Leaving Paradise, page 5
He crouched alongside the track, close to the fence. There were no more walkers about; everyone was travelling in the vehicles. He was shocked by what he saw not least the use of animals in such a way. He looked at the creatures passing by in the transports; they looked familiar, but he was not able to get a closer look. Further on he came close to several of the bipeds behind a fence, standing and communicating. He allowed himself a brief glance, and when he passed out of their listening range he laughed quietly. It really was remarkable, perplexing, and extremely funny at the same time to have come all this way only to find people existing. Their skin was lighter than his, some had facial hair, while others appeared dirty and wore dull coloured clothes, so he changed his to a dull black. All those fantastic creatures he imagined and instead this! Random chance certainly meant it were possible for life to develop separately on separate planets. But even down to having two arms, two legs and similar faces? No, that seemed impossible. There must be some link between these people and his old world, he thought. There had long been rumours of contact with people from other worlds but no proof. Technology here appeared too low for them to fly across their world let alone other stars. This was going to take time to come to terms with. He needed to get closer to see if he would be able to pass for one of them, and if none of them tried to speak to him or examined inside his body in closer detail he might pass as a native. The mystery to his species origins might lie on this world.
6. The Strange City
The pale sun rose still higher in the sky and the day grew warmer. With his heart beating as though he was training or had just competed in an intense sports competition he walked behind the fence until he found a gap he could squeeze through. He stood and slowly walked feeling like a shy person from a clothed culture might if they were suddenly nude in front of a large, jeering audience. He controlled his breathing. As transports appeared and passed him he was relieved that no one shouted after him or jumped out to interrogate or worse.
A curious look from the first person who passed made him watch more closely how the natives walked and he adjusted his stride and stopped moving his arms as much. He felt ecstatic to manage to walk and not be identified as an outsider but knew he must be as careful as a great spy. He wanted to find out more about the part of the world they had landed on before he revealed his origins or decided if it was too dangerous to do so.
There were now more people walking with different skin colours from much darker to lighter than his, and there was great variety in colours and styles of clothes. He felt more comfortable and took his hood half-way down. They seemed mostly oblivious to his presence, though once or twice people looked at him for longer, and he hurried by not making eye contact. Their language was incomprehensible. Even though no one else wore clothes and shoes exactly like him, he could detect certain fashions; there was also an eclectic mix of styles and colours. He noticed two attractive younger women who looked at him for longer than anyone else and giggled. He smiled but kept walking as his translator could not interpret their words. There were large wheeled vehicles moving under their own power, but these were rarer than the ones pulled by animals. He quickly discovered that the powered vehicles didn't appear to have any inhibitors and the ones pulled by animals did not like to stop. The language implant signalled 'unknown' at all the snippets of garbled information. There were whole streets of what clearly were shops, selling commodities, an economic transaction he understood, in theory (he had studied ancient history). Most of the products for sale were mysterious. He passed food stalls and smelt unfamiliar scents along with the odd one which attracted him. He had food with him, water as well as nutrient pills if edible food was scarce and the analyser to help him. He wanted to limit his contact with the ship as it was sure to worry. He might never have this opportunity to walk on an alien inhabited world again. He would savour what he could and flee to the ship only in an emergency. He took off his gloves as no one else wore them. It was not as hot as he was used to, and his clothes kept him warm.
He practised talking in unfamiliar languages for many hours back home. The benefit there was knowing an AI could instantly aid him. Now, there was no back up and he was going to talk to real people with all the possibilities that bought up; prejudices, honour, pride, taboos, their specific notions of right and wrong. A smile in the wrong place, an out of place phrase and he might commit the grossest errors against their culture or family. It was impossible to imagine what might be a taboo here or what constituted acceptable behaviour without watching and listening closely. Perhaps their culture was tolerant of outsiders? He would have to be careful. To have travelled so far not to communicate with the natives struck him as while not calamitous it would be a significant failure. He decided to not to attempt one word until he was confident he understood and that he could reply without insulting or confusing them.
Staring at strangers was not popular. He learnt to take quick glances; a few of the women were very attractive but many were not. He had not seen so many ill looking people before or so obviously old.
He approached a gap between shops where there were no vehicles and more people gathered in a group. He heard singing and felt curious. He gently found a way through and discovered the source of music; two men and a woman were seated in front of musical devices he did not recognise. The man held a tube connected to a box he was blowing into while the woman ran her fingers across a stringed instrument, at the same time the second man sung in a soft tone. The sound was pleasant and comforting. He did not understand the words but enjoyed it. When the music finished, the audience showed their appreciation by chanting and smiling. The tall man next to him turned to him, smiled and said a few incomprehensible words. Zenan smiled back and moved on.
He walked for several hours. He went inside shops which were mostly full of unknown items. He found one which sold books, but the script was meaningless. He tried to listen to as many conversations as he could, and the translator started to interpret at last. He approached a man, and tentatively said, ‘hello.’
