Using the galactic map, they landed on a sparsely populated planet so they could freely comb through the ship to check for any trackers, like Brenda had warned. As a group they had searched through the ship as best as they could in hyperspace for the last two months, as they put some distance between themselves and the core worlds within the direct influence of the Immortal Council.
Here a little farther out there were planets here and there that were isolated enough and with such a low amount of resources that they were effectively cut off from the rest of the galaxy. There were smaller settlements, but the aggressive beasts on the planet made settling any new planet a dangerous prospect.
They took a few days to approach the unnamed planet and scanned the surface, finding only a dozen or so major settlements. They were the only spaceship in the whole system currently out of the planet's atmosphere.
As they approached they were hailed by the largest settlement. The leaders of the place were suspicious of them and their defensive ships in the atmosphere rose and left the planet with weapons primed in case their ship took any aggressive actions.
They landed in a landing pad in the city and there was a delegation of people in bright robes lined with beads and colorful stones. Sean’s lips turned down as they exited the ship to greet them. Their clothing reminded him of Samir a little too much…
Ash sadly had to remain within the ship for now. They all had taken Brenda’s warning seriously about exposing him and bringing trouble down upon their heads. She. Lira was still on that issue sadly.
“Petu enaz gulat entil.”
They all blinked as the important looking woman in the center spoke in a foreign language. She gestured to a young man to the side who took a step forward.
“Strangers to our home. Greetings and we offer you our hospitality. What are your purposes for coming to our far flung planet?”
“We have come to perform maintenance on our ship and possibly buy some supplies,” Sean said. He had voted Roger to be the spokesman, but the man had categorically refused the role. Too ‘boring and stuffy. People would always be trying to ask me questions all the time.’ as he put it. Lira had backed out too when she heard that, leaving Sean as the lone survivor that hadn’t been clever enough to back out of the job first. Oh well.
The man spoke in the foreign language and to what now appeared to be the chief elder of the town replied shortly,
“What kind of supplies would you wish to buy?" The young man said a few seconds later, "What do you have to offer? We will allow you the space on this landing pad as a gift of our hospitality. But anything else must be traded for.”
Sean cleared his throat, “We have, ah… luxury items. Many are unique, we will sell them on a case by case basis depending on what we decide we need.”
More discussion, “This is acceptable. Bring your items to the market and bargain as you wish. If you require anything more you will have to negotiate with our leaders directly. Do not be alarmed if you discover you are being followed. We will have several of our guards watching you to both make sure you don’t cause trouble and that none causes any trouble to you. I will be personally available for any needs for translations for our language.”
Sean pulled out a palm sized disk with a speaker in its center and held it out to the translator. The man hesitated and looked to the leader for permission, and took it when she nodded to him.
“Speak a sentence in common and then your language. Given enough samples it will eventually allow us to translate for ourselves. Just carry it with you for a few hours while doing this for any new word or phrase you think of. Come back after doing this and we will not need to waste any more of your time.”
A pause and more whispering in their local language. “Very well. Do you have any more of these devices for sale?”
Sean thought about it. They only had five total in the ship so he didn’t want to lose any. But…
“No,” he said, “But if you wish I can build a less functional version from raw materials. It will take much longer to translate and have less storage than the device you hold.”
More whispering. “This is acceptable. If you provide a list we will attempt to provide you with what you need. Is there any more business you wish to discuss?”
Sean glanced over to the Lira that was almost obviously trying to not lose focus, and Roger who wasn’t even trying to hide his boredom at the dry conversation.
“No. We will begin working on our ship soon. I believe that will be all.”
Roger and Lira perked up as the delegation bowed politely before leaving.
Sean clapped his hands, “Alright. This is going to be a massive pain. Especially for your lazy ass, Roger.”
“Hey! It’s the rest of me that’s lazy. My ass is doing most of the hard work actually for these last few months.”
“We’re going to strip off almost the entire outside of the ship so we can peer under the shielding plates. It would be the perfect place to hide a tracker and it's in the last place that we obviously couldn’t check while we were in space. It’ll take a while, so let’s just try to do a couple today to get started.”
Roger gave a sloppy salute, “Yes, oh great engineer! Operation: Destroy ship beyond all repair is a go.”
“It’s only the outer plates,” Lira said, “Even if we really did something wrong we could just slap some sheet metal on there if we had to. I mean it wouldn’t be great obviously, but it would still technically work. We’ve already checked everything but the very last layer on the outside.”
“Huh. I didn’t know that,” Roger said, dropping the act for the moment, “Aren’t there electricals underneath that could be damaged though?”
“No,” Lira replied, “Well, there are in most normal ships. But this thing used custom made metal plates you don’t usually see for every layer so they don’t need as many electricals to shift them around for atmospheric reentry and combat.”
“Ah, so I assume it’s more cost effective to replace some electrical components versus an expensive custom plate in the case of damage and so… No! You tricked me into revealing my inner mechanic. Now I’ll just have to do my best so I can get into the ship's guts until his greedy little brain is satisfied. You did this to me, Lira! I won’t be satisfied until I understand it all! Do you even know how exhausting this will be?”
