Ki stowed his travel bag in a locker then made his way to the shuttle’s engineering control panel. The black and white Avali’s cybernetic hand clicked and whirred as it plugged a couple of connectors into the panel. Binary code and Avali scratch scrolled across the inside of Ki’s visor and his virtual vision as his backpack computer uploaded the commands to bring the shuttle to life.
Holographic monitors started to fill the air above the control panel and the inbuilt screens started to show system statuses and diagrams. The fusion reactor was warming up from standby and power was slowly filtering out to each and every system. It was a lazy way to start the system, Firi or Selenu would go on about the integrity of honouring the system, of getting to know the hardware. Ki thought it was very sweet of them, they acted as if the shuttle was alive, especially the Momentum, Selenu’s personal shuttle. But to Ki the software was what really brought the shuttle to life and it was that software he was directly interfacing with.
Taran understood, as did Chantelle, both of them spent their lives surrounded by code, software and data the same as him. Seinu didn’t care one way or the other, his brother was usually thinking about profound ethical dilemmas or working out how to get aliens from different cultures to sit down together at the same table without eating one another. So to Seinu a shuttle was just a lump of machinery for taking him from point A to B. Ki ran his eyes over the shuttles data systems, conferred with Ifelse that everything passed muster and then made his way forward to the cockpit.
“Ifelse,” Ki said out loud, mostly to be polite, “Shuttle 3 is online, can I have permission to depart please?”
Ifelse appeared, their holographic Jakub avatar manifesting atop one of the chairs, “Of course Ki, departure is approved, just let me know when you want to lift off.”
“Thank you Ifelse, have you seen the twins?”
“Cri is currently in elevator 7 on his way to the shuttle bay,” the Jakub shimmered, their holographic form cycling with lines of Avali scratch code data, “Cal is in the kitchen with Seinu.”
“Ok, could you tell Cal to get a wiggle on please? I’d like to depart and get ahead of the shuttle traffic.”
“Of course,” Ifelse chimed, “I am ready to disconnect myself from the shuttle, as you are aware I cannot maintain a live connection whilst we are in the Sol system, the Earthian government freaks out at the idea of Avali AI operating independently from their main units.”
“Oh right,” Ki grimaced, “I remember reading about that, sorry Ifelse, I wish you could join us on Earth.”
“It’s ok,” the AI smiled, “I am learning plenty, I am currently playing with… seven hundred and twenty two different attempts to trick, trap or bypass my security fire-walls,” they smiled widely, “It is quite entertaining.”
Ki shook his head and settled down in the co-pilots seat, “This should surprise me and yet it doesn’t, well try not to cause any diplomatic incidents.”
“Don’t worry,” Ifelse assured him, “I won’t, though Ambassador Ka’er is currently having a great time at the UN Diplomatic mission raising serious objections to all the hacking attempts; he has so much proof about who has tried what it is getting embarrassing.”
“Well as long as you are all having fun,” Ki’s ears twitched and he swiveled the chair around as Cri walked inside. The vampire bunny had tidied his fur up and was wearing those coloured beads he had adopted as his style around the base of his tail and holding his braided neckruff together. His bright orange tail had been conditioned and he was wearing a navy blue and white hat designed to look like the night sky. It matched his scarf which was navy and speckled with stars.
“Morning Cri, you look very dapper,” Ki said with a smile, “Ready for our trip to Earth?”
“Yes,” Cri smiled and bounced over, “I am so excited, I’ve been reading about Earth for months now, I can’t wait to see some of the places,” he tapped his glasses and smiled, “I have everything we need loaded in here, itinerary, hotels, traffic rules, immigration rules for various countries.”
“Very good,” Ki smiled, “As soon as Cal gets here we can depart.”
“He should be along soon,” Cri said, “He was saying goodbye to Firi and Seinu before coming down here.”
“I am here,” Cal said as he wandered in, the grey and copper furred vampire bunny was identical to Cri. Except for his tail which was a thick, rich grey colour instead of copper. He also had a much shorter neck-ruff than his brother so was only wearing the black, white and purple beads around his tail. His hat and scarf were made up to look like a cloud filled summer sky and Ki could see his visor was in minimal info mode as usual.
