Jack's Moonlighting Pt. 01

One of the portraits showed each race standing before what might be spacecraft. Bayly looked to Tito. "I'm confused by these paintings. Aren't the Tik responsible for first contact?"

The Kwau overheard this, glanced up at the paintings, and immediately made a loud coughing sound drawing every eye in the room.

"What concerns you, Ambassador Kwua?" Ghunka asked.

"An innocent comment from my companion here just opened my eyes to a subtle poison to which the Assembly is exposing its new citizens. Lies disguised as art! The most heinous use of that glorious expression! It's... it's propaganda!" It swung a large arm gesturing to the murals. "Not one of these depicts historical truth, and each one removes the significance of the Tik's contribution in bringing these societies into the Assembly. This is my first visit to one of these chambers, which I believe are usually reserved for meetings with new additions to the Assembly. A most impressionable time for these new participants and a perfect opportunity to administer the first dose of poison against the Tik," the Kwua said scornfully.

Ghunka, Haah, and Nris paused to turn and review the art on the walls.

Nris was the first to speak. "I must admit, I didn't pay enough attention to the art's message when I attended these meetings. We were assigned this room as none of the rooms on the main floor were available."

"Why are we wasting the valuable time of the Committee Overseers on issues that do not concern them?" Ambassador Umannas spoke out boldly.

"Rooting out the evil of lies should be a primary concern for all good Assembly Citizens. Turning a blind eye to them hurts everyone!" Ambassador Kwua responded passionately. "Discovering it may begin here is a tremendous step in identifying the source and holding them accountable!"

The doors opened, and several beings entered. Bayly slid forward to the edge of her chair in anticipation. Leading them were Li Bin Wes, Li Bon Wes, and Li Ben Wes, the Qui Qui Qui Team Leader. Two Deen-Diin in bandages followed, as well as four male Jool and a female Vikk-Tahh with her ankle bound. The doors closed.

After waiting for the rest to come through, no one did, and Umannus became impatient. "Where is Ullenta?"

The Qui Qui Qui ignored him and bowed to the three on the podium. "Disaster occurred on Allsa Komanae/All workers were saved/Planet is lost."

Surprised exclamations filled the room, but the Qui Qui Qui continued. "Brought witnesses/Four Jool first group through the Gate/Jack saved Deen-Diin and Vikk-Tahh as last through Gate."

"Where are the other Team Leaders?" Umannus demanded.

"Where is Ambassador Danner?" the Kwua asked.

The trio turned to address the ambassadors. "Borrelian Team Leader deported/Grellian Team Leader died in Allsa Komanae cremation pit/Vikk-Tahh, Jool, and Deen-Diin Team Leaders died on Allsa Komanae moon."

The trio bowed to the Kwua and looked sad. "Rikki managed the failing Gate/Jack ensured all safe/Neither came through the Gate."

"Jack's dead?" the Kwua said, stunned.

"No," Bayly gasped quietly as she saw the defeat in the body language of the three small beings. Her hope suddenly died.

She might still be able to save her people from the Krreegah, but without their beloved queen, she would only be saving them for death at the hands of the northern barbarian.

Bayly put her head in her hands and cried for her people.

-=-

Tito watched Bayly's sorrow, and the pressure of its failure weighed heavily upon the Tik. If only it could have found some way to get here quicker.

Ghunka was bringing the meeting back to order, and Tito listened carefully as Bayly was too emotional to hear. "Team Leader, please explain what you meant by the planet is lost."

The trio bowed to the committee overseers once more. "I will speak the truth/The Seven Year lie is over/Grateful to Jack for uncovering it."

"Remember your promise to Keshwan!" Umannus snapped.

The Qui Qui Qui spun as one, and all three pointed to the Vikk-Tahh Ambassador. "Lie number one!/Borrelian Investigator was killed days before the explosion/Keshwan murdered his own!" It was the first time Tito had ever heard the peaceful Qui Qui Qui use an angry voice. "Blackmailed to preserve peace between Borrelia and Qui Qui Qui/Never a risk of war/So many lies!"

The Vikk-Tahh, Deen-Diin, and Jool Ambassadors were looking very nervous now.

The expressions on the faces of the three atop the podium were grim.

The doors opened again, and four large Maghadahn Security agents entered and nodded to Ghunka as they took positions next to the doors.

