"Ah, instead of trying to squeeze blood from a turnip," I muttered, unsure what the expression actually meant. I assumed that it applied.
"What is a turnip?" Honeysuckle asked.
"A vegetable, I think. I've never actually eaten one."
"Why would there be blood in a vegetable?" Honey queried again.
"There wouldn't. That's my point."
"That doesn't make any sense to me," Honey mumbled. She was always the most likely to speak up when she didn't understand or agree with things, especially in the control room. I had seen her comments border on insubordination at times.
"I understand, captain," Vanilla supported me. "I believe your analogy is correct. Settlers would have an extremely difficult time creating a life providing zone where it would be the least likely to possess it in the first place."
"Well, we'll be avoiding the turnips anyway," Strawberry said to bring us back to our focus. "Flight instructions are coming in from Codi-Wiodi now."
That was the name of the specific green zone or city-state where we were to unload our cargo. I thought it hilarious when I first heard it. I could only assume that it was named after the old western town in the United States, Cody Wyoming.
Nav-points appeared on my screen along with a proposed flight plan conjured up by our computer to meet the local requirements. I tapped the screen to approve and focused my attention on the visuals instead of flying the ship. The place sort of reminded me of flying into Las Vegas on an airplane. There was desert everywhere until our target location appeared. Instead of a series of Nevada golf courses providing the green contrast, it was large plots of farmland.
The actual city of Codi-Wiodi was the bullseye of the large round habitation zone. Or the itty-bitty nipple in the giant tit. There was a shiny dome in the center that initially had me wondering of it was for sporting events. The structure resembled an enclosed stadium from Earth. I was glad that I didn't suggest that idea and look incredibly stupid.
"The first structure on a terraforming planet is usually a dome," Vanilla offered. "Not only is it a safe place during the long process, but inhabitants can always seek shelter there later in the event of a catastrophe."
Smaller rectangular buildings encircled the dome with strange rooftops. The slanted bowl-shaped rooves were reflecting sunlight and extended far beyond the structures below them. I decided to wait for Honey to question the design. Vanilla happily explained that the tops of the buildings served two purposes besides providing shelter. Solar energy and water collection from the infrequent rainfall.
The designated landing zone was in a section that was part of the crop wheel that had been paved over instead. Adjacent to it was a large square building that resembled a warehouse from Earth. Its roof was less exaggerated but still served to provide for the city's power and hydration needs.
We were directed to pad number four. I watched my screen intently as I allowed the autopilot to set us down softly. The ship was performing so well lately that piloting was not the least bit challenging. My job more often than not was simply to oversee the work of a flawless performer.
Despite the dozens of people walking around out there on the surface, Doctor Vanilla insisted that we allow the air quality analysis to complete before opening the exit door. When the report encouraged us to wear simple rebreathers for our first few hours on the planet, I quickly scoffed at that idea. That was until she provided me with a sample of the outside air to sniff. It had such a dusty chemical smell that I began coughing uncontrollably right away.
With a clear breathing apparatus covering my nose and mouth, goggles over my eyes, I finally opened the exit door to step outside onto another planet. This was my third, counting Earth. Surprisingly, none of the crew members had visited more than five themselves. Due to the airport style environment, I was the one most at home as we left the ship.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
As usual, Cinnamon and Strawberry handled most of the details when dealing with dock crew and purchasing agents. Already having a contract expediated the process, but sadly the company that we were dealing with was a day behind in their workload. A seasonal illness unique to this world had made its way through the population recently and set everything back due to a lack of manpower. We were encouraged to keep our breathers on, even after we were accustomed to the planet's air, unless inside one of the buildings.
New diseases that humans could struggle with were a common thing when settling new worlds. Construction methods compensated with heavy duty filtering systems to alleviate the problem when indoors. Luckily, it also filtered out much of the annoying bad taste in the air.
The first building that we entered had a long counter with employees behind it, like an auto parts store from my time. All males with their eyes glued to the bodies of my two dazzling companions. Finally, after an awkward silence, one of them offered to help us.
Cinnamon tackled any issues that she had with the cargo unloading quickly. She needed permission to stack the goods farther away from the ship to allow room for incoming cargo since the company wouldn't be able to pick them up until the next day.
Strawberry inquired about purchase options. There weren't any contracts available for interstellar shipments leaving the planet. All of those were done by the star system's stations to provide a profit
