The Law of Glork Pt. 01

BANG! Jack grumbled and rubbed his head. It seemed like every time he came down here, he always managed to bump something. He'd stubbed more than his fair share of toes among the pipes, and his knees were littered with bruises.

"You okay down there?" Lily called down.

He muttered an unenthusiastic response and kept walking. The Pathfinder was, by necessity, located at the heart of the ship, right next to the engines. It was easy enough to locate, shimmering brightly in the near darkness.

He stumbled over another pipe and cursed under his breath as he approached it. It was wedged up into the electrical work, courtesy of his last visit. The bright golden glow seemed entirely unnatural to him -- as did the pyramidal shape. It seemed like something that belonged in some Indiana Jones movie, an Egyptian treasure or something.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Can't tell. Hang on a second." With a grunt, Jack yanked the peculiar object from its cozy nest. He turned it over in his hands, but it all seemed normal. Well, considering what it was. Those Vagonal's sure had a funny method of transportation.

Upon closer inspection, he quickly identified the problem. One of the tips had come slightly undone, revealing the glowing inside. The light seemed to originate from the wood itself, as the object appeared hollow.

He sighed. Hopefully it wasn't broken. They only had one more jump to make, if Howard could be believed. Would be a real shame if it was busted. NASA had only spent a few hundred billion dollars getting them this far.

"Jack? Is something wrong?" Lily's voice did little to hide her concern.

"Nah, it's fine." Like the last few times something had gone wrong, he just lied through his teeth. Inspiration had struck him before. He just had to hope it would hit again.

He slumped against the pipe behind him, eyeing the toyish device. Nobody back home had cracked exactly how it worked -- or even what powered it. It had taken a miracle to figure out how to get it functioning in the first place. It was alien tech, but if he was being honest, it worked way too much like magic for Jack's liking.

A thought occurred to him, and he sighed. As usual, it didn't make any sense, but he had discovered early on in the voyage that his first instinct, however stupid, was usually correct. It had been a moment of sheer desperation when he had stuck it in the heating vent when it shut down the first time. It had been his first rather stupid idea, and he wouldn't have done it if he had had no other options. Given the crew a real panic at first.

Dipping his mouth over the leaking end, he let some saliva leak out and drip into the wood. After eyeing it for a moment, he tried again. Still, there was no reaction from the wood.

Sighing, he grabbed the sides of it and squeezed, forcing the wood to close again. The scientists back home would have a fit if they saw how he was treating their ticket to intersystem travel.

It came as only a small surprise when the wood stayed closed. Shaking his head, he reached up and wedged it back into its place. "Alright, give it a shot."

He faintly heard Lily call out for Howard to try again. Jack offered a satisfied grin only when he heard Lily sigh.

"Well, whatever you did worked. Unbelievable."

Jack made his way back to the exit. His grin only faded as he banged his head on the same stinking pipe. He bit back a curse as he heaved himself back on deck.

Lily was there, shaking her head. "You know, I just lost a full two bucks on a bet. I hope you're happy."

Jack smirked. "What can I say? I just knew Klingler needed the money more than you."

Lily rolled her eyes. She had short brown hair that only reached her shoulders. She stood fairly short, just above five feet. Her Indian heritage showed through her dark eyes and skin. They had been working on the same crew -- the Diana 400 -- for around 3 years before they got transferred to the Nike.

Before she could offer a retort, the intercom buzzed. "This is Captain Howard speaking. Please report to the pilot deck before we exit tunneling. We need to have a chat. Yes, Jack, even you."

Lily snorted and bumped Jack's arm. "Let's go, astronaut."

Jack chuckled as they made their way to the head of the ship. The Nike was a small vessel, built mostly for cost-effective wormhole tunneling. It had taken only a few years for NASA to get enough funding for it, especially after news about the First Contact had gone public.

When they arrived in the cramped cockpit, Jack noticed they were the last to arrive. A small vehicle meant that it could carry only a skeleton crew. Other than him and Lily, only three other individuals had been permitted to board the vessel.

Most noticeably was their diplomat, Sara McKonnelly. With long red hair and pale skin, she stood out amongst the darker tones of the rest of the crew. To have the privilege of interplanetary diplomacy, she had had to be interviewed by every national leader. From what Jack heard, she was their unanimous decision.