If it wasn't for the quiet crying from Bayly, Tito would have been excited to be at such a historic meeting.

-=-

Jack tumbled out the other side of the twisted Gate upside down, landed on his broken hand, and spent the next few minutes practicing every swear word he'd ever heard.

Not the most elegant arrival from a Gate.

When the pain eased to a bearable level, he noticed the soft cushion of a beautifully manicured lawn under his body. Above him was a pristine blue sky. The temperature was slightly cool, but the sun above warmed his body. Aside from the pain in his hand, he assumed he'd live, so it was time to sit up. Once he managed this, he saw a single-story building a short distance behind two ancient-looking Tik running at minimum power. They were the controls of the Gate he'd come through?

He looked around for Rikki, but it wasn't between his horns.

"Rikki?" he called out, but there was no sign of the Tik in the garden-like setting. He called out with his mind but nothing. He thought he felt his collar tingling as he ran back to Allsa Komanae's Gate Terminal with the Vikk-Tahh on his back, but he couldn't be sure. He prayed Rikki transferred a copy of itself. A wave of guilt and sadness washed over him, and he pushed it back. He knew even if Rikki had copied itself into his collar, the original sacrificed itself for him on Allsa Komanae.

He remained still for a few minutes coping with the grief of losing his friend. If it did manage to transfer into his collar, Jack would give it a thorough talking to when it was back in a new drone.

Jack got to his feet, his hand throbbing in time with his heartbeat, and looked around. The planet he'd ended up on was beautiful... and quiet. Only the gentle wind rustling the leaves on the nearby trees disturbed the absolute silence.

No flying animals or insects. No sounds of a mechanical nature. No sounds of life of any kind other than the leaves.

It was eerie.

He walked toward the building and knocked on the glass as he saw no buttons to press to announce his arrival. When no one came to investigate, he tried the handle, and the glass panel slid smoothly aside. Ahead of him was a wide, empty white hallway.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" he called out, casting his voice as best he could while trying not to sound like a dangerous home invader. He listened, but again, all he heard was silence.

Sighing, he stepped inside and walked down the hall. "Hello? I just arrived. I'm looking for someone who might help me get home?"

His voice echoed slightly in the building.

Jack reached the corner, and just beyond it were two side corridors and what looked like a computer terminal in an alcove. He took a seat on the low stool and touched the display.

It immediately activated, and Jack looked at a complex and indecipherable array of symbols. He looked over the options and pressed one, another, and a third before the screen shut down. He blinked at it in surprise. Touching it again brought him back to the symbols.

He was presented with far fewer options on his third attempt to wake the screen. He snorted softly as it looked like a child's control panel if he had to guess.

He touched one that looked like it might be for communicating. The screen changed, and he heard a strange buzz.

"Hello?" he said when there were no further sounds.

Then a voice. "Who is this?"

"Jack Danner. Who is this?"

"Jack Danner, you are in violation of Security Directive KF-20012-32-1000001."

"Huh. Okay, I have no idea what that is. For that matter, I don't know where I am. I was pushed through a Gate on Allsa Komanae and ended up here.

"No Gates are directed to this planet."

Jack blinked at that. The only planet he was aware of that did that was Allsa Komanae.

"A Tik named Rikki—" Jack's emotions swelled, but he regained control. "It was trying to get me to Allsa One, but one of Allsa Komanae's moons was about to impact the planet. Gravity was acting a little strange. Rikki had to find another Gate. That's how I got here."

There was a loud boom from somewhere outside. "What was that?"

"Stay where you are. You will be taken into custody," was the abrupt reply.

"Sure," he sighed.

Moments later, a very intimidating armored suit thumped down the hall to stand before the alcove.

It squeaked, and the terminal went dark. Jack stood and walked to stand before the mech. It looked like some form of battle armor, but glancing in the unit's window, he could see no one inside operating it. Remote control, then.

"Can you take me to a hospital? I'm injured." He held up his right hand, and the mech passed a green beam of light over his body, making him feel queasy. The mech squeaked again, then pointed to the hallway behind it.

Jack left the building and saw a flatbed vehicle parked outside the door. He climbed onto the platform, and the mech followed him. They immediately lifted into the air and accelerated away from the building. The deck had its own gravity field, so he felt no movement, but Jack immediately felt sick from the motion blur and dropped to his knees, then forward onto his face. His hand hit the deck, and the pain took him out this time.

