Chapter 5

I awoke to the dark and supernaturally quiet room. I started to reach for the battery powered lantern when Adam glowed, filling the room with light. I rubbed my eyes, ‘What time is it?’ I asked, feeling a little groggy still.

‘You’ve been asleep for about 7 hours.’

“Right,” I said aloud. “Need to get my homework done, and then deal with Bossy.”

The room opened with a gesture, and I stepped out. Back in my real bedroom, I looked around, seeing the clock say the same time as I had exited. A long yawn and stretch, I settled in to do my homework.

About an hour later there was a knock on my door, and Dad stuck his head in. “I’m headed for bed, don’t stay up too late.”

“Goodnight, I’ll be done soon, this was an exhausting day, I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep.”

“Alright, see you in the morning,” He said, and closed the door.

A few minutes later I finished my work, and stretched. A quick bathroom trip, I came back to my room, and put my shoes back on. Adam encased me in his protective mode, and I flipped the light off.

A moment of concentration and I teleported back to the colony world.

Adam in his protective suit mode blocked the breeze, but I could see it around me as it rushed thru the local bush. The sun was low in the sky, as I turned to find the settlement not too far in the distance. Surrounded by a fence, three low buildings inside, and the colony spaceship parked just outside. I started walking towards the fence, my head on swivel as I admired this bright and green world.

‘I’m feeling a little bounce in my step, what’s the local gravity?’

‘point nine of what you are used to.’ Adam replied.

As I approached my perspective changed, and the low buildings became three story, and the fence truly massive.

“That is a big fence.”

‘The planet has some rather large predators.’

“Must be really big, how tall is that fence?”

‘45 feet.’

I hadn’t been noticed during my approach yet, and I was realizing I was much farther away than I had initially thought. I flipped a mental coin, and teleported to the gate.

“Hi there! I’m here to give Bossy a ride home!” I told the suddenly startled gate guard. His feathers puffed out as he screamed and scrambled backwards at my sudden appearance outside the fence.

He grabbed at a radio at his belt and began yell into it. I caught a few words, but didn’t pay him any attention, instead turning my back to him to look at the ship.

It had settled down on landing legs, its feet sinking into the dark earth under the weight of the craft. The exterior was a greyish color that reminded me of a battleship, the bottom blackened with re-entry heat was smooth and rounded. The top was a short truncated cone, rounded at the point. I guess no one ever told them that making it pointier would make it go faster.

I counted six legs on the exterior, deployed from the upper section, they curved outward then back under the heat shield. I turned as I heard the metallic scraping of the gate opening behind me.

“You need to come in, the monsters come at dusk!” came the shout from the man I had bought the vehicle from.

“Hi Scrooge, how are you?” I said as I stepped thru the open gate. It closed quickly behind me as the sun started to move behind distant hills.

“Wise Sam! Good that you have returned. Bossy and her thugs are threatening trouble,” He explained.

“I’m here now, I can send her home as soon as she is ready.”

“Good, she hasn’t even let us unload the ship as she claims she needs to inspect it for contraband first.”

I gave him a hard look, “Is that something she’s going to find?”

“Who knows, and who cares?” He replied, “We are already months behind schedule, and we need that equipment unloaded. It’s outside her jurisdiction anyway.”

I nodded, understanding his point. He had a job to do, and was already behind. Bureaucratic delays were the last thing the man wanted or needed.

“Ok, Scrooge, lead me to Bossy.”

I found Bossy in the cafeteria on the ground floor of one of the three buildings. She was yelling at someone who was trying to eat what looked like a salad with dead bugs in it. Her two volunteer thugs that had accompanied her were standing behind her, giving off an intense and uncomfortable vibe, while trying to look like they just happened to be standing behind her.

“Hey Bossy!” I shouted, interrupting her tirade. “If you want home today, you need to leave now.”

She whirled around, clawed finger pointing at me, “You! You’re under arrest!”

‘Adam, can you generate some sort of inverse sound waves to shut her up?’

The room went silent, except for a faint buzz as her break continued to move. I turned to her guards, seeing relief on their faces, as well as everyone else in the cafeteria.

I drew a circle, and looked at her guards. “Go ahead and drag her thru, I’ll close the door behind you.”

Her beak finally stopped moving when she realized none of us could hear her anymore. One guard gently took her elbow, and guided her thru the gate. The other gave me an odd shake of his arm, and followed. I immediately closed the gate.

“Gentle beings, I regret inflicting this person on you,” I told the room, “If anyone else needs passage, I’m happy to send them separately, and elsewhere.”