The crew touched down in a grassy field. Atmospheric conditions were mild, the bright blue sky was clear and cloudless, and the big gray mining shuttle had come to a flawless landing.
"Alright men," Captain Dante said as his steely eyes went down the computer readout of the planet's atmosphere. "We're making contact with the natives."
Crewman Issi took a step in the direction of the environment suit racks, but the ship's navigator put his hand on Issi's shoulder.
"We're not going to need the enviro-suits this time, Issi." He said. "The atmosphere is breathable so those bulky things would just slow us down."
Issi looked back at him. Troy was in his early thirties but with his shaggy blonde hair and big green eyes, he didn't look a day over twenty. Issi looked back at the bulky suits hanging in military rows and back to Troy.
"You sure?"
Troy smiled. "You've been given nanite-based inoculation against xeno-pathogens like the rest of us. Nothing to worry about."
The door behind them slid open and Jordan, the ship's mechanic, walked out. Jordan was 27, only two years older than Issi, but his demeanor was entirely professional. He strolled up to the captain in his gray, form fitting jumpsuit, identical to the rest of the crews' save for a number of dark oil-stains from his work in the engine hub.
Jordan looked at the view of the planet, the green grass and the slate blue outlines of skyscrapers in the distance. "Captain, are we going planetside?"
Dante nodded and said, "Indeed we are. There isn't much we know about the inhabitants; but considering nobody is shooting at us, we should be able to work out a contract with them. We start mining on their planet, and they get a cut of the profit."
"I hope their women are hot. I haven't had any action since we left the station." Troy said, he smiled at his own joke and Jordan rolled his eyes.
The skeleton crew of four men made their way to the landing bay. The lights brightened as a soft-sounding automated voice told everyone to stay clear of the loading ramp. The sirens blared, leaving Issi with ringing ears as the loading ramp dropped open with a loud metallic groan follow by a dull hiss.
Issi looked at Dante, the lights in the loading bay made his pale hair shimmer like snow on a winter morning. That was the thing with Dante, he had a pigment disorder that left him with white hair save for a streak of deep red that hung down over his pale ash-colored eyes. Issi hadn't known the captain for long, and he felt more than a little intimidated by him.
"After you, captain." Troy said as he broke the silence. Issi could tell in his gut that the other men were as uneasy as he was. It never really got easier, even it was your second time on an alien planet or your forty-second time.
Not far from their landing area was a forested area with a neat path cut through it leading east towards the cityscape. The trail was lined on both sides with thick rows of tall cobalt-blue flowers, they had the general shape of irises but the petals were glistening with a layer of transparent nectar. Dante approached one of the flowers and ran his finger along the length of one of the petals, the nectar adhered to his finger like honey, and it smelt vaguely floral but also slightly rubbery, like car tires. He licked the translucent pink-tinted nectar off and savored the taste while the other three men watched, half expecting him to keel over.
"That's pretty good." Dante said, savoring the taste. "I think we might be able to sell this in jars if they let us."
Jordan looked up from his tablet. "What's it taste like?" He said.
"It's kind of citrusy, but very sweet." Dante said, wiping his hand on his jumpsuit.
"It's hard to describe, I could taste some orange in there, maybe vanilla..."
Just then, a winged lizard swooped down from a tree and perched on one of the flowers. It stuck its head down in the flower and started lapping the nectar up with its tongue. Troy snapped pictures of it with his field camera. The thing had a body like a bat's, with similarly shaped wings and a pair of flexible back legs for grasping onto branches. Curiously, it had bright pink skin instead of scales; and its skin was very shiny and smooth. Jordan and Troy watched the lizard drink greedily from the flower; its beady eyes swiveled around it like a chameleon's. It turned its eyes on the four men, but showed no signs of fear.
"It looks like it's made of rubber." Jordan said. "Reminds me of the toy lizards I used to scare my sister with."
Dante looked back at Issi; the young crewman was swaying back and forth like grass in a breeze, he had a vacant expression and his blue eyes were glazed over.
"Issi?"
The crewman did not respond. Dante rushed up to him, and Jordan reached for the first aid kit in his bag. Dante grasped Issi by the shoulders and shook him.
"Issi! Snap out of it!" Dante yelled, and Issi shook his head and coughed. The crewman looked around with a confused expression, like a lost dog.
"Issi, are you okay?" Dante said, his voice shaking with restrained panic. Issi stepped back and leaned against a tree trunk as he regained his composure.
"I guess so..." Issi said groggily. "It's the flowers, they're making me dizzy." Dante looked around at the flowers. Not just the tall iris-like flowers, but the trees were bearing flowers of the same color and leaking the same nectar, the tree trunks were covered in sprawling vines bearing even more cobalt blue flowers. Every plant and hanging fruit had the same color, the same texture.
"This is pretty surreal." Jordan muttered.
"Are you lost?" said someone in a soft, unthreatening tone.
The men turned to face the direction of the unfamiliar voice, a pair of short, blue humanoids stepping out in front of them. Their appearance made Jordan blush; they were physically quite effeminate, they even both had a pair of petite breasts that roughly matched up to a human A cup, but their genders were made obvious by the skin-tight black latex suits they wore. The suits covered their arms and legs but the neckline flowed into an open v-shape leaving much of their chest and torso expose. The male creature and the men knew it was a male from the rather large bulge in his suit, raised his arm in a sort of greeting and the men waved back, except for Issi.
