A Cunning Plan In the middle of darkness and misty coldness, Three-Elll slowly became conscious. It was unable to move at first, its body still numb from its hibernation. It lay there, hearing the sounds around it of the tanks each switching themselves off, the signal that they had arrived at their destination. When the air around it was warm enough, Three-Ell's body began rumbling, the sound it made whenever it was awake and functional. It opened its eyes and stared up at the clear cover of the tank, still slightly frosted, with a large plate proclaiming the advantages to using EezyFreeze hibernators. At Three-Ell's silent mental command, a little spheroid of silver - a personal serv'u'bot - whirred up and activated the cover, which slid soundlessly back. The pad which Three-Ell lay against tilted, and slid the newly-awake onto the ground. Three-Ell turned from one side to the other, watching the other KHyaari, who were receiving the same treatment. An announcement boomed through Three-Ell's mind - all KHyaari to come at once to main deck... out - and it turned to join the growing line of shapes moving through the exit portal. - ...as you know, this dilemma has been troubling us for some time - as you know, several of our top scientists loyally volunteered to remain awake for a portion of the journey, to ponder this problem... - Three-Ell's outward appearance had not changed, but inside it was tossing up between boredom and frustration. The speaker, Two-Ess, had been droning on for some time, and seemed to start every second sentence with as you know, even when mentioning things which half the KHyaari there, Three-Ell included, could not possible have known. Three-Ell took the speech as a chance to observe its fellow colonists, but was limited by its inability to turn its body without attracting attention, which limited its sight to directly in front and directly behind. Switching between front and rear eyes, it studied the KHyaari around it. Seven out of eight clans were represented, creating a myriad of colours - seven out of the eight which made up the spectrum, and a different shade for each sub-group of a clan. The elders of the eighth and most conservative clan had voted to remain at home, which meant that no member of any of their sub-groups were able to join the mission. There were also a surprising amount of the clan-less - what a misnomer that name was, since the clan-less had their own council of elders and therefore were technically a clan as well. Their black shapes showed up easily against the brighter coloured KHyaari. Also mixed in the crowd were a large number of VHaanz, who served several roles, most notably the healers and technicians who looked after the vessel and its occupants. Their shells, plain white, reflected the lights glaringly. Three-Ell itself was a member of the largest clan, and its shell was dull crimson in colour. It realised suddenly that Two-Ess had finally reached some sort of a conclusion, and was calling forth the team of 'top' scientists. The small group represented all seven clans, of course, but Three-Ell was surprised at the age of the group - some of them were very recently created indeed. There was a pause, apparently for brief discussion amongst the little group. The one who finally approached the platform was a young representative of the blue clan. It hesitated, apparently nervous, but when it spoke it sounded confident enough. - friends, my name is Four-Dee, and I, along with my team, have developed the ideal plan for infiltrating this civilisation - Three-Ell regarded the youngster with a certain amount of respect - obviously this Four-Dee had thought up whatever the wonder technique was, since it had been given the task of explaining it to everyone. It did not appear to hold much rank, as it only had two serv'u'bots hovering around it. Three-Ell itself had three, while Two-Ess openly displayed five. - with my system, we can live amongst the natives of this planet without causing them fear or harm - they will learn to trust us, even to rely on us - they will believe us to be of their own devising - we have worked long and hard to modify the humble serv'u'bot, making it the key to our success - watch... - One of the serv'u'bots left Four-Dee's side and whirred into the centre of the room, where it hovered at a height of about four weehells from the ground. Nearby KHyaari backed up to get out of the way, so they could still watch it. The air around the serv'u'bot began to shimmer, and an image extended down from it to the floor, solidifying around it. Three-Ell had only seen a few holograms of the natives of their destination, but it recognised the creature which stood in the middle of the room as a male of the species. The image was very detailed, and included cloth coverings and foot-protectors such as the real ones wore. It looked extremely lifelike. - this hologram, made using my revolutionary 'solid light' technique, can be operated by remote thought control from the other side of this planet, if necessary - sensors permit me to see through the creature's eye, hear through its ears, and so on - these beings have several useful perceptions which we lack, and the only major losses are in their rather primitive mode of speech and their eyes, which are sadly inferior to our own, in that they cannot see in the dark or look behind them, and are only capable of seeing seven colours from the spectrum - as the creator of this technology, I will infiltrate the natives' society and become known as an 'inventor', one who has new ideas - I will claim to have created a new technology which will make life much easier for the natives, namely us - then the rest of the colonists can join me on the planet, a few at first, then steadily more, until we are an unquestioned part of their lives - sadly, we do not have the resources to give all of you human bodies as well, but a lucky few of you will be able to have modified 'bots - But, of course, that will only be KHyaari of the highest rank, though Three-Ell cynically. Nonetheless, it would be good to get off the ship and back onto good solid ground. A disturbing thought struck Three-Ell - what sort of surface would this planet have? It would be most uncomfortable if the ground was made of something other than good, honest tarmac. - I leave for our new planet as soon as their sun is out of sight, Four-Dee was announcing, and my new name shall be Fourd - Henry Fourd... - (c) Copyright Hespa. This work may be downloaded for thy pleasure, but may not be printed, altered in any way or presented as thy own work.