And no wonder. She was positively magnetic. He had only been in the same room with her a handful of times, and each time his hands got sweaty. Absentmindedly, he wiped them on his pants. She was very pretty, even without makeup, and her quiet demeanor did nothing to take away from her charm. If it had been anyone else, he might've suspected plastic surgery.

Then there was Klingler, their very own Vagonal expert. He had a degree in Sociology from somewhere (Jack wasn't really sure but it was probably somewhere big) and he knew more than anyone about the aliens and their customs. He was grinning in excitement, his curly brown hair and energetic smile emphasizing his sociality.

Howard cleared his throat. Officially nominated as General of the EGD (Earth's Global Defense), he was quick to dismiss the title. He stood on the shorter and stouter side, with his graying hair and rigid posture making up for it.

More than ever, right now he seemed serious. "Everyone, we have begun our final jump. This is thanks, in part, to our engineer, Jack."

Jack shifted uncomfortably at the light applause. If they knew how little ACTUAL engineering went on, they probably wouldn't be at all impressed.

"However," Howard continued, cutting the congratulations short, "I wanted to go over our plan for the First Visit. We've been on this craft for months now. I shouldn't have to tell any of you that we cannot afford ANY slip ups."

"This will be a social call, nothing more. After our initial contact, we'll all return to the ship and get our checkups from Lily. Should we get sick or otherwise impaired, expect a few years of quarantine back home."

Howard held up his hand to quiet the groans. "You all knew what you were signing up for here. It is a privilege to be one of the first ever to meet an alien species, face to face."

Klingler raised his hand. "I thought we were wearing the space suits, boss?"

Howard glared. "I meant figuratively, Klingler. We all go down with the spacesuits. Remember, do NOT remove them without Lily's go ahead."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "All of us? I thought I was just gonna stay with the ship."

Howard folded his arms. "All of us. For the last time, Jack, we aren't going to need an emergency exit. If these creatures are hostile, we'll have bigger problems than our deaths. According to the last report, they claim to have population in the millions."

Klingler nodded. "Yeah, and they're the ones that can make Pathfinders. It wouldn't take much for them to create an invasion force and wipe us all out."

Jack shifted on his feet. "This isn't making me feel any better."

"Your feelings have been noted, Proud." Howard was interrupted by a small beep on the console behind him. "Sounds like the light at the end of the tunnel. Get ready for boarding."

With that, they were dismissed. As Jack went to get his spacesuit, he couldn't help the sense of uneasiness that came over him. Sure, aliens were a fun idea when he was younger, but since the First Contact a few years back, his fears only grew. Maybe they weren't hostile, per se, but he'd still rather leave the whole business to people who knew what they were doing. Or maybe the next generation would have more to say, having grown up with the knowledge of extraterrestrial life.

He slowly began equipping his spacesuit. What did they even look like? If their Pathfinder was anything to go by, they could hardly be like anything on Earth. Couldn't they have just negotiated with whatever communication device they'd been using?

"You don't have to be nervous."

Jack just about leapt out of his skin as Sara appeared beside him. "Nervous? No, I'm just..."

Sara raised her eyebrows.

"Fine, I'm nervous. Why aren't all of you? We hardly know anything about these things!"

"You clearly never got to use the transcripter," Sara noted indifferently. "I've spoken to several of them myself. They think like us, and we know that they're at least humanoid. In fact," she stated, "Most of the ones we meet should speak English. You have nothing to be afraid of."

Jack sighed. "I know. But I can't shake the feeling that something's going to go wrong."

Lily walked in. "Hey, worst case scenario we start a war. We'll be at ground zero of it, too. We'll die quickly." Her teasing tone helped him relax.

Jack scowled jokingly. "That's assuming they don't have torture devices. Or a love for human meat."

Sara rolled her eyes as they laughed. Joking about the worst possible possibility actually did help put them all at ease. Even Howard was scared.

"Look!" Klinger called from the other room. "There it is!"

They all rushed back into the cockpit, helmets in hand. There, in the distance, was Vagona. After having been in orbit a few times, Jack knew enough to recognize the size difference. It wasn't extremely drastic, but it was large enough. Fortunately, the Nike was equipped with exercise equipment that they had been using to approximate the extra gravity, should they ever need to step foot on it.

As they came closer, the orbiting station came into view. A massive tether reached from it down to the planet.

