Grailem by Gary L Beer (best novels for teenagers txt) 📕

dreams of taking control of the planet he is being taken to.

Hearing the spacecraft engines start up and feeling the faint vibration as the engines course through the hull makes Grailem relax; soon he will be amongst an advanced civilisation. Getting out of the spacecraft unseen will be a challenge; but once past that obstacle he can merge in with the population.
Feeling the craft slowing down relaxes him even more and he focuses on the telepathic part of his brain. Grailem may have to create illusions and control a great many alien humanoids when they open the cargo hold; and he wants to be ready.
The spacecraft lands as slowly as it had taken off from the asteroid showing a high mastery of rocket science. Grailem closes his eyes in the darkness of the hold and listens to the sounds as the engine is shut down. The exiting of the crew appears as noisy as the engine, and soon he is left on his own.
Waiting for over an hour without hearing a sound he slowly forces the cargo doors open. Raising his head above the craft Grailem looks around and seeing that the hangar is empty of people; climbs out of the cargo hold quickly. Jumping down onto the hangar floor he walks towards some offices on the far side of the building.
Searching the offices he finds a pair of red overalls and a pair of hard red plastic type material shoes. Taking off the alien clothes which had survived the journey through space Grailem stands naked. The artificial humanoid body should fit the clothes well and he puts on the pair of bright red overalls.
The overalls do not fit; designed for someone who is over three and a half metres tall the overalls hang over him like an old sack. Using his fingernails, which are razor sharp, Grailem shortens the arms and legs and ties the pieces together, making a belt, which he ties around his waist.
Picking up the shoes he notices that they are many sizes too large, cutting and shortening the front of the shoe and welding the material together by using the compression force of his fingers Grailem feels he is ready. He has made the shoes slightly smaller than he intended and he has to carefully insert his feet so as not to split the material. Walking is not difficult as his legs, controlled by separate power systems would still function even if he had no feet.
Security around the small spaceport Grailem had landed on proved to be non-existent; most of the work of unloading and looking after passengers was taken care of by robots. The people all seemed to average a height of three and a half metres, with a well built muscular body that was mainly a greyish-white. The head was small, more suited to someone who was two metres or less. The large hands were in proportion to the large body which to Grailem's eyes looked artificial.
The robots were all similar in appearance; 'male' and 'female' robots appeared to have come out of the same mould. Made to look like the tall humanoids and appearing to have lived for twenty years by a clever crafting of the skin made them look almost real. The only difference in the robots was hair colour which came in either brunette or blonde. The 'females' are cast the same; appearing in their early twenties and either blonde or brunette. Their clothing is also similar as they wear a uniform of dark blue and purple.
Grailem notices that no security checks are made of the passengers from a flight that has just landed. With the help of robots carrying their luggage they leave the building. Feeling confident in the bright red overalls, though conscious of his short height he by-passes the checking in desks by simply walking past them. Making his way to the main doors he soon find himself outside in the sunshine of this new planet.
Boarding a bus that will take him to the city, the blonde 'male' robotic driver does not even look at him as he takes a seat halfway along the bus. Sitting down he appears a similar height to the other passenger's and finally relaxes and looks out of the bus window. The journey to the city along well designed highways only takes twenty minutes. The vehicles are all driven by the young looking robots and Grailem is impressed by the orderly way the traffic is controlled.
Arriving at the bus depot he gets off the bus with the other passengers as the robotic driver stares straight ahead. The journey from the airport was obviously free and Grailem wonders if this society uses money.
The other passenger's stare at him as he stands on the pavement wondering where to go next. His obvious lack of height is not his only difference from those around him. The tall muscular bodies around him also contains a large stomach which makes the females appear pregnant. If it wasn't for the males to have similar, if not larger stomachs, Grailem would have been convinced he was in the middle of a population explosion.