Ki smiled, he knew Cal liked to wear his visor, it was a security thing and a way to imitate his idol Sher. But he rarely actually used the built in systems except for flying or driving. Most of the time he preferred his phone which was hanging from a pouch on the bandolier he was wearing over his chest and stomach. Ki smiled and waved, “Morning Cal, would you like to?”
The Avali gestured at the pilot seat and Cal perked up, hurrying over and clambering into the chair, “Yes, it is ok for me to fly?”
“Sure is,” Ki smiled, “I checked with Selenu, she says your Avali pilot licence is valid and you passed the Earthian training on their pilot rules.”
Cal chirped excitedly, singing to himself in bunny song as he ordered the chair to morph higher and closer to the controls so his smaller body could reach, “Ok, so our flight plan is to go to the country of Chile first, we are going to go to Valaparaíso, which is where Sher lived.”
“Yes,” Cri said as he leant forward, “We have three days there, then we are going to visit an ancient ruin in Peru, before going to New York, then we go to Istanbul.”
“Only because I insisted,” Cal chirped, “If I had left it to you, we’d have flown to the other side of the world for more museums,” he stared at his brother, “Instead we are going to take the Simplon Orient Express from Istanbul to London! Which is an Earthian train.”
Ki laughed, “I can’t believe you convinced me to take a week long train journey, but it sounds like it will be fun.”
“What are we doing with the shuttle?” Cal asked, resting his paws on the control board, “Like if we take the train to London how do we get the shuttle back?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Cri chirped, “Selenu and Firi are going to come down and pick it up and meet us in London, as after we arrive in London everyone should be coming down to stay with us for a few days.”
“Really?” Cri perked up, “I thought Seinu said his schedule didn’t have space for him to join us?”
“He has been invited to a weekend retreat at Balmoral, the Scottish Castle of the King of England,” Ki said, “So he has re-arranged his schedule to fit in a few days in London, then a visit to Scotland with you two as his partners and then back to London.”
“Ahhh that is good news,” Cri said, “We get to meet the King?”
“Probably,” Ki laughed, “The invitation was from the Prince of Wales on behalf of the King, this will probably mean you have to wear clothing. Based on what I learned, I suspect they have a strict dress code at a place like that.”
“Ah that’s fine,” Cri smirked, “If it means we get to spend some time with Seinu, I bet it is a really swanky place to visit as well with lots of history to read about.”
“Ugh,” Cal sighed and moved his paws across the holographic control interface, locking the spherical drive control system around his paw, “That sounds like a real drag, do we have to go?”
Ki blinked and glanced at Cal, “No, no you can stay in London with me if you want to avoid it; only Seinu, his partners and Selenu as our pack leader have been invited.”
“I'll think about it,” Cal muttered.
“I said I would think about it,” Cal snapped and chirped angrily, “You are always telling me where we are going and what I should do… but guess what I might have my own thoughts on what I want to do.”
He turned away from Cri as his brother stared at him in surprise and started work on bringing the engines online. Ki placed a paw on Cri’s head and shook his head, indicating now was not the time. Cri frowned but moved away as Cal focused on the controls, moving his paws, tilting the controls which sent a signal to lift the shuttle off the deck.
Cal broke the awkward silence as the shuttle began to move by muttering to Ki, “I want to see Seinu but a stuffy aristocrats' palace doesn’t sound like fun.”
“Well you can decide later,” Ki said, “For now lets focus on the flight,” he leaned back in his chair and raised his voice, “I will only interject if you miss something, so go on Cal, show us how this is done.”
Cal nodded and turned his focus to the controls, Ki could see him doing a final check of all his systems before speaking softly into the communication circuit. “Ifelse, this is Odyssey-3, we are ready to depart.”
“Good morning Cal,” Ifelse replied, “You are cleared to depart, Earthian System Control is expecting you and have given you permission to enter their traffic space, I am patching you through to them now.”
“Thank you Ifelse,” Cal said and switched channels, “Odyssey-3 to ESC, we are preparing to depart the Odyssey, do you have our flight plan?”
“Confirmed Odyssey-3, you are cleared to Beacon Sigma-Four where you may enter traffic to Border Station Omega for customs clearance.”
Cal frowned and glanced at the controls, “ECS, please check again, all passengers on Odyssey-3 are pre-cleared by customs, there should be no requirement for us to stop.”
There was a pause, Cal glanced at the communication circuit to check it was running as the shuttle drifted forward then dropped down through the bay doors to emerge from the bottom of the Odyssey. As they powered away from the mighty Embassy ship the ECS voice returned.
