a seat thinking business as usual. To his complete and total surprise something cupped his parts with an unbreakable grip and something else inserted itself into his anus and his urethra. He struggled to get free but was unable to escape from the grip of whatever had him. There was no pain, just surprise. He could feel his bladder empty and the tightness of his bowels relaxing. It was over quickly and whatever was cupping his parts released him a small puff of flower scent released into the pod. Grant quickly fastened his pants and stumbled out of the pod with a shocked look on his face. Tayana was laughing hysterically knowing what had transpired inside the pod. Grant was not as amused as she was. He felt violated, manhandled by something that inserted itself into his private parts without permission. He did not want to imagine what it was or its level of cleanliness.

  "What a mean trick Tayana, you could have at the very least warned me about what was going to happen."

  "It would not have been as entertaining had I given away its secrets."

  Grant conceded and they laughed at his misfortune. "I'll go in the woods next time and use some leaves to clean up." He was shocked and couldn't quite get his mind around what had happened. He knew it would be a pretty cool trick to play on Sam if he got the opportunity. Grant's communicator chirped, signaling the bots had returned and were ready for processing. "Tayana, it is getting late and we must get back before nightfall. We do not breathe well when the helium levels are high. Also, our bots have returned with samples to be processed."

  "You are welcome to stay here for the night. Our dwellings can produce the atmosphere you need. We can also provide you with breathing equipment, if you prefer."

  He gracefully declined, knowing the samples needed tending to tonight. "Thank you, Tayana; can we meet again tomorrow to discuss how we are going to proceed with the diggers?"

  "Yes, we can meet you at your camp as you are closer to them than we are."

  "Thank you for being such a gracious hostess and for the hospitality. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow." He set off to find Sam and head back to their camp. Sam's communicator had sounded off too, so, it wasn't going to be hard to locate him. Grant could have used the tracking device in their communicators to find him, but wandering around the village alone taking in its beauty and feeling the cool breeze from the waterfalls was much more appealing. He made his way toward the rover and found Sam waiting there.

  "Took you long enough! We have work to do and you're swooning over the huntress."

  "Uh, her name is Tayana!" They laughed and boarded the rover. "Like the wind, let's get this thing moving."

  Sam made a quick circle throwing grass, dirt, and rocks flying into the air. "Yee haw!"

  Chapter Eight

  Sam was excited to see what the bots found. He knew there would be samples of all types of common things but he was excited to see the strange and unusual st
uff. He hoped they found some of the gel they put into their ears to translate for them. He also hoped they captured a Chotuk. He was looking forward to testing, dissecting, and eating it for dinner in a day or two.

  Meanwhile, Grant's thoughts drifted back to the village and all it entailed. He wished Sam was there so they could share the experience together.

  "You disappeared after breakfast. Sam where were you today?"

  "I had the best day of my life. The food was amazing and the village beautiful, most beautiful I have ever seen. A couple young ladies gave me the tour; they also gave me a bath in one of the waterfalls."

  "Sam you're a dog! First meeting and you get busy with the natives."

  "Well, it didn't go that far, but they look almost exactly like Earth women, with a few exceptions. They are obviously smaller and their feet are out of proportion to their bodies. Small blonde hairs cover most of their bodies, and as you know, their eyes are like black mercury. Their beauty is natural, no makeup! They have a heartier, more open sexual appetite than Earth women. They marveled at our anatomy and were shocked at our man parts.

  "Now you're tooting your own horn. Making a whole tree out of a stump."

  "Not fair Grant and for the record, their woman parts are smaller and have no hair."

  In a mocking tone Grant replied, "So, scientifically speaking—their men are considerably less endowed than we are, and your summation is based purely on science, right?"

  "Yep, based on science."

  "You're a dog Sam, still a dog."

  "I know!"

  As they neared camp they saw the bots neatly lined up waiting to be relieved of their findings and be set free again.

  Sam slowed to a stop. "Grant, what the hell is that?" There was a large four-legged creature standing beside one of the bots. Standing ten feet tall, its body was covered with black feathery scales. The legs were muscular at the top and tapered to four toed, clawed feet, giving it the appearance of a terrifying four-legged battle chicken.

  "There you go, Sam, we found your T-rex, except it's a chicken."

  Sam pulled the rover into camp. The giant chicken struggled to get free from its mechanical captor with no success. The bots used anti gravity to move about. When they needed to be static and not move the AG was turned off. When the bots were not floating effortlessly they had considerable weight. The battle chicken was huge, but it was no match for the bot.

  "All right, Sam, let's get this party started." The bots were loaded with what Sam and Grant considered the usual type stuff. There was dirt, flowers, soil and, rock samples of all kinds, colors, and sizes. "Let's get the giant chicken processed first. I'd hate to see what happens when it gets hungry."

  "Me too! Okay giant chicken, let's go.” Sam instructed the bot to move the chicken through the automated processing line, and not let it loose.

  They would personally inspect whatever the equipment flagged for review. "Sorry giant chicken, this is not going to be your favorite day, but it will be a day you can share with your offspring."

  Sam's sarcasm made Grant chuckle a bit. "Sam, you know we're not supposed to get attached things, and I sure don't want you getting attached to, C-Rex!"

  They laughed and Sam shouted, “C-Rex, stalker of men and young beautiful women. Coming to a city near you!”

  Grant laughed so hard he drove his bot into another causing it to dump what appeared to be fecal debris onto the lab floor making Sam laugh even harder as he mimicked a C-Rex stomping around pecking at the ground.

  "Oh my god Sam, we are messed up."