The man walked by, as though he did not exist. There are always uncommunicative people, he thought. He tried several more men and the only words the translator informed him of were a hostile statement of some kind. It appeared from their facial expressions they weren’t interested in making conversation with a stranger. He considered maybe there was a taboo about men talking to men on the street in this culture, so he tried a few women. The response was almost the same, although one pressed a small piece of metal into his hand; for what reason he didn't understand at first. The only other response was another hostile one off the man who appeared to be with the woman, perhaps he owned her, or she was a close genetic relative and not permitted to talk to strangers? Clearly standing on the street was not the best method of meeting people. The local written language was a confusing combination of squiggles and blocks. It was dazzling after the calm and relaxing interior of the ship. The noise, conversations and music created a strange cacophony. There were many smells, not all pleasant. He'd been so excited he hadn't thought what he would do during the night.
It was all so difficult to relate to. How could he even be expected to? This was many centuries old for his people. This was like his people’s antiquity and yet it was this part of this world’s reality. Idhouri had not found any flying vehicles so while other parts of the world might be more advanced, he did not believe the differences would be significant. He leant against a building and watched the people go by. They were varied, in height, sex, skin colour, clothes and ages. He could see patterns in their clothing, perhaps denoting which work they did or which religion they believed in? He was relieved his simple dark tunic and trousers didn't attract attention. He assumed they were either too polite to query him or used to visitors from other parts of the world. There were no children and only rarely was he attracted to a woman.
He couldn't decide what he was going to do when night came. He hadn't anticipated this; in a human society, based on money, nearly three hundred light years from home and with nowhere to sleep. He decided to walk around to see if he could find somewhere good to rest. His shoes were designed for comfort and to protect his feet; they were reactive, and his feet felt relaxed; however, he was unused to walking for so long and his legs ached slightly. He soon found a hard bench to sit on and rest.
Twilight appeared gradually and between the shadows of two large dark buildings he saw an amazing violet and purple sky, which struck him as wonderfully strange and delightful, as if someone had painted the sky to impress. It was wonderful but no local saw its value. The giant pale orb sunk lower and he wondered what the city would be like as it grew darker. Except for that one night in his youth beyond the Shield he rarely felt fear during the hours of darkness. He did not yet but shuddered as he thought of the line from a story of his ancestors’ past; ‘the night was still preferred by the assassins during this time’. He reminded himself that this world was not that of his ancestors. He would spend two days here and go to another place far away on the planet.
He decided to find somewhere comfortable and safe. At night, the streets grew gradually quieter. He guessed the locals were off to their homes or whatever entertainment they enjoyed. He felt as safe as expected on an alien world surrounded by strange people.
He passed large workshops with unusual smells and walls around them, and passed men dressed in what appeared to be a grey uniform but was not sure what it represented. Past numerous large, grey buildings he came to a river and looked to cross using a narrow bridge. There were no artificial lights, but his night vision was good. He saw a man of his height, wearing dark clothing on the bridge. There was no room to pass and it seemed a strange place to stand. Cautiously he approached with his shoulders back and head upright. The man mumbled the words, ‘dust or sunshine?’ Zenan replied ‘no.’
The man replied, ‘good price.’
Zenan moved away slowly and did not reply. He did not know what ‘dust’ meant or ‘sunshine’; food, narcotics or perhaps a political choice? The man did not follow him. The streets became deserted unlike home where it would have been lit and people would have been on the streets. For a short while there were women of various ages, dressed in colourful long gowns who were interested in him. They smelt strongly of what he thought was alcohol and perfume. They said sweet, complimentary names but were less charming when he said ‘no’ or even ‘no thank you’. They displayed parts of their bodies he had seen many times at home but not since leaving. He was not tempted. He crossed the street to try and avoid the next similar women, but they attempted to follow him, and laughed when he moved fast to escape. They lost interest in pursuit when he reached the end of the street, but they called in harsh tones for longer.
He walked for hours and there was no end to what appeared to be a city. His analyser confirmed he had not walked in the same place twice. A mist appeared as he crossed a second wider river and there were lights from poles high in the air. There were no people in the street and the buildings were larger and cleaner. He walked until he came to what he decided must be a park. He walked through unfamiliar brown, red and yellow bushes and found a small spot and sat on the ground. He softly contacted Idhouri to inform it that he was safe. It told him he should come back quickly. It had not been disturbed by anything bigger than an insect and its probes were across the world gathering information. He replied he would next be in contact tomorrow. The analyser told him all the plants around were safe.
