Daegu Spaceport Security Check

South Korea

The metal doors behind me slide shut silently and close with a click. I feel trapped.

I’m so nervous. My hands are already clammy, and I haven’t even started yet.

After taking a deep breath, I approach the desk in front.

“Yes? How may I be of assistance?” The worker stares me down through her cat eye glasses.

I clear my throat and straighten my back. I have to appear confident. It’s time for me to become Do Haeyoung. Born and raised on Io, one of Jupiter’s largest moons. Daughter of a high-ranking Ionian military official. Graduate of an elite university. Peace ambassador between Earth and The Moons.

“Good evening. I’m here to obtain permission to board the next space jet bound for Io. I have completed my work on Earth, and I believe my permit is soon to expire. It’s time for me to go home.”

My heart pounds in my chest as I lie. I study the worker’s face carefully for her reaction. She gives nothing away.

“Very well. Please come this way.” She steps out from behind the desk and guides me down a different hallway. The only sound that can be heard is the clicking of her heels on the floor. She doesn’t speak to me at all as she guides me deeper into the building.

Finally, we arrive at another set of double doors. There’s a huge electronic panel on the wall beside them. The lady walks over to a computer on a desk nearby and turns it on. Oh, it’s a camera. I see myself on the left and a blank screen on the right.

“Okay, we are now going to start the process of verifying your identity. Please present me your identification documents.”

I hand over the papers and the ID card.

I’ve memorized them… This shouldn’t be too bad, right?

“I will be asking you some basic questions about yourself as well as some supplementary ones as needed. Please be aware that you are being recorded. I trust that you have familiarized yourself with the laws surrounding interplanetary travel.” The lady says in a monotone voice.

“Of course.” I nod. Be confident, Song Hwayeon. Be confident.

“Oh, and I would like to remind you that there are serious consequences should any of the information you provide us turn out to be false.” She says this all too mildly.

I nod wordlessly.

She swipes my fake ID through a machine and starts looking at Do Haeyoung’s file on the computer. I can do nothing but wait in silence.

Sure enough, my headshot pops up on screen. I make myself a silent promise that if I ever come back I’ll go back to the black market and thank the man again.

“We’ll begin now. Please tell me your name, date of birth, and birthplace.”

“My name is Do Haeyoung. I was born in Io on February 6^th, 2277.” I recite with ease. I get through the rest of the basic questions without any difficulty. My heartrate slows down a little, but I know I’m not in the clear yet.

When she’s finished questioning me about family background, she gives me a nod.

“Alright. The questioning is finished. Please make your way over to the machine beside the door. I will now ensure that your handprint, iris recognition scan, and blood type match the ones we have on record.”

Crap. Oh no. I wasn’t prepared for this. What am I supposed to do?!

“Miss?” she raises an eyebrow at me, voice laced with impatience.

“Ah, yes. Of course.” I say hastily. “Sorry, I’m not feeling so well today. Must have caught a cold because of this weather lately.”

“Yes, well. Please step forward.”

I try to stall by walking slowly to give myself time to figure something out. What would happen to me if I was caught? I don’t know the details, but I’m sure I would never be seen again. I feel like my heart’s in my throat. I can’t think properly. My mind is blank as I reach the machine.

I follow the machine’s instructions numbly and place both hands on the reader. As expected, it makes an angry beeping sound and the words MATCH NOT DETECTED show up on screen. I take my hands off and fight to keep calm.

The lady raises an eyebrow but I cut her off before she can say anything.

“I burned my hands while baking recently. I had to get a skin transplant, so that’s why things are different. The kitchenware and technology here is very different from what I’m used to using on Io, so please understand.”

The lie just slips out. I don’t even know where it came from or if it made any sense at all. Right now, I’m just hoping for the best.

“Really now?” she says skeptically.

I nod as confidently as I can in confirmation.

“Yes. I got the procedure done at Hayoon Medical University’s hospital.” I lie again. I hope she isn’t going to try to check for records or anything… because that hospital doesn’t even exist. My pulse roars in my ears as I wait for her to respond. She says nothing for a heart stopping second.