“Odyssey-3, apologies, you are correct, your landing authorisation has now cleared, you are clear to fly direct to Valapariso Harbour, good flight, ECS out.”
The line went dead and Cal sighed, “Just like Seinu said would happen,” he shook his head, “Trying to make us land at the border station.”
“Of course,” Cri piped up, “Humans will do anything to try and get one over others, making us land at the border station would give them an excuse to come on board and inspect the shuttle.”
“Well you handled it well,” Ki said with a smile, “Well done , clear and calm, so what’s our flight time to the surface?”
“Two hours and thirty seven minutes,” Cal said, “We have to follow their traffic codes, there are a lot of sub-orbital flights and then we have to slot into the safe air passages through their plane traffic.”
“That still baffles me,” Cri said, “They have economical shuttles, they have the ability to hop up into sub-orbital trajectories and back down again. Why do they still have so many old style planes?”
“Capatilsm,” Ki said, “It is cheaper to have regular, atmospheric planes for cargo, same as they move so many goods by boat,” Ki pointed toward the planet in the distance, “Their capitalist system requires them to constantly generate profit, so they try to keep their transport costs down to increase their sales income.”
“But they also have passenger planes and such,” Cal said, “Is that the same? I guess shuttles are expensive?”
“They shouldn't be,” Ki said, “But yeah they artificially keep the costs up on many things to control the market. But we are here to enjoy their culture and look around their world, so we need to not criticise them.”
“How do you know all this,” Cri said, “We sat through all those lectures from Seinu, but this wasn’t covered in the stuff we had to learn?”
“Oh well,” Ki smiled sadly, “I learnt a lot of this back on my old ship when we did some… dodgy work with a ship crewed by humans,” he settled back in his chair and stared forward out of the view screen, “Most humans are happy to talk about it, as they hate how it traps people in poverty, but you know what, for now let’s enjoy the flight, I love approaching a world from orbit.”
Cal chirped in understanding and Cri clambered up onto another chair so he could see out the windows. Ahead of them the Earth, a blue/green marble against the backdrop of space was drawing closer. It was going to be a fun week!
Valparaiso harbour was a working harbor, cargo boats were coming and going. Large lumbering hulks of metal that floated over the seas transporting tonnes of human tat and crap. According to the scans from the shuttle’s sensor array most of them were full of consumer items. There was one cargo vessel full of vegetables but it was like at the back of the queue for a berth.
Cal found it rather puzzling but he tried not to think about it too much. The shuttle was lined up with the shuttlepad that had been built along the inner edge of the harbour. Just inshore there was a spot for small space craft to land and take off from and the guidance system and beacon info from the landing pad was feeding him a trajectory to follow.
“We are on final approach,” Cal said softly into the radio and slowed the ship, the anti-gravity engine purring softly as it slowed their momentum. The shuttle turned in a slow arch and settled down onto the waiting pad of concrete and metal. “This is Odyssey-3, we are down and secure, signing off.”
“Welcome to Chile," the ATC operative said, “ATC out.”
The line went dead and Cal dragged his hands across the controls, shutting down the shuttle, “We’re here everyone, how did I do?”
“Just fine,” Ki said with a smile, placing his organic hand atop Cal’s hat, “Now do both of you have your EPPs set to Earth? I sent you the settings you should use.”
Cal tapped his visor and checked, “Yeah, I followed your instructions, Cri?”
“Yup all set,” Cri picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulders, “I am all set to go, our taxi should be waiting to take us to the hotel.”
The shuttle airlock hissed open as the air pressure equalised and the three of them made their way down the steps. Cal fell back, letting Cri lead the way confidently as always, his brother was so smart and had absorbed so much knowledge it was easier to let him take the lead. He felt bad for snapping at him before they left the Odyssey but it was grating sometimes how he would take the lead and decide things for them both without asking him. Sure back home he had been the leader of their Foraging Party and they had no choice but to do as they were told or get eaten. But here, well things were different away from home but Cri hadn’t really changed and tried to take charge. Cal was trying not to let it bother him though and spoil the start of their holiday, he’d laughed it off during the trip as him being nervous about flying them down here solo.
Outside the sun beat down and even with their EPP regulating their temperature and oxygen intake he could feel the heat, it was warm and dry but the view of the city was amazing.
