Theseus

My first time landing the Theseus without a guidance system was a little bit rough. I’d practiced on a lighter ship in the sim, and I hadn’t accounted for the increased weight that came with my larger vessel. I didn’t cause any damage, but I certainly tested the limits of the shock pads on my landing gear, and the crew lurched in one direction simultaneously as I touched down.

The landing pad was soft. The dirt wasn’t pressed down from significant use, and might have even been set aside specifically for us, but the only thing growing on it were small green patches of plants. Personally, though, I was marveling at the sheer volume of plant matter surrounding me. Miles and miles of green as far as the eye could see. This is where plants were from as well, and their dominance across the landscape was obvious. Had they grown to be sentient alongside humanity, it would have been clear who would have won out between us and them. Considering that the most dense source of plant life I’d ever seen had been greenhouses, and most of my exposure had been in decorative planters strategically placed to aid oxygen quality, seeing an entire planet absolutely overrun with them in the wild was jarring to me. Part of me almost wanted to get out of my starship shell to feel and breathe in the air, just to experience the atmosphere evolution had intended for us.

But I was happy enough with my void, and I had work to do. I drifted through my mental map and into the cargo bay to see the crew starting to gather around a few sealed containers that had toppled over, but mercifully remained unbroken. I tapped into the intercom, and after a moment of feedback that made the others reel back and hold their hands to their ears, I sent out in a muffled, static-lined approximation of my voice “Sorry for the rough landing, minor miscalculation, won’t happen again.” Before I shut off my connection, not wanting to make them endure my horrible electronic speech for another moment. It seemed I needed more practice.

Joel grumbled “That’s another miscalculation for you. Stick with the text.”

“She’ll get the hang of it.” Mouse quietly reassured him.

“Hope so, I like my ears.” Ray gave a chuckle and hauled an entire crate up over her shoulder, using her other claw to balance it out.

With the flip of an electronic switch, I opened up the cargo bay door, and turned off most of the life support system. Earth was a very hospitable environment without any need for atmospherics at all. I didn’t need artificial gravity either. With several major systems in decline, I felt myself feeling a little heavy just like when I had connected to the Lunar colony’s systems, but since I still had to generate my own power, it wasn’t overwhelming and I didn’t feel like going to sleep, just a little lethargic.

“Their elder’s going to be coming to meet us. Ray’s going to be the only one cleared to enter the village. Otherwise, just take the stuff to the end of the clearing for them.” Aisling explained as the sun began to shine in on them from my open door “Feel like this goes without saying, but no one mentions Meryll by name. She’s just Theseus, and she’s gotta act like a standard core. Follow orders, don’t show any signs of humanity. Got it? That’s our procedure from here out.”

The rest of the crew nodded in agreement, and I was okay with it too. I may have stipulated that I be a member of the crew and treated as such in my ‘contract’ with Aisling, but if I had to act like a machine in front of strangers to maintain my anonymity and freedom, then so be it. It wasn’t like I would be around them for long.

The others stood in the doorway, starting to pile crates out onto the landing pad before I caught something on my external sensors. Movement at the far end of the clearing. I pinged Aisling’s tablet ‘Incoming. About 60 degrees from the cargo bay. She looked down to read, then turned immediately toward where I was pointing to see a group of six flanking a woman on the verge of being elderly. They were still distant, so I doubt that Aisling could see her in as much detail yet, but she was a strange sight. She wore painted markings on her face that reminded me of the marks I’d become accustomed to seeing on Ray’s torso. I made a note to ask her about those later. All of the people wore roughly processed leather garments with heavy wear, no doubt from long-term use in the Earth wild. They had modern guns at their sides though. They weren’t being wielded, but it was perfectly clear that they didn't trust us.

As the others started walking forward to meet them, I couldn’t help but be curious. The others were still within my network range, so I patched into Aisling’s tablet and turned on her microphone so I could listen in.

“Welcome, warrior.” The woman called out, seeming to look toward Ray. Then she turned to look at Aisling and the others “And company.”

“You’re talking to her.” Ray gestured to Aisling as the groups came to a stop several meters from each other “She speaks for me.”

“You have unusual allegiances. But I suppose things work differently off-world.” She nodded to the captain “Aisling Barrowin?”

“That’s me.” Aisling crossed her arms “Quite the entourage. An interesting way to greet someone who’s here to help you.”

“I believe she’s here to help.” The woman gestured to Ray again “But if a warrior of her caliber says you’re trustworthy, I’ll have to take her word for it.” She motioned to her guard and they seemed to relax a bit “Forgive the caution. We’ve had some recent bad faith with spacers. And I’ve read into your bounty, Ms. Barrowin.”

Aisling had a bounty on her head herself? This was new to me. “Just Aisling. And it’s a Foundation bounty, that should tell you what you need to know.” Aisling motioned to Ray, who set the crate down on the ground between them “Eight crates total, all packed with rations. And a few medkits at the bottom. Not my call, Skulls insisted.”

The woman scoffed “You can keep them yourself. Don’t trust spacer meds.” She walked forward and popped open the lid, revealing rows upon rows of the same kind of dried protein blocks I’d had before. I almost gagged. That’s what we were giving these people? It hardly felt like aid anymore. “Yeah… that’ll get us through the winter.” She mumbled after doing some math in her head. She sealed it back up again and motioning to her guards to pick it up “Bring it to the edge of the clearing and we’ll let our contact know you did a good job.”

Aisling nodded “We do need some information. Not holding your goods hostage or nothing. It’s yours and I intend to get paid for a good job done. But we’re looking for a real outlaw.”

“The warrior’s welcome.” She motioned to Ray “I’m sure she can handle it.”

Aisling rolled her eyes “Alright Ray, you’re on recon duty them. Rest of us will get the goods out here.” Ray nodded and walked over to join the group of Earthlings, the two groups separating again as Aisling brought the rest of the crew back toward me.

‘Can we trust her with Ray?’ I pinged Aisling.

She checked the tablet and started typing back rather than speaking out loud ‘They wouldn’t dare hurt her. Tribals have a lot of respect for people like her. Were you listening?’

‘Of course I was. Didn’t know you had a bounty. Don’t worry, honestly just makes me trust you more. Are all tribals this suspicious of people like us though?’ I had to ask.

‘Most.’ Was all she typed, clipping her tablet to her belt so she could help Mouse pick up one of the other crates.

I watched as Ray walked out of the clearing, hoping I’d see her come out again before too long.

Four of the guards returned to take the crates into the woods, as well as helping the others out nearer to the ship when they could. The job probably could have been much easier if someone else could have gone into the village. Ray was easily the strongest of any of us, and had demonstrated it well when she’d carried the supplies herself like that. They didn’t seem to respect efficiency or our time that much though. I’d definitely want to have a word with Ray about the tribals’ behavior once she got back, I had to pick her brain about her culture after this encounter.

At the very least, they didn’t seem interested at all in getting anywhere near me. I had to wonder if they would be as understanding as Ray was about my form of ‘shamanism’. It was best not to try.

I was done prying, it was time to do my job. I continued to scan all of my sensors for approaching threats, suddenly feeling vulnerable knowing that the people beyond the tree line may not be as friendly as I’d hoped they would be.