Rivers of Orion

they crossed the eldritch steel barrier, their shuttle’s viewports darkened. Sparks surged from the shields as they tunneled. “We’re flyin’ blind,” said Lomomu. He added, “At this speed, any impact with that thing will destroy us,” and he decelerated
Ellylle swatted his shoulder. “Pick it up! We’ll run out of fuel going this slow.” She crossed her branches. “I’ll tell you when to fire reverse thrusters.”
Gulping visibly, Lomomu nodded and returned to their previous velocity. They waited within an ever-shifting corridor of crystalline brilliance. Nervously, Reggie got to his feet and approached the cockpit.
“Now,” said Ellylle. “Engage reverse thrusters. Be ready to turn off the shields on my mark.”
Using controlled bursts, Lomomu guided the vessel forward, slowing their advance.
“Now,” said the tree, and the plasma shields vanished.
Drifting slowly, Big Huey tapped the exterior door of a vast airlock. Lomomu jumped and piloted the vessel away from it, where he briefly fired main thrusters to stay put. He deployed shock absorbing anchor struts to hold the vessel safely in place within the tunnel.
In unison, Reggie, Lomomu, and Zella exhaled a sigh of relief.
It took some time for the boarding passage to fully extend. Big Huey shook when she joined the alien vessel, rocked by a deep metallic thump. “We’re docked,” Lomomu reported. “One moment for seal confirmation and scans to come back.”
“Check and double-check,” said Reggie.
“Oh yeah,” Lomomu confirmed, “green lights all around. We’re on.”
“Good work,” said Ellylle, and she glanced at Reggie. “Now I need you to follow this map and get a spherical container for me. It’s not heavy or very big—about the size of a basketball.” She reached into a satchel nestled within her leaves and unrolled a sheet of holopaper. “It’s on the same level we are. Look.” She stuck it to the bulkhead, prompting the map to level and plumb itself magnetically. Passageways surrounded a blinking red dot.
“No way,” countered Reggie. “Not in a million years, and not for a million credits.” Shaking his head with growing urgency, he said, “We’re transport, not exploration. You want that thing so bad, you go get it!”
Lomomu turned to face the tree. “I have to side with the captain on this.”
“How about for a billion credits?” asked Ellylle.
Reggie sputtered. “You don’t… You don’t have a billion credits!”
“You’re right,” she said. “I have quite a bit more than that.”
“Let’s say you do, but it’s still half up front,” said Reggie. “You know the rules. So…  Since you whacked the rest of your team, either you go and get that container, or we’re turning back.”
Ellylle retrieved her datapad. “There’s no service this far out, but I’ll lock five hundred million for immediate transfer as soon as we get back to the outer rim.”
Reggie narrowed his eyes. “Appreciate your assurances, but you’re still asking me to take your word for it.”
Ellylle creaked as she worked her upper trunk and the datapad. “Look, it’s done! Okay?” She showed him a certified transfer certificate. “As soon as we’re back in range of the t-net, the money’s yours.” She studied his micro-expressions. “It’s three months to the closest nightmare gate. You’d really rather take the return trip, then wait another three months to get back here?”
She handed him the datapad. Lomomu and Zella joined him. They pored over the legalese. At length, he passed it back to her. “Well?” she demanded.
“Looks legit.”
Lomomu whistled. “That it does.” He exchanged a giddy look with his captain.
Hoarsely, Zella whispered, “Ye’re naw thenkin this—”
Reggie interjected, “I’ll do it!”
“We’ll do it,” Lomomu added. As an aside to Zella, he muttered, “Which means you’re outvoted.”
Ellylle smiled. “Wonderful.” She regarded Zella as the other two climbed into their vac suits. “I can’t imagine you’d let me out of your sight, so I suppose you and I will just… keep the engine running? Isn’t that the phrase?”
Zella only seethed in response. She stomped to the copilot’s station and plopped down.
◆◆◆
The outer airlock hissed open. Reggie and Lomomu took stock of the passage: a grimy white plastic accordion with a grated footpath. At the far end, a circular door awaited them, so utterly dark it devoured all light that touched it. Reggie asked, “How are we supposed to open this thing?” His voice sounded tinny.
“It’s on the map, lower right corner. When you get close, a code pad is going to appear. Just enter the characters exactly as they’re listed.”
He confirmed, “Roger that.”
They switched on their mag boots and clomped as they crossed the grated corridor. Upon reaching the alien door, a portion of it shimmered, revealing a recessed screen. Circular in shape, hundreds of glowing glyphs surrounded the perimeter, each of them unique. It took some time, but between them and the map, they successfully entered the access sequence.
Reggie’s throat suddenly felt very dry, his hands clammy in their gloves.
Something boomed from deep within, reverberating through the door. Ponderously, it slid away, rolling from view into its bulkhead recess. A similar door awaited them from across a vast compartment.
Lomomu glanced at Reggie. With a shrug, he asked, “Do we just go inside?”
After a beat, Ellylle curtly replied, “Coms won’t work once the door is closed, so you’d better grow some bigger balls if you want the other half of that billion.”
Reggie pursed his lips and nodded. “That’s real classy. Bigger balls. Roger that.”
Halfway across the compartment, the outer door rolled back into place. Gusts of air buffeted them from the overhead vents, and soon the far door opened to reveal darkened passageways. They tapped on their helmet lamps and stepped into the lightless labyrinth.
Black glass plates reflected their lamplight back at them – glimpses of soaring, blade-sharp arches overhead and desiccated organic masses below their feet. Reggie shivered. What lived here? He thought, and he looked at Lomomu.
The sudasau mouthed something. Reggie tapped the side of his helmet, and Lomomu mouthed, “Oh, right. No coms.”
Reggie nodded. His heart raced.
They followed the map.
In time, they reached an intersection of wide passageways. A stunted pillar of smooth black steel stood at its heart, surrounded by a