"Wait... Is it...?" Jack's suspicions became confirmed as they drew nearer to the station. It was made of the same wooden material that the Pathfinder was. Did they not have metal here? Or did they just not know how to use it?

They all rocked forward as the engines began slowing the ship automatically. The math of his coworkers back home paid off as they came to rest gently against the hull of the alien ship.

Jack took some deep breaths to calm himself. Everyone else seemed relatively calm. Why couldn't he relax? He'd had months to come to terms with this. Maybe he had just always convinced himself that they'd leave him behind to man the ship. He still couldn't figure out why not.

The ship trembled as the claw-like appendages attached themselves to the wooden hull. Within seconds, they were securely attached to the other ship.

Howard cleared his throat. "Well. Let's go."

They shuffled down to the exit, Lily leading the path. To Jack's surprise, the Vagonal's had already opened their door. Through the clear window, he could get a good look at the few of them standing at the doorway, watching expectantly.

Humanoid was an apt starting description. The first major difference he noticed were the eyes. Their eyes were much larger than a human's, and they had no pupils. They were one solid color, dark brown, perhaps? Maybe black or something.

The second thing he noticed was their skin. They were all tinted various degrees of orange, much like how he would color skin in elementary school. Overall, he was shocked at how human they appeared. Definitely different, but not too much.

Before he could steel his nerves again, Lily opened the hatch. The Vagonals backed up a few steps as she stepped out into the wooden ship. The tension was palpable.

Jack instinctively reached for his wrench. He grasped the handle tightly, even knowing that he probably couldn't do anything. Still, it made him feel better.

Klingler brushed passed him and into the hatch. "Kfsm?" he asked. "Kfsm?"

"Clinger?" One of the aliens stepped forward. "Are. You. Clinger."

Klingler laughed and the aliens all flinched. He took no notice and approached the forward one, speaking rapidly in their tongue. Of course he was fluent. Why not?

The Vagonal stepped forward and lifted its head to look at them with its nose in the air. Klingler glanced at Lily. "Are we safe to take these helmets off?"

Before anyone could react, Lily removed her helmet. They all stared in shock as she took in a breath. She coughed. "If you can get used to the smell, we should be fine. If anybody starts feeling woozy, talk to me."

The other crew member started removing their helmets, but Jack hesitated. If the air was poisonous, maybe it would be better to have someone unaffected.

Klingler immediately stepped forward and mimicked the Vagonals action of lifting his nose into the air. "Hey, Kfsm. So we finally meet, huh?"

"Yes." The front alien nodded painstakingly. Up close, Jack noticed several differences he hadn't seen before. Their skin was layered kind of like scales, but much more subtle. They only had one large nostril, not two. The tallest of them stood at only about 5'6", with the shortest being smaller than Lily. Their hair was incredibly thick per strand, more like quills than hairs.

Sara stepped forward and struck up a conversation with another of them in their own language. Howard and Lily stepped forward to engage in more English conversation.

Still, Jack couldn't bring himself to board voluntarily. No one really seemed to notice him, so there was no harm done, right? Was he really needed?

He opted to just hang back and watch. The others (with Lily's permission), started removing their suits, commenting on the apparent heat of the other vessel. With his suit still sealed, Jack couldn't feel a thing.

Without warning, all the Vagonal's fell silent. Jack felt a pang of panic in his stomach.

Klingler cocked an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

Ksfm hesitated. "Are. Those. Your. Females."

Klingler glanced back at Lily and Sara. "Is that going to be a problem? We do have females here, yes. And you can talk without pausing."

Ksfm nodded artificially. "AreTheyAlwaysLikeThat?"

Klinger sighed. At least they were getting closer. "Like what?"

Ksfm reached up to his chest and mimicked orbs.

Klingler chuckled. "Yes. Depends on the woman, but yes. Why?"

Ksfm stated something in his language. Unfortunately, Jack didn't speak a word. Klingler laughed as Sara blushed.

Lily leaned over to Sara. "What'd he say?"

Sara winced. "Their women only develop breasts while sexually excited. Imagine how you'd feel if their species' males had a permanent erection."

Lily giggled and followed Sara's example by putting back on her suit. Jack held back a laugh of his own. Wow. He could only imagine how those poor Vagonals felt. How unexpected.

