Spectacular Silver Earthling by Mara Lynn Johnstone

Author:Mara Lynn Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: robots, artificial intelligence, first contact, aliens, Murderbot, snarky, witty banter
Publisher: Reality Collision Publishing
Published: 2022-07-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Elliot squinted through the glare of early-morning light as the aircar lowered into the clearing on its quiet hover engine. Once past the tree canopy, the sun was hidden and Elliot could better see the branches that the car had snapped the day before. There’d apparently been no rain overnight, since things looked dry. The aircar set down gently on the purple grass. Harnesses started unbuckling before the engines shut off. Elliot was one of the first people out, but Hubcap beat him to the tree line.

“Hang together now, folks,” Owen called. “No straying ahead in alien territory.”

Vic chimed in, reminding the robot that he knew better. Hubcap muttered and slouched back to wait.

Elliot got to pat him on the head for once. “Patience, young one,” Elliot said in his best grandfatherly tone.

Hubcap scoffed. “I’ve spent plenty of time in my life being patient. When you’ve wasted an entire day sifting through beach sand looking for traces of jewelry or fillings that aren’t there, then you can talk to me about patience.” He pointed at Elliot. “And this was no fun-filled time with cheerful people either, mind you. This was townsfolk flipping out because someone was missing. I’d like to see you be patient through a day of that.”

Elliot put his hands together and bobbed his head. “I bow to your superior experience and suffering.”

Owen clapped his hands once for attention. “All right everybody, let’s take it slow and try not to scare anything off. If you catch sight of something, let me know. Has everyone got their SedEgg in reach?”

Everyone did. The crowd moved out with Owen in the lead. There were about a dozen people here today, each biologist with their own low-quality camera and each with many coworkers back at base eager to go in their stead. The group had been kept small so they didn’t startle the aliens. Only essential professionals made the cut. Dr. Rhodes had elected not to come, since his translator was useless and, according to muttered opinion, so was he. It was down to Owen’s best and the TV crew.

Elliot was grateful to be part of this. Even so, he realized that he was markedly more stressed than he’d been the day before. The show’s ratings were suddenly guaranteed to be good, and their sponsor would undoubtedly treat them like treasured favorites. But now they had to get the best footage possible so that it could be shared with news organizations and viewed by millions. As he had pointed out to Hubcap, they were literally writing the history books. Their writing had better be good.

The group walked quietly, scanning the area for all they were worth. Elliot was fascinated by the shapes of the trees, which ranged from the droopy things at the shore to the straight orange trunks near the clearing, to some that twisted into blue spirals with branches splitting off in every direction. He’d expected the plants in an alien forest to look different from their Earth counterparts, and he wasn’t disappointed.

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