-=-

Jack woke strapped to a bed with machines surrounding him.

"Ah, you are awake!"

Jack couldn't move his body but could scan much of the room with his eyes. He saw no one.

"Hello?" Jack called out.

"You are a most interesting species, but I've found nothing in the database that matches your genetic signature."

"Where are you?" Jack asked.

There was a pause. "That's a question I've been asking myself for a long time. I don't have an answer yet."

"Why can't I see you?" Jack prompted.

"Oh! How's this?"

A screen before Jack changed from displaying medical data to the face of a being. It was light grey with two wide and curious eyes, a wide mouth, and a small flap where the human nose would be. Jack couldn't place its species either. "Better. I don't recognize what you are either."

"Interesting! I feel like that should be an impossibility... but I'm missing something," it said with a frown, then shrugged with a fluid motion to stare at Jack again. "You had some broken phalanges in your limb. I've reset them and fed you a nutrient solution to expedite their healing. They appear to be well on their way to repairing themselves. You have a most interesting healing process, much unlike our own." It frowned. "More missing information. I find this disturbing." Once more, it shrugged.

It looked up at him. "In studying you while you were unconscious, I determined you had some minor genetic damage I could repair, so I have done so."

Jack's breath caught in his throat. "The horns?"

"What? Oh! No, your skeletal structure is well integrated into your genome. That cannot be altered without severe repercussions. This damage was just an overlay instruction improperly tacked on by some external means, but as I said, it only had a cosmetic impact.

Jack didn't know what he was talking about. New topic, then. "Can I leave now? I'd like to go home."

The face stared at him incredulously. "Leave? No one is allowed to be here. I very much doubt you'll be allowed to leave. No, you'll be added to the collection."

That didn't sound ominous at all. "Maybe I could speak to someone? A Tik, perhaps?" Jack said.

The being giggled in amusement. "Why would you want to speak to a Tik. They only squeak. Can you speak to machines? You seem to have significant cybernetic integration," it asked with sudden excitement.

Jack frowned at the being's impression of Tiks. Squeak? Then another question rose in his mind. This being seemed to have access to advanced medical technology. "Do you have the capability to remove the cybernetics from my body?"

"Certainly, but you would lose most of the sensation in your body in the process," it replied.

"Ah, that wouldn't be good. Never mind," Jack sighed.

"You didn't answer my question," the being said in annoyance.

"No, I can't speak to Tik unless they can speak as we are," Jack replied.

"Why did you ask about the Tik then?" it argued.

"I thought maybe you had some that could speak," Jack said wearily.

"But what good would it be to speak to a machine?" the being asked in frustration.

Jack wondered at this being's lack of knowledge of the Tik. "Nothing, I guess. Hey, can you disconnect me from these machines?"

"Normally, I would dissect you to learn more about your species... but I don't seem to have that ability now. Another disturbing difference," it grumbled.

A door opened before Jack and the mech walked in. "Your guard has arrived. I would have enjoyed studying you in greater detail, but that is no longer an option."

The bed suddenly retracted its restraints and tilted upward to put him on his feet.

"Where are my clothes?" Jack asked as he realized he was naked.

The screen had gone dark, and there was no sign of his clothes. The mech gestured to the door, so he moved and walked down corridor after corridor.

He spotted two Zombie Tik resting in an alcove down one hall to his right. They showed minimal power, but they were on. As Jack and his guard moved through the hallways, he counted the lefts and rights until he felt he was far enough away.

Jack spun, dodged around the mech, ducked around the first corner, and raced back the way he came at his top speed. He heard the heavy thump of the mech chasing him, but it couldn't make the corners as quickly as he could, so he poured it on.

As he ran around the final corner and saw the Tik, he shouted to the Tik to open a Gate to Maghadahn. Relief shot through him as the ugly black Gate opened between the Tik as he got closer. He knew the last corridor was too open, so he leapt headfirst at the blackness as an arc of electricity grazed him. His body spasmed, but he flew through the Gate to crash through a thin plaster wall and tumble across a cold marble floor. His body was twitching, but some of his muscles were still working. His brain was only partially scattered from demolishing the wall.

He stared at several familiar faces as he lay there on his back.

Wait, wasn't that Ambassador Kwua?

"Jack!" the furry being bellowed in joy. A female beside him, who Jack didn't recognize, jumped to her feet to stare at him. She immediately rushed to his side but caught the next electrical blast from the armor, which had followed Jack through the Gate.

