Jack's Righteous Gig

The members of the initial Altarian colony looked for some way to find value in the planet to justify the cost of their living there. It was a geologist who discovered the world had a remarkable quantity of sand types in very pure states. She was also an artist and found the quality of the silica sand was perfect for creating the most exquisite art pieces and durable industrial glass. Processing plants were designed on Altaria, then the components for them were manufactured on several Altarian colonies and shipped piece by piece through the Cargo Gates to be assembled on Callosephia.

Once the plants went into production mode, they ingested the raw sand and filtered it into its base components. This process created some of the finest colored silica sands available. As an export product, it became highly sought after by artists and designers of high-end architectural projects. There was even a group on Earth that began importing it for their Sand Mandalas.

Over the subsequent years, the Sanosians continued to try to find ways to make the Altarians let them inhabit the planet. They'd even requested permission to set up vacation resorts on the world of sand, but a particular human diplomat working for the Altarians thwarted that toehold by rejecting the request.

Larrisha had been the colony leader for almost fifty years, and next year, she'd be moving back to Altaria to retire in comfort in a little bungalow overlooking the ocean... or a lake. She wasn't fussy as long as it wasn't an endless expanse of sand. The next phase of her life had to include water and lots of it. She was old and tired, but generally happy. Her time on Callosephia had been good, with only the smallest of disturbances by the Sanosians.

Until today.

Jessa, her second in command and the Colony's next leader, was leaning on her desk, pointing to the dot on her screen as it approached the planet. They had an unwelcome guest looking to make an unscheduled and unsolicited stop on their world. Larrisha already sent notice to Altaria. There was no response from the ship, but its transponder indicated it was an automated Sanosian commercial shipping transport. None of the members of that race would be on board as the Gate Network members would see that as a prelude to invasion.

The second in command was almost a polar opposite of Larrisha. She was young, passionate, fit, and energetic. She also had light, cream-colored fur that matched the color of the local sand. Larrisha's darker fur made her easier to see, so she teased her second in command that leaders needed to be seen as well as heard. To combat this, Jessa wore the brightest, most garish color gowns she could get her hands on.

The Altarian Queen's office notified them that they'd contacted the Sanosians and learned that the incoming freighter had drifted off course, and they weren't able to regain control. It was supposedly carrying livestock in stasis containers, food for the Sanosians. They claimed the ship would break apart and burn up in the atmosphere. They'd reportedly already jettisoned the engine core of the vessel so it would be on battery power until it hit the upper atmosphere.

As they didn't have any Altarian security officers on the planet, Larrisha and Jessa would be taking a skimmer out to a safe vantage point to ensure nothing made it to the surface. They were leaving Milli, the office coordinator, in charge until they got back. They'd remain in touch with her while they were in the field.

The ship was a large one, and since they'd prematurely ejected the engine core, they were no longer able to use its energy to blow the ship into smaller bits, which would burn up quickly in the atmosphere.

It was beginning to become apparent the Sanosians intended to have the ship reach the surface in one piece.

Once they had a fix on exactly where it would fall, Larrisha and Jessa boarded the small two-person skimmer. Jessa flew it out over the desert dunes in the direction of a long stony ridgeline which overlooked the future crash site. Larrisha prepared her camera to catch the evidence. She was highly suspicious of how their reptilian neighbors were handling this.

The crash site was a reasonable distance from the colony but still closer than Larrisha was comfortable with.

Speaking of comfort, Jessa flew the skimmer uncomfortably fast for the leader, but she trusted the younger female's superior skills.

Even with the excessive speed, it took some time to reach the ridge overlooking the distant valley where the ship would come down. They'd be able to see the debris land from here safely.

Larrisha aimed her camera at the coordinates where the incoming debris would begin to show. A minute crept by then two.

"Did we get the coordinates, right?" she asked Jessa.

Jessa was already contacting Milli, and her expression was grim. She looked up sharply, so Larrisha followed her gaze and gasped, seeing a dark shape begin to fill the sky above.