  "Yep, that's why they sent us out here alone!"

  "Sam, you sound like a chipmunk!"

  Sam, laughing and pointing at Grant said, "So do you! Man, I'm getting light headed!"

  They erupted in laughter again and Grant found it hard to breath. He noticed the bay doors were open, and it was now almost dark outside.

  Sam's voice, much higher than usual due to the helium, squeaked out, "We have to get the bots in and close the doors. The helium is going to kill us if we don't hurry." He was beginning to feel light headed and thought it was from laughing too hard. In his dizzy state he hit the button for all bots to enter the staging area. The procession was fairly quick even though some of the bots were loaded down with rock and dirt samples.

  "Get the damn doors closed, Sam!" Grant ran to the climate control panel. He pushed the button combination to evacuate the current air and fill the hold with the oxygen they desperately needed. Before the doors closed Grant heard the climate system sucking out the helium and other gasses and replacing it with the proper mix of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

  Sam had successfully closed the doors and was sitting on the floor gasping for air. Grant was hanging onto the control panel slowly sliding to the floor himself. After what seemed an eternity, the air was clean and restored to the proper levels. They almost ended their mission a lot earlier than anticipated through asphyxiation.

  "Sam, you alive? Buddy, speak to me. Grant got to his feet and made his way to where Sam was sitting on the floor, alive, but loopy. “Sam, why didn't you answer when I hollered at you?"

  "I didn't want to sound like the girl you did," in the highest voice he could muster, "Sam, close the damn doors!" He sounded like a four-year old girl scared of her shadow.

  "Sam, you're an ass! This wasn't a joke, we really could have died. It was close, too close. We have to be better stewards of the time in the future."

  "I hear you Grant, in all honesty it was too close and we were pretty stupid for letting it get there. Next time, bots in, door closed, and then we can joke around, deal?"

  "Deal!"

  "Let's get C-Rex processed and out the door. We need to process the live stuff now. The other stuff can wait until later. Don't forget, we have to get some sleep so we can check out the diggers tomorrow. It's going to be an interesting day."

  "Gotcha. I'm on it." Sam processed C-Rex and was impressed with the chicken's hide. It was tough as steel, light as a feather, and as flexible as his own shirt. He didn't think the feathers would go well with his pants but he could sure use a vest like Tayana's.

  "Hey Grant, wanna go C-Rex hunting sometime next week? I could use a good chicken vest. I don't think the meat is suitable for us to eat, but maybe the villagers could use it."

  "Sure, we can do some hunting, after we destroy the drone and its missiles. We have to be able to move the shuttle. It is of the utmost importance."

  "Agreed, destroy the drone, hunt us a chicken, and get down to business." Sam's nonchalant manner often rubbed Grant a little thin but he appreciated his can do attitude.

  As the night wore on they ran every living thing through the lab. Several creatures warranted closer inspection and Grant discovered one creature almost as poisonous as a brown recluse spider. However, it had ten legs, wings, and its body was the size of a large chicken egg. Their policy was to let all creatures return to their natural surroundings, alive, and as undamaged as possible.

  "Sam, check this one out." Grant held up and shook the container with the spider in it to get the spider to move.

  Sam reacted, "Kill it, just kill it, and save us from its horror. Jesus, you know how I feel about those things."

  "Yes, and this one has ten legs, and wings."

  "Oh my god, it flies? Are you kidding me?"

  "No kidding Sam, this one is getting its picture posted on the wall. I might even make a life-sized model of it for your shelf."

  "Payback! Remember, and know how it can come back to haunt you? I'm sure you do and you know I'll go there!"

  "I'm kidding Sam, no model."

  "No pictures either, keep that thing as far from my mind as possible."

  Grant chuckled, it was now imperative for him bring the spider to light sometime in the near future. He didn't care what the consequences might be, it would be worth it to hear Sam scream like a girl and run for the hills after he threw a rubber model of the ten legged winged monster at him. Live processing was almost co
mplete and C-Rex was turned loose. They would have to collate the creatures, organisms, and other living things with the pictures and environmental readings of when and where they were found, to complete the processing. They didn't find any translating gel or small intelligent life forms, but they did have a large array of new species to catalogue when they were done processing.

  Tomorrow it would be soil, rocks, and minerals. "Everything turned loose Sam? Let's call it a night."

  "I have one more thing to finish up and then we can grab some dinner."

  "What did you find, Sam?"

  "It's a small six-legged creature about the size of a large house cat and it has suction cups on its feet. I'm having some difficulty dislodging it from the container. I don't want to hurt it, but I may have no choice."

  "Did you talk to it? Maybe a little kindness will do wonders. Hey little fella, would you mind letting go of the container so we can set you free? We mean you no harm; we only wish the best for you."

  "Funny, Grant, very funny!" The creature released its grip and proceeded down the chute. They were shocked. Then, the little fella turned and waved back at them as it exited the shuttle.

  "What the hell!"

  "No way had that just happened, no way on Earth."

  "Well Grant, we are not on Earth, and yes, it did just happen."

  "What were its readings, did it test intelligent?"

  "The results show it had some intelligence and is capable of understanding a variety of languages."

  "Sam we have discovered another form of intelligent life on this planet, and it waved at us. We are going to be heroes if we ever get out of here."

  "We are going to be heroes when we destroy the diggers, too. The young ladies told me they have tried many times to stop the diggers and boomers, but failed because they are no match for their technology. That's why they so willingly agreed to help us. They think we can destroy them and then they can return to their way of life. The diggers are mining one of their best resources."

  "And you didn't bother to tell me this sooner, why?"