It occurred to Jack that the aliens probably had women as well. But was it possible to tell? He studied them more closely as the conversations continued. Their hair was all pretty much the same length -- about to the shoulders -- and their shapes were all flat. If that comment was any indication, body shape probably wouldn't indicate much. Perhaps the shorter ones were female?

"Who. Is. That," one of the aliens inquired. Ah, crap. Howard turned to look at Jack.

"That's just Jack -- don't mind him, he's rather shy," Howard stated loudly. The look he sent was message enough. Sighing, Jack popped off his helmet and entered the vessel.

Lily wasn't exaggerating. The smell was undeniable, standing somewhere between ghost peppers and sulfur. He gagged through his first few breaths before determining to live as a mouth breather for the next few hours.

Lily gestured for him to join her, and Jack plodded over to where she was talking to one of them. The Vagonal lifted its nose in the air. Taking it as a greeting, Jack returned the odd custom.

The silence quickly became awkward. "What's your name?" Jack asked quickly.

"Mkr." The Vagonal nodded as it spoke.

"Mucker?"

"Mkr."

Lily laughed at Jack's butchery. "They don't use a lot of vowels in their language. Just keep your mouth mostly closed and you'll be fine."

"Muckra."

Lily giggled and the alien laughed alongside. Jack smiled. Of all the things to have in common with these things, he was glad laughter was one of them.

"What do you mean, we can't leave?"

The room went silent. Howard stood scowling at Ksfm. Jack's stomach tightened again. He should've stayed on the ship.

"What. I. Mean. To." The alien hesitated. "Saywas Thatweareto Bringyouto Ourhometo Meetourcouncil. Youmay Leaverightafter."

Howard crossed his arms. "That wasn't part of the plan! We were just meeting with your diplomacy party!"

Ksfm nodded. "They're -- our -- diplomacy -- party."

Howard sighed. "Couldn't you just tell them we left unexpectedly?"

Ksfm winced. "I'm afraid that isn't possible. We must bring you to the council to talk. They have many questions, but I'm sure they don't mean you harm."

Klingler shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen, Captain? We trust them, don't we?"

Howard glanced over to Jack, who gave him the stinkeye. "I suppose we do." He turned to Ksfm. "We don't need to worry?"

Ksfm nodded. "Nothing to worry about." He was getting the hang of this language. "May we depart immediately?"

"Wait!" Jack interjected. "We can't descend with the Nike attached! She'll burn up?"

Lily blinked. "Can't we just detach her?"

Howard shook his head. "The plan was to depart once we unhooked. That's what the autopilot's rigged for." He sighed. "Look, Kisfim, we really can't-"

"You. Must," another alien interjected. "It's. The. Price. Of. The. Pathfinder."

Ksfm nodded. "Unless you wish to offend the council, we advise coming with us."

Howard closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "We won't have a way to return home, you get that, right?"

Sara raised an eyebrow. "Can't they just send another ship?"

Jack laughed bitterly. "This one cost us half a trillion dollars alone. No way they're spending that kind of money to get us home."

Ksfm interjected. "If money is the problem, I'm sure we can make it worth your while. We have many precious resources."

Howard smiled. "Now you're talking. They'd take us home if it meant getting their hands on some cool rocks to show off." He turned to Jack. "How about it? Think it'll work?"

He hated to admit it, but Howard was right. As he had so delicately emphasized, diplomacy was the MOST IMPORTANT part of this mission. And the promise of alien riches? NASA would never pass up that opportunity. Against his better judgement, Jack nodded. "It'll work."

Klingler grinned, already giddy over this opportunity. "We'll need somewhere to stay... It'll take months for us to be able to get home. That okay with you guys?"

Ksfm shared a glance with one of the others. "That shouldn't be a problem. It'll give us more time to study you."

The hairs on the back of Jack's neck stood up at that. He swore he had heard that exact line in a horror sci-fi movie when he was a kid. But it's not like they had many other options. Plus, as Lily would point out, if they wanted us dead, we'd be dead. We're completely at their mercy here.

Klingler clapped his hands. "Hey Lily, hear that? We get to be studied!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Maybe we'll get to do some studying of our own. Assuming we aren't dead within a week."

Jack smiled and caught her eye. She looked away quickly. Nothing like some dark humor to ease his mind.