How it managed to function autonomously on this side of the Gate was lost on Jack as his body was now covered by a lovely female of unknown species. As he heard the thump of the mech's approach, a huge male in a poorly fitting Maghadahn guard uniform came to stand next to Jack, checked on Bayly, and looked down at him. He ripped off the shirt to wrap it around his big fist.

Jack gawked at the man's muscles, then became aware of the scars. So many violent-looking scars. Jack locked eyes with him.

"Help Bayly," the big man said, then leapt over Jack and grappled with the mech. It got off a few shots, hitting walls and the Vikk-Tahh and Jool Ambassadors, who were trying to hide behind the witnesses.

With a deep grunt, the scarred man lifted the armor off its feet and ran them back through the Gate as it fired wildly, scorching the ceiling. Inside the plastered wall, one of the Zombie Tik was grazed by a shot as the mech and man tumbled through the Gate. It burst into sparks, and the Gate closed. The second Tik popped a few sparks too, and both powered off completely.

For a few seconds, the room was silent, as everyone was stunned.

Training finally kicked in, and the remaining security personnel rushed forward, collecting the unconscious female, and threw a blanket over Jack before medics arrived with gurneys. Jack and the female were taken from the room first and hustled to the hospital. Other gurneys were called for to collect the stunned Ambassadors.

This time on his way to a hospital, Jack remained conscious as his shocked muscles slowly returned to him. He saw Ghunka, Haah, Nris, and the Qui Qui Qui following with Ambassador Kwua and many, many Tik bringing up the rear.

Jack was immediately taken into an examination room, where a doctor quickly scanned his body from the tip of his horns down to his toes. What she saw on the screens must have been good as her expression relaxed.

"You'll be fine once the shock wears off. There's no permanent damage," the physician said, then smiled with a twinkle in her eye. She had just one very pretty violet eye.

"I think this coloration suits you much better," she said cheekily.

He stared at her in confusion, so she set one of the medical monitors to mirror mode, and Jack got to see what she meant.

His jaw dropped open, and he heard the doctor chuckle as he stared at his blond hair and blue eyes! This must have been what the being on the other planet meant by genetic damage with cosmetic impact.

"Thanks," he mumbled, and the doctor gestured for the orderlies. He was hustled to a recovery room with guards posted outside the door.

Moments later, he had company. Lots of company.

The committee overseers filed in, followed by Ambassador Kwua and the Tik. Before the officials could speak, the ambassador stepped forward, guiding an unfamiliar Tik to approach the bed.

"Welcome back, Ambassador Danner. I don't see your Tik companion," the Kwua said gently.

Jack nodded stiffly. "The... last time I saw Rikki, it pushed me through the Gate on Allsa Komanae."

"I will continue to hope it found a way to save itself as well," the large diplomat said gently, and the words struck at Jack's deepest desire as well. He nodded shakily.

The Kwua continued before the impatient committee members could get a word in. "This Tik is named Tito Bandito—" He paused at Jack's surprised sound, then continued. "It and its companion Bayly, who was also stunned by the mech, came from the edge of the Galactic Rim so she could present her petition to you for your assistance."

"Tell her I'm at her service, if at all possible," Jack said.

The ambassador paused in surprise. "Don't you wish to hear the petition first?"

Jack held his eye. "The large man with the scars who saved us asked me to help Bayly. What happened to him, by the way. I couldn't see from under Bayly. I'd like to thank him."

The others exchanged uncomfortable glances.

Tito spoke up. "Unfortunately, he was on the other side of the Gate when it collapsed. Can you tell us where the Gate originated?"

Jack blinked at the Tik. "I have no idea where I was. Rikki pushed me through a blind jump because the gravity was so distorted. The planet I landed on seemed empty except for the Mech and some being I saw only on a monitor who said he repaired my injured hand and my hair and eye color. I managed to evade the mech and jumped through a Gate to Maghadahn. I never expected to end up in the conference room."

Tito tipped forward to acknowledge his answer. "The man's name was Grenville. He was a Galactic Peace Trail host we met on our journey from the rim. He assisted us through the restricted zone at great danger to himself. He said he wouldn't come to Maghadahn because he had no faith in the committees." It looked toward the three committee members. "Apologies." It turned back to Jack. "Obviously, Grenville had to see the mission through."