Suddenly, she was thrown back against her seat. Safety straps shot around her body to keep her in her chair as supports inflated on the headrest. Jessa pushed the throttle on the skimmer past the safety zone as she desperately tried to put some distance between them and the dropping ship.

"It's coming down whole? Is that a controlled descent?" Larrisha shouted to Jessa above the screaming sound of the skimmer's redlined engine.

Jessa yelled her answer back. "Milli said it changed from freefall into a partially controlled descent as we approached the ridgeline." They jerked to the left and dropped into a shallow notch racing down the slope at breakneck speed. "Main engines are offline- it's using auxiliary engines to slow its descent. Not meant for use in gravity- only docking maneuvers!" The skimmer shot out of the notch to race forward along the floor of the valley. She risked a glance upwards. "Ship's venting gas, a lot of it- to keep it level and slow it down maybe? It seems to be... tracking us!"

Larrisha slammed against her harness as Jessa jerked the vehicle to the left to avoid a large chunk of metal, which broke free from the ship above and fell to the sand before them. Then they were shooting forward again. The colony leader looked upwards once more and couldn't help but compare the ship to an enormous foot trying to stomp them flat. She watched its movements and saw its sudden shift to the left as the massive oblong shape began to fracture from the stresses of dealing with gravity for the first time.

"RIGHT!" she screamed and slammed into her harness once more as Jessa veered the skimmer to the right. The massive shadow descended faster and faster. Then it was behind them as a deafening explosion of noise, sand, and wind struck the skimmer from behind and tossed it, spinning wildly, into the sky.

When Larrisha regained consciousness everything hurt, but the pain in her left ankle was incredibly sharp and intense. She opened her eyes and saw she was upside down dangling from her seat harness. The bubble roof of the skimmer was gone, and the nose of the vehicle was buried in the sand.

Her legs were dangling down to rest on the sand, but her left one was disappearing into a toothy maw rising from below. She screamed as it suddenly bit down and crunched through the bone.

And her hoof was gone.

Jessa hit the release on her harness and dropped out of her seat onto the sand, screaming in rage as she drove a jagged piece of metal where the mouth had been. The sand erupted as something underneath thrashed, squealed in pain, and splashed a pink liquid on the ground around them. Then it went still.

Looking at the expression of horror on Larrisha's face, Jessa quickly reached into the storage behind the seat and pulled out an active bandage pack. She pressed it over the ragged stump of the older female's left leg and activated it. The covering wrapped around her wound and immediately gushed foam over the end of the leg. This would numb the nerves and seal the severed blood vessels.

She looked to her senior officer but saw she'd passed out once more. Immediate crisis over, she grabbed her comm and tried to reach Milli, but there was too much electrical interference from the wreckage of the ship behind them.

Whatever that thing was that came out of the sand to attack Larrisha, it wasn't native to Callosephia, so that meant it came from the ship. A ship that was supposed to have Sanosian livestock in stasis. The creatures were clearly no longer in that state! They were under the sand, and they ate Altarians!

Jessa unbelted Larrisha and carried her out from under the skimmer. The area around them was littered with big chunks of the shattered transport ship.

Hearing a hissing sound behind them, Jessa jumped onto one of the metal plates and avoided having her ankles bitten off. Luckily, the beasts didn't like leaving the sand.

Then she saw tentacles reach tentatively out of the sand to touch the metal surface as if hunting for them. Carrying Larrisha over her shoulder was beginning to wear her out. She couldn't put her down as she'd likely get dragged onto the sand. A sob slipped out as she looked at the moving sands and realized the number of creatures hiding just under the surface.

Bright flashes lit up the area around her as the sand exploded with writhing and flailing limbs. Then it went quiet.

Jessa looked up at the top of a dune and saw four black-furred Altarian security officers, two driving two-seat skimmers like hers and two on single-rider vehicles gliding down towards her. One two-seater pulled up next to her, and she gently laid the colony leader on the seat and strapped her down. The skimmer moved away as the second one glided closer to pick her up.

She made it stop next to her destroyed vehicle so she could reach out to collect Larrisha's camera, which was resting on the sand. For just a moment, she worried about something biting her hand. Then they were on their way back to the colony.