Lira giggled and shoved Roger lightly, “I like little Mr. Greedy Brain. He works harder when I tell him to rewire something for me.”
“Ahhh. Well I suppose there’s nothing to be done now,” Roger said jokingly, “I really will have to work my hardest from now on.”
Sean rolled his eyes. Every time they did some big project Roger always made a big production on how he’d rather laze around and do nothing but was just forced to help out for some silly reason or another. Every time. But when it came to actually working he actually was completely focused and almost kept up with Sean and Lira despite not having nearly the same level of mechanical or electrical experience as either of them. He had basically started from scratch a few months ago when they first got on the ship and he had improved rapidly under Sean and Lira’s teaching.
“Well, we’d best get started before your little mechanic gets too frustrated with us,” Sean said drily, “No use just standing around.”
They made their way into the ship to get their tools so they could get started.
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They worked for a day or two, and the townspeople that came to stealthily watch them gave them odd looks when they kept working through the night without stopping. Sean realized that they had never told them that they were Immortals. Ah, well better that they didn’t know. It would only cause more drama than necessary.
Sean thought how eerie it was that these people acted so similar as they had back in his hometown on Enguli. The way people whispered to each other, seemed fascinated by anything new. It was all so familiar… yet these people were also so different. Their customs, their language, the way they built and decorated their homes… all of it was different. But they acted the same. Sean shook his head and put his head back to the present. He had work to do.
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Ash was currently on the computer surveying planets that they might want to visit next. They didn’t have any specific goal yet, but Robert had said he’d like to see some variety of planets around the galaxy. When no one else suggested an alternative, Ash had begun creating a list of interesting places that they might want to go once they were done checking the ship for any trackers. Natural wonders and complex ecosystems scattered across the galaxy were put on the ever growing list of destinations.
Finally, they took a break as they finished fully checking every little component of four of the panels and reattach them to the ship. Now only two hundred left to go. They had severely underestimated how long it would take to finish the project, there were all sorts of nooks and crannies on the interior side where someone could have hidden a tracker.
Sophisticated ones wouldn’t even activate at all until brought into a more populated system where they would connect to the local planetary network and send a message to its owners. They could fly the ship through dozens of systems and get pinged each time until they were caught in some trap when they least expected it. They were only so casual about it because they had flown through hyperspace right here with no stops, so they should be safe. But if they wanted to go anywhere more populated or interesting then they couldn’t do it until they checked absolutely everything top to bottom.
The village delegation came back just as they were finishing up, all feeling mentally worn out from the intense focus they needed to have while checking everything.
The young man from before lifted the translator device and handed it to Sean silently. Sean pressed the button in the center to activate it.
“Hello. My name is Sean, and I am testing this device.”
Sean released the button and a second later the device spoke, “Patusha. Rash’i patinea parkusha Sean, entilatarin perculatari quelitiri.”
Sean eyed the young man, who nodded. “The translation is correct,” he said.
“It appears that our maintenance will take longer than expected,” Sean said into the device, “It will take roughly five to six months to finish based on the last few days’ progress. I know this stretches your hospitality, so if you provide the materials I will build several translation devices for you as payment for the extra time. Is this acceptable?”
He released the button and waited as his device repeated that in the local language.
The delegation consulted with each other before the leader gestured imperiously to the device in Sean’s hand. He handed it over and she spoke into it for a few seconds before handing it back.
“Yes,” the device said, “We accept. We will negotiate the exact price and numbers of devices when you are about to leave. This pad is not often used so it is only a small burden for us. Many of our people are curious about you. Feel free to come to the town square and meet them if you have a break in your work.”
“Thank you,” Sean said into the device. Huh, town square. Maybe they should go, see the sights. They would be here for a while, and no reason to work themselves to the bone.
After finishing cleaning up their tools and sealing up the ship they made their way over. There was no reason to delay, and Roger seemed interested in meeting the townsfolk when Sean recounted the conversation. Ash had quickly transferred the local language into the other translation devices, so both Lira and Roger had their own now.
They went over to the square and a crowd soon gathered, all of them rather interested in the three of them and the translation devices. As they remained and kept speaking with the milling crowd haltingly through their devices, everyone seemed to relax.
Oddly enough, several of the younger villagers began flirting rather obviously with all three of them, their hands lingering on them as they pressed the button on their devices to speak to the translator and giving them lingering looks as they spoke.
After realizing what was happening after it happened three or four times, Sean had walked over to Lira and slung his arm around her to establish their relationship. Taking the hint, these people backed off and returned to asking them more general questions about their journeys around the galaxy.
Sean let Lira lead those questions. Sean hadn’t seen much of the galaxy at all, being as if, not more, isolated than these people from his old home on Enguli. And Immortus station was almost completely isolated, no one even going in or out without direct approval from the Immortal Council.