To the right was row upon row of buildings, stretching off up the hills and slopes of the shoreline. They were so colourful, every building seemed to be a different hue or shade, bright and vibrant reaching up the hill away from the shoreline in tiers of colourful brick and wood with bright roofs. It was a really pretty place compared to some of the pictures of human towns they had seen.
Whilst to their left was the blue expanse of the ocean, Cal had seen oceans on other planets they had visited and he loved them. All that water, stretching off until it vanished beneath the curve of the horizon; though unlike Avalon this ocean was blue; his visor was informing him it was salt-water, just H2O mixed with an inordinate level of salt as well as biological matter.
Usually Cal didn’t bother with his visor that much, not unless he really needed it, but for this trip he had it linked to his phone and the local “Nexus” so it could scan stuff and tell him about it so he didn’t come across as dumb like usual. He looked around as he heard Ki and Cri talking and hurriedly made sure to secure the shuttle and turn on the security system before moving to join them by the edge of the shuttle landing pad. A human was waiting for them, a female with elaborately coiled hair wearing a navy blue skirt and waistcoat over a white shirt. The material shimmered in the bright tropical sunlight and had about eighteen different shades of blue mixed into the weave. Cal refrained from commenting on that, he was quite sure to Ki and her eyes it was all just one uniform shade of blue but to his eyes it was a riot of wonderful colours.
He was having to focus to ignore his senses, his nose was picking up so many smells, he’d gotten used to filtering out the melange of smells when out in space and visiting crowded places. But a lot of their life was spent in the sterile, regulated environment of the Odyssey or space stations and the various exovehicles like shuttles and mobile labs. Stepping out onto an inhabited world with none of those artificial environmental factors in place always overloaded his senses a bit. He could smell the salt in the ocean spray, the various odours from the humans, a nearby food stall, the oils and rubber from the vehicles parked nearby. There were a lot of smells all at once and for some reason, underlying it all the scent of human piss, it was just lingering in the air under everything which was odd. There must be a sewer line nearby, possibly pouring into the harbour because that was a thing humans did, baffling.
His ears were also reacting to every sound, from the noise of vehicles moving along the streets to people talking, he was used to it enough to not react and jump but it was a lot harder to filter out noise and sounds when they were coming from all directions at once, he just had to let them wash over him and not freak out.
There was a small crowd of media types loitering outside the shuttlepark; they seemed mostly annoyed that Seinu wasn’t with the party. They’d clearly heard that an Odyssey shuttle craft was landing in their city but were now annoyed that Diplomat Seinu hadn’t come off it, just some weird aliens and one of Seinu’s brothers. Cal couldn’t understand their bitterness, but apparently that was a human trait; they had psyched themselves up for seeing Seinu, maybe shouting questions at him and now their fantasy had turned out not to be true they were angry at Ki for being the wrong Avali.
Cal joined his brother and Ki in the back of the long vehicle that the hotel had sent and the young lady climbed into the front with the driver. They pulled out of the shuttle park complex and started to drive along the sea-front toward the hotel. The hotel itself was amazing, a tall twenty storey tower with a pool and restaurant complex attached to it on the ground floor. It overlooked the public beach and the ocean and their suite was up on the top floor, with a rooftop pool and patio that looked out over the ocean. The suite had more bedrooms then they needed but the three of them turned the master bedroom into a big Avali style communal sleeping room and then set about exploring.
Cal cautiously stepped onto the first step of the pool, keeping his tail up and out of the water as he enjoyed the warm water against his paws. He was about to get out when Ki walked out carrying a huge ring of inflated rubber.
“What is that?”
“This is a human invention,” Ki dropped it into the pool, “Now the idea is you get in the middle, lay with your back on the ring, use the handholds to stay in place and you can swim out.”
Cal lifted the ring, it was so lightweight, practically weightless but it easily fit over his head and soon enough Cal was lying on the warm rubber and able to float across the pool. “This is great,” he chirped up at Ki as he paddled out into the pool, “I can actually go in the water with one of these.”
Ki laughed and flopped backwards onto another ring, allowing it to carry him across the pool to bump up against Cal’s ring, “They are great, no one else would make a flotation device like this just for pleasure and having fun.”