And then she gives me a slow nod.

“Very well. Look into the scanner for your eyes, please.”

Oh of course it’s not over yet. Here we go again. I hide my trembling hands in my sleeves and lean forward to look into the machine. It whirs softly as a light comes out to scan my irises. I blink a lot in hopes of slowing down the process. Not like I know how the technology works, but it’s worth a try right? I’m ready to try anything that might work. My mind races as I think of a plan to deceive the worker again.

This time, I’ve prepared myself when my eyes were being scanned. When the beep sounds, I’m ready.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry!” I exclaim with false alarm. I quickly put my hands on my face and pretend to fumble around my eyes.

“I completely forgot about my contact lenses! The ones we Ionians use must be different from the ones people here use. It must've messed up the scan. Sorry, just let me take them out so we can do the scan again.”

I pretend to take one out and drop it on the floor by accident.

“Oh no! I dropped one. Come on help me look for it. It’s transparent but it should be around here somewhere.”

When she doesn’t respond, I quickly kneel and start looking around on the floor.

“Come on, come out here and help me. We don’t have all night.”

I hear an annoyed sigh come from behind me and heels clicking on the floor. As she makes her way over, I motion for her to look behind me. As soon as her back is turned, I start creeping towards the computer. I don’t even know what I’m doing, but I’m sure I can help myself if I can somehow access the system.

Heart pounding, I inch closer and closer to the desk.

“I don’t see it anywhere. Are you sure you dropped it?” she suddenly asks.

I halt in my steps immediately and almost jump.

“What?! Of course I’m sure. Keep looking over there. Did you think I was lying?” I try my best to sound irritated.

“No, of course not.” She says quickly and ducks her head back down to look.

Seeing my chance, I crawl as quickly and silently as possible behind the desk. Rising up on my knees, I peek over the keyboard to look at the screen and grab the mouse.

I have no idea what I’m doing, but it’s not as complicated as I thought. I click through a bunch of windows and options until I get to the authorization screen. There’s a super long page of terms and conditions or something that I speed past. I quickly click MANUALLY AUTHORIZE IRIS MATCH at the bottom of the page and drop back on my hands and knees (not before closing the tab so she won’t see, of course).

I’m sweating so badly, and for the hundredth time today I’m like am I really doing this? I’m pretty sure that literally took like 30 years off my lifespan.

The worker is still diligently looking for my nonexistent contact lens. She didn’t notice a thing. I breathe out a quick sigh of relief.

“Oh, found it. I’ll take out the other now too so we can complete the scan. Sorry about the hassle.” I say as I pretend to fumble around with my eyes again.

She nods and then goes back to the computer. I get up from the ground and stick my eyes into the scanner again. I nearly crumple to the floor in relief when it says MATCH FOUND.

“Alright Miss Do. It’s time for a quick blood test. Insert your finger into the machine, please.”

I swallow nervously as I put my index finger into the machine. I have no ideas this time. This is pretty much foolproof.

Is this where it’ll all end? Were all my efforts for nothing? I haven’t even left the planet yet. What’s going to happen to me?

My thoughts are interrupted when the machine emits a bright beeping sound.

TYPE AB POSITIVE MATCH pops up on the screen. Wait what?

“Good. I have verified that you are Do Haeyoung. Please proceed to the security check where you and your bag will be scanned for any dangerous possessions.”

I almost gawk at the worker when she gives me a nod. I can’t believe it. I totally lucked out. Do Haeyoung and I have the same blood type. Thank goodness.

Wait, gotta keep up the act.

“Yes. Of course. Thank you very much.” I give her a nod in return as the doors slide open and I proceed to the next room.

“Have a pleasant journey, Miss Do.” Is all I hear before the doors slide shut.

I did it. I’m basically home free. The security check should be a breeze. All the scans are going to get are images of clothes and paper. I’ve tucked my real documents neatly inside notebooks and crammed those between clothes. This should go okay.

I can’t believe I just lied my way through the identity check. I can’t believe I did that.

There’s no time to dwell on it, though. I have to keep going.