Viera leaned in, eyes wide. “Those … creatures. They are so … happy.” Her eyes widened as she looked at the jestcano grazing in the fields. “Are those walruses?”

Behind them, Juniper laughed. “I was so confused by the similarity of them to our jestcano. Though the beasts look similar, that’s where it ends. The jestcano are land beasts with six legs. You can’t see it from here. Their smooth hide is actually a bit iridescent, oh, and they lay eggs. Kind of like a turtle, they bury them, but they lay so many, most don’t hatch, maybe two in each nest of thirty. It’s how they protect themselves. We’ve developed a way to find the decoy eggs, and it’s what we use for cooking and baking.”

Viera’s mouth gaped open and Thorn wondered if she breathed. After what seemed like too long, she shook her head and huffed out a laugh. “Are there so many of them?”

“Yeah.” Thorn nodded. “We prize our open space, so the jestcano run wild. We use sensors to find the eggs so that we don’t have to farm them.”

“And this is the biggest city?” Viera asked again, the wonder in her voice.

“Yes. This is Traxton, the biggest city on Abritos. It’s my home. I was here when the krottel attacked.”

Viera slowly turned, gazing at the city. Thorn hoped she thought it was as beautiful as she did. Of course, she couldn’t see most of it. The way Abritos built their cities was so different than Earth, it would be interesting to experience it for the first time through Viera’s eyes.

“But where is the city? All I see are fields, trees, and some paths. I’m terribly confused.” Her eyes were wide as her head swung around. “Everything is amazingly beautiful. And it smells … are we in a garden? It’s so lovely here.”

Thorn laughed. Her elation bubbled out of her. “No, this is how it is everywhere on Abritos. We don’t build up, Viera, we build down. Come with me.” Thorn hooked her arm in Viera’s, and they took one of the paths. She pointed. “Do you see the windows over there, the glass roofs? They sparkle all over the field.”

After a few steps, Thorn realized Viera wasn’t next to her anymore. She turned and Viera stood stock still, jaw dropped, gaping at the field. A moment later, she shook her head. “You build down? Does that mean all your buildings are only one story?”

“No. Only the top floor has the glass ceiling. I’ll show you how things on this planet work if you want.”

A slow smile replaced the shocked dumbfounded look. She was so adorable. “I’d really like that. Should I be searching for krottel while you give me a tour?”

Leaning down to give her a kiss on her cheek, Thorn said, “That would be lovely.” She was so happy about everything.

The two walked down a dirt path. There were some paved paths, but the chanzii honored nature and tried not to disrupt it as much as they could. Viera leaned forward and squinted. “Is that a tunnel?”

“Sort of. Since our homes are built underground, we have our paths underground as well.” Thorn led them to the road that would take them to Main Street.

A few feet into the underground street, the walls began to glow. Viera stopped again with a quick intake of breath. “What is that?” She reached out her hand but didn’t quite touch the wall.

“We have a multitude of plants, fungi, and plant roots that exhibit bioluminescence. For what feels like all time, the chanzii have built our pathways this way. A lot of our pathways are through natural stone, but some are built through soil that had to be reinforced. Because of all the glowing plants and small insects that live in the soil, there are very few places that need artificial light brought in.”

“There are doors and addresses down here!” Viera squealed. “Oh, my God, this is fantastic. How hard was adapting to Earth?” As her head swung around like a bobblehead human, a figurine Thorn could see becoming very popular as a kid’s toy, Viera’s eyes looked like they may pop out.

Thorn chuckled. “Well, if we want to get mail or packages, it helps if we have an address, and without a door, how will we get into the buildings?”

Viera snorted, then her hands slapped over her mouth. “I’m being dumb. It’s just that this is so fantastic and new. It’s incredible. My mind is having a hard time keeping up.”

“Are you scanning for krottel, too?” Thorn rubbed her back. Should I be worried about her? I keep forgetting that all of this is new for her. She’s impressively laid-back all the time, it’s easy to forget that less than a year ago she knew nothing about any of this.

Viera slid her hand into Thorn’s. “I am. I’m not picking up any of the bugs. The city is clear of them.”

The two continued to walk through the underground streets. Thorn showed Viera some of her favorite sites. “You’ll have to come back once everyone returns. We’ll go out to eat, have dessert, maybe visit a game house.”

“A … game house?” Viera sounded confused.