Cal laughed and splashed water back and forth as he manoeuvred around the pool carefully. He looked up as Cri walked out and waved a paw at him, “Cri join us, this is great, look I am in the water and not sinking!”
“In a moment,” Cri lifted his glasses and smiled, “I was just checking out the itinerary for tomorrow. We have a lot of places to go see.”
Cal paddled over to the edge of the pool and grinned up at Cri, “Ok what’s the plan? I was only half listening when you planned this out.”
Cri sighed and then smiled as he sat down on the edge of the pool, “Ok so first we are going to visit the local social places, museums and a few local gigs I have tracked down, but mostly we are here to experience the city Sher lived in when he first moved to Earth,” he opened some holograms and gestured at the diagrams, “Now most of this isn’t probably stuff Sher actually did living and working here, but well it’s still fun to do, there are various beach side resort areas with things like waterskiing and boating, then we are going to a place in the next country over call Machu Picchu which is an old mountain ruin.”
“That sounds fun,” Cal chirped, “But first get in here and enjoy the pool!”
Cri chirped back in bunny song before trying to jump on a ring of his own. He went straight through the middle and sank. Cal was laughing so hard he nearly slipped off his as Cri had to activate the shield built into his glasses and walk over to the steps. He was utterly drenched, his normally thick tail a soggy mess, he stood on the edge of the pool glaring at the ring as Ki towed it over to him.
“Be less rough with it,” Ki laughed, “These things weigh next to nothing, so go slowly.”
Cri nodded, listening and watching, determined to clamber on properly this time. Cal paddled over to help out, it was fun to have been better at something then Cri for once! He’d got it right the first time he’d tried which was a rare occurrence, his brother was so smart! Still once they were both floating in their rubber rings they teamed up and went after Ki! Pool jousting was on!
“So Latin America was lots of fun,” Cri said excitedly into the video monitor, “The weather was so warm but the places we went were so pretty.”
Cal smiled, listening to his brother excitedly chattering into the camera, their video call with the Odyssey was secure and no doubt driving the local security forces insane that they couldn’t decode the signal. But Ifelse and their sophisticated Avali tech was too good for Earthian monitoring systems to hack.
“The city of Valparaiso was really pretty, and Machu Pichu was stunning,” Cal said, “To think humans built a whole city that high up the mountains.”
“It was sure something,” Ki said, “And the views were amazing, what did you like the best Cal?”
“Yeah it was pretty,” Cal smiled, “I liked flying over the mountains in the shuttle, that let us get some real pretty views, “It was good to see Lima as well the capital in Peru and then we travelled along the Amazon River through the country of Brazil, the rainforests were amazing.”
“It was breathtaking,” Cri chirped, “But also a bit sad when we saw some of the logging sites where humans have been clearing the land.”
“Yes” Ki sighed, “I was surprised by that, I thought the route I picked was along protected woodlands but it seems human corporations will ignore any rule if they think they can get away with it.”
“Sadly that is true,” Seinu said over the link, “The pursuit of profit drives a lot of human greed and short sighted decisions. Still I am glad you all had a good time, where are you now?”
“We are in Constantinople,” Cri chirped, “We spent the night at the old Station Hotel and explored the Topkapi Museum and the Hagia Sophia.”
“They were interesting,” Cal said, “But we are on a train now, the Orient Express, apparently we are going all across Europe, it is a ten day trip to London with stops at various cities along the way so we can explore them.”
“That sounds great,” Seinu sighed, “I wish I could join you all, but I will see you all in London, have a great time.”
“How are the negotiations going?” Ki asked, “Everything good?”
“Oh yes, things with Hastallan Waste have been fine and interesting, I met some nice people. But all the unofficial visits from Earth dignitaries are draining, Ka’er says, I am doing a good job, the Ambassador is pleased with me.”
“Well that is good to hear,” Ki said with a smile as the train lurched, “Oop, sounds like we are about to depart. We should ring off and go watch our departure from Constantinople, apparently it’s quite the experience.”
“Have fun you three, see you in ten days,” Seinu ended the call and Cri and Ki hurried out into the hall outside their compartment. Cal followed slowly, letting them race ahead as he looked out of the windows at the station.
It was an old station, stone and iron with a glass roof. I was beautiful in its own way and had clearly been lovingly cared for. Cal found it strange that the humans would spend so much money caring for this train station over, say helping all the people living in poverty in the poor neighbourhoods of the city. The carriage lurched and Cal braced himself as it began to move, the station was being left behind as the ancient steam train started to pull the carriages out of the station.