Jessa scanned through the video on the camera and saw Larrisha had captured the ship's course changes to catch them. Proof the destroyed transport wasn't in freefall.

She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. She was only beginning her term on Callosephia.

She prayed this was as exciting as it would get.

Chapter 3

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi emerged from the mirrored surface of the Gate into the cold vacuum of space. This wasn't a surprise or reason for alarm. As a first contact expedition leader, it often set the location for the first Gate high above a newly discovered planet's surface. As a Tik, the conditions of space were no danger to the mechanical being. As long as it was near a body with a gravitational field, any Tik could propel itself with ease.

The planet below was a gas giant detected at the far extent of the Allsa Komanae's region of space. The nearby supergiant star was beginning to threaten the world. Rikki had come with his team to determine if any sentient life forms inhabited the gas giant and could be saved.

Rikki's other teammates came through the Gate and gathered around the leader as the Gate closed. The team had two seniors and ten newly instantiated Tik. Shiny and free of any dents, scratches, or marks, these younglings were eager for life experiences. For most, this would be their first.

The star threw off an abundance of free power, so they were in no danger of running out of energy. Rikki sent a data spurt to the gathered Tik to take up positions and begin passive scanning for any unnatural energy output from the planet's surface, searching for signs of intelligent life. Only after a complete survey could they begin active scanning.

Rikki's second in command was Tootie, who'd done three previous missions with Rikki. They took their position at one third and two thirds the distance between the poles and the remaining Tik spread out in a line top to bottom. They'd be able to read the entire planet in a few passes around. The Tik at the equator set the pace, which meant the Tik at the poles went much slower. This led to boredom, which meant it was up to Rikki and Tootie to keep their minds on the task and feed their insatiable curiosity. It wasn't long before the questions began and they always started the same way.

The Tik were all connected by line of sight tight beams to not pollute their readings from the planet. This connection allowed them to communicate and share data feeds. The brief lags in the signal let Rikki and Tootie identify the speaking Tik.

"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, how did you get such a complex name?"

Rikki was ready for the question. It wasn't surprising to it that the Tik at the northern pole asked it. Its path was slow, and there was a lot of magnetic interference making its ability to take readings almost impossible. The southern pole was calmer for some reason.

"8809, I was given the name by a youngling from the human race. She was living on Sheega's World out in the Orellian territories."

"Humans live with Orellians?" a voice asked incredulously.

Rikki recognized that was their southern pole reading Tik.

"Yes, 3334. Humans with the will to explore the Gate Worlds are less xenophobic than the majority of the species on their homeworld. Now back to my story. The young female was in a hospital recovering from an explosion that took her parents from her. All she managed to save from their dwelling was an ancient book of stories. Before the accident, her parents would read from the book to help her get to sleep, but now they were gone."

"Could she not read the stories to herself?" 3334 asked.

"She was very young, but she'd had lessons and knew how to read. Unfortunately, her injuries took her ability to see. I learned how to hold the book, and I read stories from it to her at night. She was right; it did help her sleep. I managed to contact a Chuuruthian surgeon who specialized in optic nerve regeneration. She came to Sheega's World-"

Tootie interrupted this time. "A Chuuruthian on an Orellian world?!? She wouldn't survive their rough treatment!"

"I didn't say she traveled there alone! She was escorted by a huge, scarred hybrid male named Grenville McKree and his human female mate Annazelle McKree who had the most remarkable body art. The Orellians seemed nervous around them, so the surgeon was left alone. The couple was very sweet-natured, so I don't understand the Orellian's behavior," Rikki said pensively.

"Did the McKree's give you your name?" 8809 asked.

This brought Rikki back to the present. "No, it was the young female I read to. She used her hands to see me in her mind and said my tentacles reminded her of the cobra snakes in one of the stories I read to her. As I controlled the snakes, I had to be the brave mongoose Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. I was most honored when she named me."

"What happened to the young human female?" 4003 asked as it rushed around the equator.

"The McKree's adopted her once the surgeon restored her vision with new artificial eyes. She sent me a picture." Rikki shared the image over their link.