“It’s what chanzii do on a typical date. There are many different types of games, physical, similar to your bowling or darts, recreational, like golf or board games, or intellectual, kind of like your escape rooms. Our games are different, but that gives you the idea of our common dates.”

“Sounds fun.” Viera's eyes twinkled as she continued to take in everything she could from Thorn’s favorite city.

Chapter 19 - A Whole New World

Viera

Once Viera understood the size and depth of the city, she realized she’d need the oomph of Gandalf’s staff to help her search the city for krottel. She might not really need the staff, but she’d feel better for having the extra focus.

When she closed her eyes and concentrated, she figured she could search an area with a radius of one to two miles. Horax flew out as she used her magic until he was at the edge of her range so they could figure out the distance she could hunt.

The city was huge. Viera wasn’t sure if they planned on her walking, or having her send out a pulse, then transport to a new spot to repeat the process again. All she knew for certain was that the area they were in was clear.

Juniper ran up from one of the tunnels … or underground roads. “Viera, is it hard to continuously scan? Or would it be easier to start and stop?”

Viera scrunched up her face as she thought. “I actually have to work to block my sensing, to be honest. It’s my one proficiency that’s a bit wild. Since it came from the krottel, it seems to be attracted to them. I think that’s why I found the one on the island so easily.”

The other woman’s eyes widened with her excitement, which washed over Viera. Her head swung around until she found Thorn. “Commander Firoza, I have an idea. Why don’t we use the Pedesterizer?”

Thorn’s eyebrow rose. “You know, that isn’t a bad idea. It’s been years. I may be out of shape. We’d need a Double Dome Ped and use two drivers so we could trade off. What do you say, are you up for a drive around the city?”

A smile took over Juniper’s face. “You know I am. I’ll go dig one out of storage. Be right back.”

Watching the Ensign run off, Viera asked, “What is a, um, ped-a-lizer?”

“Pedesterizer? It’s the planet’s version of a car, or bike, or basic form of transportation. Since we are shapeshifters and honor our sister Abritos, we’ve never developed technology that harms the planet.” Thorn stared at Viera, waiting.

It took a second, but comprehension hit her like the Mack trucks the planets didn’t have. “You don’t have cars here.”

“Nope, or any kind of engine that would pollute the air. We opted for a kind of bike, similar to your elliptical, or stair master. The pedals go up and down. When we need to go anywhere, we hop on, shift our legs to have larger muscles, and go. There are domed versions where a second rider can pedal from the back, and a family-sized vehicle with a dome and two sets of pedals in the front.”

The idea of biking everywhere dumbfounded Viera. “You all must be in fantastic shape! I can’t imagine going on a family trip and having to pedal the whole way. What if you’re going for several hours?”

“Well, we also have transport technology. Many people utilize that daily to get to work or even for basic shopping. We have it all here.”

Before Viera could react, Juniper drove up—cycled up? Pedaled up?—in the Double Dome Ped. Thorn opened the back door for Viera; a good thing because she may not have been able to open the door on her own, the controls were not intuitive. The back seat was a comfortable, cushioned bench that went across to the other side. The front had what looked to be two skinny chairs. Juniper straddled the one she’d been sitting on. Thorn adjusted the other to her preferred height, then they were off. For a few moments Viera watched in amazement as Thorn’s legs thickened, but then she returned to scanning.

For the next few hours, they took underground roads and above-ground bridges as they crisscrossed all of Traxton. Most of the time, Viera kept her eyes closed, letting her magic run wild. But she made sure to peek out to watch the land pass by. How could she not? They were on an alien planet!

She felt weak and dizzy when they returned to where they’d originally touched down. A full meal had been set out on blankets, and Viera practically fell on the food, shaky and ravenous.

A hand on her arm made her realize others were talking. “I take it you’re done for the day?” Viera could feel Thorn’s concern.

She swallowed the bite in her mouth and took a sip of, she realized, coffee. The coffee was a balm to her soul. “No, I should be good if you want to do something this afternoon. I just need to keep my calories up.”

Flower Prancer, who was there to ensure the krottel were really gone, approached them. “You didn’t sense any krottel?”

Viera leaned back on her elbows, finally feeling human again. The thought made her giggle softly to herself. I’m feeling human on an alien planet speaking to a talking unicorn surrounded by turquoise aliens. Oh, and there’s a talking dragon taking care of our logistics. Totally human. “Not even a twinge.”

“Good.”