B-10: a Ben 10 story

TIME - Chapter III

"Hello", Kai answered the phone, but couldn't recognize the voice on the other side.

"Hi, is this Miss. Kai Green? The Xenologist in charge of the E'yond'er exploration site?" She could sense a little bit of accent, but couldn't identify exactly where it was from.

"Yes, I'm Miss. Kai Green, but I never heard about the other part. Who is speaking?"

"Apologies. You can call me Zee. E'yond'er has been long dubbed an unexplored planet. However," the voice made a pause trying to formulate their words in the best possible way. "Let's just say I have some information that indicate otherwise. Of course, I'm willing to share it with you, in the future. But, before that, I need to retrieve some artifacts to verify my information and acquire the local reconning needed to open the aforementioned exploration site".

"I think you haven't really said who you really are. Just your name is not enough credential. And you didn't provide enough information to prove that this work is legal, if not even ethical. I've never even heard of some place called Eye Wonder?".

"E'yond'er. As I said, it's considered unexplored and most people don't even know it exists. But, problems apart, I'll e-mail you the appropriate information so that you can make a decision. I even have a proposed team, as you'll see, of some that may be familiar to you. It's just a recognition and recovery mission, we will avoid any damage to planet natural resources, fauna or flora. We'll be waiting your analysis and signature". They hang up.

Kai opened her laptop. It was 3 a.m., who would call at that time? Maybe someone in another time zone. Or another planet even. The number only appeared as unidentified call. The specified terms and conditions looked alright. Pretty much watch had been said before. There was a sketched map of the planet included, although map was quite of an overstatement. It was some basic lines with the size of the planet and the indication of one or another "probable land area". The contract signaled that no damage should be done to the planet, unless strictly necessary to complete the mission or to guarantee the well-being or survival of the team. The idea of fighting for survival wasn't exactly what she wanted to read about in a contract, but after dating Ben Tennyson it became quite standard. Even the planet conservation was well stablished. The plans of exploration restricted to research and study, and only accessible by certified professionals was also in order, and well defined. As an activist and conservationist, as well as a researcher, she knew that her doubts were justified. Nevertheless, everything looked perfectly in order. Even the chosen team. Ester Snezhana Platt, she has accompanied her in some excavations, lectures and even a conservation march. She didn't know her middle name was Snezhana; she would remember to tease her about it later. The other was Captain Rad Profit Danger Trouble Dudesman. She had heard about him before from Ben, but didn't believe it was a real name. The fact that the guy was a duck made things even harder to believe. But his commendations were as many as a guy could have.

She signed the contract. In minutes she got a response with even more information regarding the mission. Including that she should prepare to embark in 6 hours 36 minutes 7 seconds. At least she was already awake.