He laughed quietly at what they have found, and what it would mean for his world. He had feelings of excitement and pleasure at having discovered something monumentally significant. There were no further big animals except those pulling vehicles and hoped there wasn't anything which would try and harm him while he rested. He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the unfamiliar world. He took a pill for his nutrition, had a drink of water and lay on his back as he tried to sleep. It felt cold, but his clothes warmed him, sensed his cold hands and extended to gloves. He found he could not sleep at first. He lay there with his mind so busy with all that he had seen. He wondered if his world of paradise would be able to help this place. There was no plan of what to do the next day. Observe more and learn the language. Stay hidden as an outsider. He was going to have the best story to tell when he got back.
7. A Series of Incidents
He awoke in the morning with a cold face and an aching back but the rest of him felt comfortable. He heard movement from distant vehicles and other noises he didn’t recognise. He sat up, brushed off bits of vegetation and decided what he’d thought last night was correct; his priority was to learn to communicate as quickly as possible. He wiped his face with a moist cloth and drank. He felt slightly hungry and from his small bag ate two mouthfuls of soft sweet sun cake and took a pill to freshen his breath. He used the analyser to look at his face and found he appeared in excellent health. He contacted Idhouri, confirmed he was not in danger, and that he intended to return the next day. Idhouri reported that no one had discovered it yet, and that probes had discovered many human dominated towns and settlements across each continent.
He spent most of the early part of the morning walking along the streets, listening to people talk until he eventually found a library. He walked up steps following a man, and only realised where he was when he saw the books lining the walls. There were few books on his world as portable data devices were everywhere. There had been a brief fashion for them a few years ago but he preferred his data device. This library was large and there were many places between the shelves where he could remain unobserved. The words were a puzzle at first, but he found recordings of people speaking and the words written showing what they were saying. That helped his translator a lot. He mouthed the peculiar-sounding words to himself many times. Three of the translated phonemes were unfamiliar, but he gradually gained confidence. The translation device was indispensable.
He read more but didn’t know which books to believe. Names and stories appeared, many he thought offered insight but only such a tiny fragment it would take too long to find what he wanted. Some were amusing while others told of history and were grim. There was everything from fashion through the ages to childhood games, but he found no quick guide for an outsider to speedily integrate. There was no computer for him to interrogate which made his progress very slow. The world was called ‘Teres’ which meant life in an ancient language. It was divided into regions with different languages and states. The city he was in was called Saran, a large city in a land called Semel. He was conscious that their lack of technology meant his world was safe from them but as Idhouri couldn’t interrogate local computers there would be no quick way to find out all they were curious about. The society he was in was one of many across the world, ships sailed the oceans to other lands, but they have not conquered the air in powered craft yet. A book of law was filled with over two thousand pages and he put it back with frustration. He used a toilet in the library, it smelt unpleasant, but he needed to relieve at least once a day if he could. He stayed until it was time to shut. He said ‘good evening’ to a male librarian as he left and was greeted back.
He walked along the streets unsure what to do. The shops were closed, other places were open; he guessed they were entertainment, but he had no money. He was far from tired and so carried on walking. He recognised temples now, homes and signs outside. From the books he read he knew what some of the entertainment; dancing, acting, singing and fighting. He could not trust the books to reveal all.
Walking to another district in the growing darkness he entered a lonely street but felt little danger until he was suddenly confronted by a man. There was no one else around and the man said in a deep voice, ‘give me money or suffer.’
His opponent wore blue-coloured trousers, a black top and was light-skinned. His face was scarred, and he had a big nose and staring eyes. His confronter reached behind his back and produced an object which was small and black. He pointed it at Zenan. He did not know what kind of weapon it was but took no risk, and with his hands beside him sub vocalised and his shield fired a pushing away burst; the man was flung backwards as if hit by a moving vehicle and the weapon fell from his hand.
He didn’t know what the man had threatened him with; stabbing, shooting and poison were all illegal but not everyone obeyed the laws. The world was clearly still in its zoological state of society. He walked away as fast as possible. He was too agitated to sleep in a park and wanted to find a place without people where he could sit down in and feel safe. He gradually started to feel more at peace and thought that with the shield and his skills he would be fine. In an emergency he could yell or even whisper to Idhouri through his comm to save him and it was sure to move nearly as fast as lightning. He walked without further problems and was far from where he fired the shield. He passed few people. The next street looked empty. Only three unoccupied vehicles of various colours sat along the road. It was poorly lit from a few of the poles which held small cubes of light. He heard someone shout. Where’s everyone? There was only one thing to do; to run as fast as he could! He kept on running and running until he could hear no one shout.
Back home, a place free of people meant no added danger. Here, it meant no one to help. This would be his last night. He walked for an hour and gradually become calm until on a quiet street, he suddenly heard a scream of fear which sounded like a woman or a child. At home he would have thought someone was perhaps playing an intense game, here he doubted the person was having fun. It put his reactions into a tense mode as he ran to the source. He reached a gap between two of the taller buildings. He stopped and saw a man a short distance down the alley leaning over something. He ran forward and shouted, ‘stop!’