"Ohhh, I like her new eyes! They glow like ours!" 3334 exclaimed.

"Rikki- something's strange. InvestigatinggggEEIIIEEEE-" the signal suddenly stopped from 8809.

Recording their current positions, every Tik changed course to rush up to the north pole to see what happened to 8809.

Rikki was surprised to see a flash of sparks emitting from a space of absolute darkness. There was a large object hovering in the northern magnetic pole of the planet. The object's edges were impossible to see against the pure black of space.

8809 was a sparking mess. When it left formation to fly up over the pole, it must have accelerated quickly. The damage to it indicated it collided at high velocity with the dark shape and punched through the surface to get tangled in a highly reflective mesh under the black. All 8809's lights were off. It was dead. Suddenly and cruelly dead.

Rikki felt sorry for the new Tik, but this discovery gave it a new duty.

Then it saw 8809's shell slowly pushed outwards. They watched as the black surface gradually repaired itself and gently pushed the dead Tik away from the surface. Tootie reached out a tentacle to pull 8809 to its side.

Extending a tentacle to touch the smooth black surface where 8809 perished, Rikki felt a draw on its energy, so it pulled back. Shining lights on the surface made no difference as the light was absorbed. The only way to determine the scale of the object was to view the gas giant behind it. Rikki had to move farther and farther from the planet until the dark shape was visible before the planet's vast orb as a colossal black cylinder with rounded ends. It was pointing one of those ends directly at the planet's magnetic pole. Rikki wondered at the purpose of such a vast spacecraft if that's what it was.

Summoning the others, Rikki organized a scan of the object with minimal energy. They circled it and slowly made their way down its seemingly featureless surface.

"Rikki, I've found something," 3233 announced, and all of the Tik went to 3233's position. They'd reached the midpoint of the cylinder. Rikki looked to where the new Tik was pointing a tentacle. There was a round plate of a lighter material. Small but visibly different.

"Based on the location, I believe this may activate an airlock. If it is, I'll take a team inside and attempt to find the purpose of this vehicle, for that's what I believe it is. Tootie, take 1221, 4993, 7272, 9101, and 8809's body. Move to the edge of the horizon. If we do not return in one full cycle, go back through a Gate and make a report."

"Understood." It left with 8809 still clutched to its side, and the other four Tik followed without comment. Rikki knew they would have preferred to go inside as well, but the senior Tik made the calls.

Once Tootie sent an indication they were in place, Rikki had its team move back, and it reached out a tentacle to touch the round plate. Nothing happened, then it noted a softer spot in the center of the plate. It inserted the tip of its tentacle. There was a definite sensation of mechanical movement. After a moment, a larger portion of the outer surface retracted, and an airlock was behind it. Rikki entered, and the five newbie Tik's with him quickly joined their leader. 3334 was closest to the outer door, so it pressed a similar button on the inside of the door to close it. Once it appeared to be sealed, Rikki pressed the button on the inner door. There was no delay this time, and it moved aside. Rikki moved inside and found itself in a wide corridor running in both directions. There were inner airlocks at intervals in the hallway, but all the closer ones were currently open. In the distance, in both directions, he could see the large doors were closed, blocking access to the ends of the ship.

"The interior is not pressurized. Hard vacuum only. No internal gravity. Minimal energy readings. Some lighting but again, minimal," Rikki stated for the record. Tik recorded everything. As long as it survived this mission, what was encountered here would be available to all Tik.

"Which way should we go?" 3334 asked. Rikki noted it was the least hesitant to speak up. If that was a positive attribute had yet to be determined.

Rikki turned to the group. "Where do you believe the command center is?"

The junior Tik talked between themselves as Rikki waited. It was surprised to see 3334 wasn't dominating the discussion, but when they turned back to their leader, it was 3334 who presented the group's answer.

"We believe it will be in the center of the ship. This allows it to be close to this doorway and protected in the core of the ship." 3334 seemed almost eager to see if they were correct.

"Let us see if the builders of this vessel agree with your logic. We will need to find a cross corridor leading towards the core of the ship.