Eager to get away from the staring people Grailem enters a cafe and sits down as a brunette robot waitress, wearing dark blue and purple approaches; "What will be your pleasure sir?" she asks in a human sounding voice.
Hoping that coffee exists on this planet Grailem asks; "Coffee?"
A mechanical smile forms on the face of the waitress; "Will that be deep grown or solarised?" she asks in an infectious attractive voice.
Grailem does not know what the robot means so replies curtly; "Solarised."
The waitress, unaffected by his abruptness, turns away and walks to the back of the cafe.
Returning about a minute later she puts a large mug of black liquid in front of him. Placing a small bowl of sweetener she portrays her mechanical smile and returns to the back of the cafe. Pouring the coffee into his mouth in one go, that leads to an empty receptacle container, Grailem puts the mug back onto the table and stands to leave.
The robot waitress pays him no mind until Grailem reaches the door where a camera drops from the ceiling and takes his picture; "Thank you for calling, please call again." says the waitress adding her mechanical smile.
Grailem turns his head and looks in her direction trying to cover the irritation of being photographed so soon. Nodding his head in acknowledgement he returns the same cold smile and steps out onto the street.
If this society functioned on personal identification, possibly retina recognition to spend their wealth and money; how was he going to make a living here?

Being mistaken for a humanoid, even though a short one, the robot shop assistants give him everything that he asks for; being photographed at every purchase. Within an hour Grailem, after several adjustments due to his height, had dressed himself in appropriate clothing and felt that he could now pass as a citizen of this planet. Feeling confident he buys three communications platforms and other electronic equipment which attracts no attention.
The only problem he encountered was trying to buy a weapon. No guns or knives, other than kitchenware, was available and after searching for many hours he had been unable to obtain any kind of weapon.
Aware of the surveillance systems in the shops and cafes he had visited he exits a large store to be confronted by twenty armed robots wearing light coloured uniforms and slim safety helmets.
This was not going to plan; he had shopped deliberately as a means of announcing his presence but had not expected such a forceful reaction. He had expected to be approached discreetly by a government official as his videoed picture had obviously not been recognised. With his profile not fitting, Grailem was obviously an alien; and by all appearances of the armed guards in front of him, not a welcome alien!

Holding his hands above his head, clutching the bag of electronic equipment, he puts the robot police at ease for a split second - which is all the time he needs.
Backing hurriedly into the store before the robots realise his retreat, Grailem turns and runs through the crowd of shoppers and assistant robots to the back of the store.
The robotic police are soon on his tail and follow him into the store. Seeing his retreating back as he steps through a doorway a police robot fires a stun pistol at him. The aim is perfect as the stunning force hits Grailem squarely in the back. If he had been human the blast would have knocked him unconscious, but having no effect upon him he steps hurriedly through the doorway which leads him into a large warehouse.
Running as fast as he can Grailem becomes a blur as he races along the aisles of goods until he reaches the large open warehouse door. Stopping in the huge doorway he looks out at the yard spread before him. Robot handlers load the waiting trucks. A robot is shutting the back door of one of the trucks and Grailem hurries towards it.
The robot workers totally ignore him as they continue their work and he reaches the cab of the loaded truck. Inside a male looking robotic driver with dark hair sits behind the wheel awaiting instructions. Grailem opens the passengers door and climbs in making himself as inconspicuous as possible on the floor.
The robot suddenly springs into life and starts the engine of the truck and drives forward out of the yard. Reaching the main highway the robot continues its fast speed as it fits neatly between two similar robot driven trucks and continues north-west.
Grailem cannot believe his luck; as the escape seemed too easy.

After several hours of driving the robot pulls the truck off the main highway and heads towards a large city in the distance. As the truck reaches the edge of the city Grailem waits his opportunity and jumps out as it is turning a corner. Reaching the pavement in three steps, which is empty of tall humanoids, he walks along in the bright sunshine.
Badly needing somewhere to hole up and prepare for his next moves Grailem looks at the buildings and alleyways. Several streets later he finds what he is looking for; a disused building that stands back from the road. By all appearances the building was a shop many years ago and Grailem walks to the front door. Peering inside through the grubby windows he can see it is empty. Picking the lock is as easy as opening the door and he steps inside and shuts the door behind him without breaking step.
Empty dusty shelves surrounding the interior of the building confirm that this was once a store. Walking to the back of the building Grailem enters the storeroom; which also contains empty dust covered shelves. Peering out of the dirty windows he can see a large empty yard spread out before him.
Forming his lips into a facsimile of a smile, expressing his relief at finding the empty store as this will be the ideal location for him to work. His first urgent priority