Dorien's family had been in the mapping of niodes gates since the beginning of the gate systems which had allowed him to amass a rather large profit as a billionaire. He even had his own army of fifteen mecha in case things went hot while he was entering a newly discovered gate. Since you never know when you gate in if you are in the middle of a war or a claims dispute or if the locals are friendly or not.
His father an Andorien and his mother an Earth er had raised him well in the trade and at the ripe old age of twenty five and single, he was a hit with the woman. That is if you could hold him down long enough from gate jumping to get a date. His favorite thing to do to relax was to listen to some recording' his mother had given him from Earth.
His twenty three hired helpers were scattered across ed the universe and gave reports of the mapping in their sectors to him to be compiled into it's final form listing the planet it was found on, if known and all other data. This was a useful tool to many who traveled the gates and was well sought after.
Seeing that his posting of the new gates were so close to the deadline, he would have to do this last gate solo. Usually he took one other mech through the gate with him, as too many might be thought of as an invasion. His partner,he found out, had just now been detained on Regal Three, he broke a law no doubt. I got to get this done in time he said to himself as he powered up his mech tossed in a Jeff Foxworthy recording into a vintage playing device and stepped into the gate. He left the rest of his army back,waiting his signal to come through.
Emerging on the other side, and finding it safe, he signaled for the others to come through. That's when he saw it, a mere stone's throw away, a massive ship sticking at a angle out of the ground. The likeness and design of which he had never seen. How much of the ship was buried he could not tell. Who did the ship belong to and how did it get there? What was it's purpose? All these questions were racing through his mind and was left for him to ponder.
Submitted by Marianne Stewig #687261 (and Mark Stewig)