Grand Design - Chapter 5 - By Matthew Bullis

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Chapter 5
*Kingdom of Whim*

Laura and Frank stepped off the shuttle at the spaceport. A line of beautiful men and women danced to music behind a sign that said, “Welcome to Whim, the Planet of Love.” A statue of the Roman goddess Venus stood in the center. They were quickly escorted to the tramway for their ride to the visitors' center. While on their ride, they saw the sky fill up with ships, large ships.

“Frank, they sure get a lot of visitors,” Laura said, looking up.

“What are they, giant cruise ships? They don’t look pretty. I wonder what discount line they are,” he responded.

The tram stopped, and the visitors were escorted to the visitor center, most of them watching the ships land as they were prodded indoors.

The big doors shut, and a video presentation began. A woman appeared on the screen and began to talk, “Welcome to the Kingdom of Whim, where even your fantasies come true. Whim is an open and tolerant world. We do not forbid anything unless it affects others. You are free to visit Garden Street, where all sorts of herbs are sold and openly used, or the Red Light District, where anyone can fulfill their fantasies without hiding. All vehicles on Whim are automated for your safety. Remember, what happens on Whim stays on Whim.” After the video, they were handed several ‘educational’ guides to the planet.

Frank and Laura were arm in arm, holding each other tight. They were escorted to customs and spoke to the officer at the desk. “Welcome to Whim. Do you have anything to declare? Any contraband weapons, religious materials, or banned media?” the clerk asked, taking their passports.

Frank seemed stunned. “Religious materials? Um, no, we don’t have anything. I thought this was an open society.”

“Yes, we are open. Now open your bags.” The clerk started going through their belongings.

“He’s going through my underwear,” cried Laura. “You’re a pervert. Didn’t your mother teach you better?”

“Now, Laura, don’t make a scene,” Frank said, trying to calm her down.

“A scene? He’s not even wearing gloves. Find yourself a girlfriend!”

“This is the planet Whim. He probably has lots of girlfriends.”

“Then why does he do this for a living?”

At this time, the clerk was about to laugh, but he regained composure and gave their passports back. “Move along,” he said, waving them through.

“Hey, she looks like Abby,” Laura pointed out a woman. “Nah, she’s blond and has too many tattoos.”

“Why do you have such a big purse? What do you carry in it all over the place?” asked Frank.

They walked over to the transit system to wait for their ride to the hotel. While they waited, they noticed a large number of people coming in. These didn’t look like normal people.

“Laura, I think these are Adlit,” Frank said, checking the grip on their bags.

The Adlit came in, and the clerks started to question them. One of them took exception to the questions asked and began to make a scene. What started as a single upset Adlit turned into a group of angry ‘visitors’ and then turned into a mob.

“Laura, grab your bag and RUN!” They started to walk quickly as the mob turned into a small riot. Rocks were starting to be thrown, and windows were broken. The guards were overwhelmed and began firing.

“Forget the bags, run for your life!” said Laura, pulling ahead of Frank and then grabbing him to the next building. They got inside, and the store owner quickly closed the security gates and pulled everyone in the back.

Frank asked the shopkeeper, “Do you have a gun?”

The shopkeeper turned to him and said, “Guns are illegal on Whim. Only the police have them.”

“I wish someone told the Adlit that!” They all ducked a little lower as gunfire exploded outside the store.

A loud bang and a crash sounded as someone tried to get in. An Adlit squeezed his way inside and started to look around through the clothing. Frank jumped out, holding onto the Adlit’s back and holding the arm with the gun up high. Laura quickly beat him to the ground with her purse. They took a few belts and tied their victim up by hands and ankles.

Frank picked up the gun. “Next one that gets in gets his head blown off!”

“We have to stay quiet!” said the shopkeeper.

“Then we’ll just use her purse again.”

“No more bad talk about my purse!” she stated.

“I love you, dear.”

“I wonder if it’s in the water?”