The whole train was a replication of the original Orient Express service from over a hundred years ago! So despite having modern conveniences like bathrooms and electric lighting and wifi it all had to fit inside the narrow gauge of the original train line. The steam engine was actually electric, the column of steam rising from the boiler heated by induction to add to the old world feel and look of the service.
Moving between carriages Cal headed forward, past other sleeping cars, no one else was really around. He found all the other passengers crammed into the main lounge where the big windows would give a wide panoramic view out over the river and city. Cal wove his way around the humans; their group were the only aliens on board so there was quite an interested crowd around Ki and Cri. So Cal avoided them and slipped forward to the next carriage.
It was the dining car, a traditional arrangement of small two or four person tables covered in exotic tablecloths with little lamps in the middle. Cal sighed, thankful that it was mostly empty and clambered up onto the bench at one of the four person tables so he could watch the train depart. It was beautiful, the view over the ancient city was spectacular, especially with the Hagia Sophia in the distance as the train chugged its way across the bridge that spanned the Bosphorous, the narrow gap of water that separated the city in two.
Resting his paws against the window Cal watched, his eyes enamoured by the glittering ocean. It was amazing, the amount of colours he could see sparking under the evening sun was spectacular. Humans claimed it was just blue or a blue-green colour but to his bunny eyes it was a seemingly endless kaleidoscope of shades.
“Hello there,” a friendly voice spoke up from behind and Cal turned his head. There was a young human, with curled brown hair, freckles and bright green eyes. She had to be in her late teens, maybe early twenties and she was dressed in a long skirt, blouse and jacket over the top. The dress code for the Orient Express was a relaxed version of the 1920s styles humans used to wear back in the day.
Cal himself was wearing one of his long robes, to humans it would look like a sky blue shade with white “cloud” collar and hem. Apparently this was acceptable clothing as they wouldn’t fit in human style clothes.
“Hello,” Cal said softly in English, the language the human was using. It was a pretty simple language and he’d spent some time learning it. Though not as quickly as Cri had, “I’m Cal, nice to meet you.”
“Kathy,” she smiled, “And I know who you are, everyone is talking about the aliens on the passenger list.”
Cal chuckled and rubbed a paw against the back of his head before pulling off his hat to play with it, “I guess we do stand out a bit don’t we.”
“You sure do,” Kathy laughed, “But in a good way, everyone is talking about the Odyssey being in town and now three of Diplomat Seinu’s family are down here on the train, it will make it a trip to remember.”
“I am sure,” Cal smiled, “So which nation state are you spying for?”
She blinked and her eyes opened wide, “What? I’m not spying for anyone.”
Cal nodded and smiled, “I can smell you are telling the truth, that’s nice,” he motioned at the chair opposite, “Join me.”
Kathy slid into the chair opposite her eyes wide, “Wait you can smell if someone is telling the truth?”
“Hang around people long enough with my senses and you can start to identify when they are lying,” he smiled at her, “Your hearts beat faster, you perspire more, your eyes flick around avoiding eye contact. It’s all real subtle, most humans don’t have the senses to recognize it but us bunnies have amazing hearing and sight to help us avoid predators back home.”
Kathy smiled, fascinated, “I read that your species is relatively rare? That you are assigned as Diplomat Seinu’s bodyguards but the tabloids are all excited trying to determine what you are up to with your trip.”
Cal chuckled, “I can imagine, would you believe me if I said me and my brother and Ki are literally just exploring Earth on vacation?”
“I would,” she chuckled, “I am doing the same, I am privileged I know to be travelling on the Orient Express like this, it isn’t cheap but I wanted to do it at least once.”
“I couldn’t believe the price,” Cal chuckled, “Like money is a hard thing for me to understand,” he pulled a face, “We don’t have currency at home, we live in caves as tribes, no real tools, heck we do not even have fire,” he waved a hand up the train, “It doesn’t help that the Avali don’t really use money. Their resources are assigned collectively depending on where you sit in their hierarchy which is determined by how you work and provide and offer support to the collective whole.”
Kathy leant forward listening with interest, “That sounds interesting,” she smiled sadly, “Here it is all about profit, protecting what you got we care for our families but the moment money and wealth get involved it all turns nasty.”
