EXCAVATOR: Tales from the Twelve Vessels

Chapter XXIV: Gamma

Having to stand in a decontamination chamber for a half an hour wasn't exactly Sauk's idea of a warm welcome.

But it certainly fit the bill of a Maude Aquattan one.

It was difficult to see the members of the crew through the orange wall dividing them. Xe watched as the life forms meandered by, a couple stopping to observe what was happening on the other side of the wall.

The two didn't talk at all during the process. Xe welcomed the silence.

The whirring of the decontamination machines put xem on edge, even more so than xe already was. When the bits of mud started to chip off their suits, they each exchanged silent, wide-eyed expressions.

Meera's suit was clean in minutes. Sauk's, not so much.

"This seems a tinge excessive," the sapien mumbled.

Xe spoke out, hoping someone somewhere on the ship was listening. "Can I just get a new exosuit?"

The sound of the machines died down as a voice scratched through xer comms. "We don't have any Jinsuon suits on board," explained a light, almost apologetic voice.

"I'm covered in foreign contaminant, I will literally take a paper bag if you have one."

"Roger that, we should have an extra emergency exosuit for you."

"Great," xe drawled. "I'll take it."

After a minute, another lifeform approached the orange wall. They placed a square package against it. The package became engulfed in the same orange glow and it permeated the wall, dropping out on the other side. Sauk rushed to pick it up. Even in its shrunken state, xe could see it looked just like xer original suit. Trying not to look desperate while being really desperate, xe took it to the corner of the room so xe could change without watchful eyes catching too much.

Once xer new suit was secure, Sauk bundled up the muddied, bloodied suit until the emblem was hidden and threw it to the side. The contamination process resumed its final stages, whirring for only a couple minutes more.

When the cycle was completed, the noises ceased. The wall came down, transforming the view of the lower levels of the gamma ship from orange to a monochrome sheen. The two let their helmets fall as well. An nkrey awaited them on the other side.

The nkrey was slightly taller than Sauk and sturdier built, too. Even after calculating the typical nkreyan mock up of skin and bone, xe could still see muscle lines poking their way through the uniform. This krey was an excavator and likely in charge. Their fine hair was short, slicked back against the scalp until it followed its shape to the neck. Their spine was straight and rigid.

"Welcome to Maude Territory. I'm Joll Sun."

Meera waved with an awkward nervous excitement. "Thank you so much for bringing us aboard. I'm Meera Gable and this is—"

"—Thwat Stream," Sauk interjected. For as much as xe hated aliases, there was no way xe was going to chance it. If word had gotten out that there was a rogue nkrey out there, this ship was sure to have heard about it.

Joll eyed xem up and down. "Didn't know the Jinsuo had any nkrey."

Xe shrugged. "I come from a commune of ship jumpers. Less about the population, more about the destination. Just sort of ended up here."

"Looks like that's not the only ship jumping you've done," they snorted. "How did you manage to lose your EV?" They turned and began walking.

The sapien scurried behind. "We got caught in a mudslide during the storm earlier. We had to leave it behind or we would've been swept away."