Roger, though, was enjoying the attention and narrating a completely fictional story of his amazing adventures to his translation device while several of the village girls stood around and batted their eyelashes at him. There were guys there as well listening to the story, but the women had made their way to the front and that they were the ones to press the button on the translator whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Or maybe Sean was reading too much into things. Maybe they just really liked his story.
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It had been three and a half months and the three of them were making good progress on their ship. They had found no less than four separate tracking devices so far.
It was lucky that they had taken the time to do a thorough check, the trackers were well hidden and they would have never have found them if they weren’t specifically checking every little part of the ship plates they had removed from the ship.
They went to the market and bought some basic supplies from the people, bartering away some rather fluffy chairs and some other scattered luxury items they had found in the ship that none of them had any use for.
Sean walked into the command deck where Ash stood manipulating a hologram that had been blown up to nearly fill the whole space in front of him. It was a model of the Human galaxy with the various planets lit up with varying shades of red, green, and blue.
“What is that, Ash?” Sean asked intrigued as he leaned in to inspect some of the areas that were nearly crimson.
“I’ve mapped the galaxy and determined the regions that pose the most risk were I to leave the ship and expose myself to others. The deep red have high traffic and likelihood that an Immortal would be contacted on me being sighted. The green regions are the safest. It also includes the regulations regarding intelligent machines and their uses as a significant factor as well. I’ve rebuilt our route of interesting planets so I can also participate fully with the lowest risk of discovery.”
“Ah, I’m sorry you have to stay in here. I didn’t realize it was bothering you so much. Next planet we go to we can go to one of your safe ones and we all can go outside together. I promise.”
“That would be ideal.”
Suddenly they both turned at hearing footsteps sounding behind them. It was Lira, with a large brown robe held folded up in her arms. She came to a stop as she spotted the two of them.
“Ahhh. It was supposed to be a surprise!” She said, “Bad luck. Well, we’ll just have to work together to surprise Roger then.”
“What is it?” Sean asked as she continued forward and unfolded the large robe. It billowed at the sleeves and had a large hood resting against its back.
“A robe! To hide Ash so she can be at less risk when she walks around at our next stop. She told you about her risk map of the galaxy she made so she could come out of the ship with us, right?”
“Yes, he told me.”
“She.”
“He.”
Lira cleared her throat, “Anyway. Ash. How would you like to try it on? I realized that we don’t have to wait and could just have one of the villagers make one for you. We can get it all resized and everything and not have to worry about it when we get to a new planet.”
“Thank you, Lira,” Ash said as he accepted the robe and began slowly figuring how to put it on. Sean and Lira instructed him and helped him get his arm and head through the sleeves. Neither had thought about it before but Ash had never worn clothes before so moved very slowly as he figured out how they worked even after they successfully got him to wear the robe. Ash was unused being covered by the cloth and so moved at a snail’s pace as he paced around to adjust.
“Sort of like old times, huh?” Lira said as they watched, “Remember when Ash had to do this with everything? Now look at her, making complex maps of the galaxy and expressing her own emotions to us. It’ll be so nice when she can go out there and walk besides us.”
“Yes. Only a few more months and we’ll be out there able to explore as much as we want.”
“Hmmmmm,” Lira mumbled back and they drifted back off into silence as they watched Ash slowly grow quicker in his movements as he started becoming more used to the clothes. The deep hood was draped over the face, throwing it in heavy shadow while the deep sleeves covered the arms. He could pass as a very tall human if someone only gave him a quick glance.
Sean looked up and down for any hint of Ash’s robotic nature. Ash had turned off the glow from his eyes to not give himself away. It did make his vision worse, but it was better than being discovered from the light shining out from under the deep hood.
Occasionally as the hood shifted under Ash’s movement a gleam of metal or of white synthetic muscle would appear, catching one’s eye because of how obviously inhuman they were. Sean looked down and saw that Ash’s robotic feet were exposed in the gap between the hem of the robe and the ground.
Ash stopped after returning to his normal walking speed, “Thank you again, Lira. I will wear this from now on to adjust to its presence in preparation for the future excursion outside.”
“You’re welcome.”
Sean pointed out what he had noticed that might expose Ash even through the robes.
“Okay. I’ll see about some boots later,” Lira said, “But I think I saw some ultra-black paint in the market that could stop the metal and artificial muscles from being so obvious. We can just paint Ash in it and if that doesn’t work then we can try giving her a mask or something.”
“That sounds good,” Sean agreed, “Want to go to the market together? I haven’t been there in a while, maybe something will catch my eye.”
“Okay. See you in a bit, Ash!”
Ash waved at them, his metallic hand being exposed as the robe’s sleeve fell down.
“Goodbye Lira, Sean. I look forward to your return.”
“Awwww,” Lira said as they walked through the corridors, “Ash said she’ll miss us! I feel so proud.”
“You’re the one who keeps pushing him to share his feelings,” Sean replied as they left the ship, “What did you expect?”
“Well, it still feels good even if she’s only doing it because I told her to. On to the market. Maybe we’ll be able to find Roger. Haven’t seen him in a while, actually.”