She grimaced and shook her head, “Even I am aware how lucky I am, all my riches come from my parents, I won’t have to work a day in my life or go hungry because we are rich and wealthy but that money is made off the back off people working and labouring and being taken advantage of.”
“Can’t you change it?” Cal asked curiously, “I mean if you know it is wrong?”
Kathy shrugged, “I do what I can, I donate to charities, but the money is all controlled by my parents, by the company we own, so I can only do so much. Maybe one day it will change but it won’t be easy sadly.”
Cal nodded and sighed, “It is not easy, seeing the universe, travelling with the Trail pack since we left home, seeing the wonders aboard the Odyssey, how easy and safe their lives are. It really opened my eyes.”
Kathy smiled, “Tell me about it? It’s not like we have anything else to do whilst on the train.”
“If you want to hear it?” Cal shook his head, “Cri could explain it better, he’s a lot smarter then me and Ki literally has a super computer attached to his brain, he could explain it even more,”
Kathy leant her elbows on the table, resting her chin atop her hands, “But I don’t want to hear their stories, you’re here, we’re talking, I’d like to hear it in your words.”
Cal frowned, and inhaled again, “Ok, no it still doesn’t smell like you are lying or trying to trick me,”
Kathy laughed warmly, “Nope, I know several people on this train who probably are though,” she smiled at him, “I want to hear about you Cal, you are in all the tabloids right alongside your brother.”
Cal tilted his head, “But I’m nothing special, Cri’s the impressive one, he learns stuff so quickly.”
“Sod Cri,” she smiled, “He may be your brother but Cal seriously” she pulled a magazine out of her bag and slid it over the table “Look at this, if half the stuff in this is true you are just as amazing as your brother if not more so.”
Cal looked over the magazine, it was one of the glossy, high quality photo journals that the humans liked. Full of gossip about celebrities and members of various Royal Families and exotic company CEOs who had built up a personality cult. The front page was a picture of him, he was wearing the red robes Firi had made him with the matching hat and piloting the hovercraft they had hired to explore some of the Amazon river.
“According to this and your official biography,” Kathy said, “You were a regular bunny a year ago, living on Babupekk… Babu… your home world,” she gave up on the complicated Avali name for the Land, “In just a year you have adapted to life in space, got your licence as a space pilot, at Coalition recognized standard, speak nine languages and are a recognized mechanic.”
She shook her head, “Sorry Cal but that is pretty amazing,” she smiled at him, “Your brother is cool too, but his knowledge is spread all over, he hasn’t focussed on any one thing you have focussed and excelled at it”
Cal flipped through the magazine, it was all about him. Cri and Ki were in the background but the photographer had clearly been focussing on him. “I… I guess,” he looked down at his paws then out the window as the train rattled along the tracks leading away from the city, “But I don’t feel that smart.”
Kathy closed her eyes as if thinking then opened them with a smile, “That’s because you are comparing yourself to your brother, or the Avali or all the people who have lived a privileged technologically advanced life since birth,” she shook her head and smiled at Cal, “You need to look at your achievements on their own, not compare yourself to others.”
Cal tilted his head and nodded slowly, “I guess… I will try to keep that in mind,” he smiled at her, then nodded out the window, “So what is the first thing we are likely to see on our way north, you must have some sort of idea? Cri picked this trip, I sort of just came along on it but didn’t look into where we are going.”
The human gave him a look then smiled, “Ok, I’ll let you change the subject for now, but we aren’t done with this conversation mr alien bunny! But ok this first stretch of the line runs between Constantinople and Sofia, that is our first major stop.” she smiled, “Now back in the day we would have had to stop at several customs check points along the way, but due to modern treaties we are cleared all the way to Paris without the need for showing our passports, so the train will run direct from Constantinople to Sofia, we should arrive tomorrow morning at about 9am so just after breakfast.”
Cal smiled and opened his guidebook from the train company, his large paws turning the pages carefully. It was going to be a fun trip, he also had a feeling it was going to be educational, this young lady seemed quite intent on making him look at his life a bit differently. Not to mention she seemed friendly and for once wasn’t a spy or a reporter trying to wheedle secrets out of him and just genuinely seemed interested in him. It was a nice change of pace and made this long, slightly fancy upper class train trip seem less of a chore.
To be continued…