Event on Algoria Three: Matti-Jay and Dub Adventure Short, #2

By Sean Monaghan

On a steely platform hovering high above the swamps of Algoria Three, Matti-Jay enjoys the cool crisp air and the sense of freedom. But something speeding at her and the crew puts things in desperate jeopardy. Faced with tough choices,  Matti-Jay pits her skills against an impossible situation. A situation that might break everything.

 

A Matti-Jay and Dub adventure short from the author of Trapped and Blue Defender.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Triple V Publishing
• Release date: Feb 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224346745

Sean Monaghan

Award-winning author, Sean Monaghan has published more than one hundred stories in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and in New Zealand, where he makes his home. A regular contributor to Asimov’s, his story “Crimson Birds of Small Miracles”, set in the art world of Shilinka Switalla, won both the Sir Julius Vogel Award, and the Asimov’s Readers Poll Award, for best short story. He is a past winner of the Jim Baen Memorial Award, and the Amazing Stories Award. Sean writes from a nook in a corner of his 110 year old home, usually listening to eighties music. Award-winning author, Sean Monaghan has published more than one hundred stories in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and in New Zealand, where he makes his home. A regular contributor to Asimov’s, his story “Crimson Birds of Small Miracles”, set in the art world of Shilinka Switalla, won both the Sir Julius Vogel Award, and the Asimov’s Readers Poll Award, for best short story. He is a past winner of the Jim Baen Memorial Award, and the Amazing Stories Award. Sean writes from a nook in a corner of his 110 year old home, usually listening to eighties music.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

The steely platform hovered more than four thousand meters above the swampy ground. One of the hover coils stuttered, giving the platform an unnerving shake.

Matti-Jay Menthony stood at the platform's edge, peering down.

The platform was ten meters across. It was shaped like a deep dinner dish. Maybe something halfway between a flat plate and dessert bowl. A rim around the outside had a solid, transparent railing.

In the middle of the platform stood a dome cabin with all the controls. Wide windows glowed with soft light from inside.

Efficient antigravity coils held the platform aloft. The air was cool and even through her breathing mask she could smell the crisp scent of the ozone the coils generated.

Charlie and Kendra were in the cabin, hiding away from the cold and thin air. It wasn't good to leave those two alone. They'd been getting along a little too well lately. Kind of leaving Matti-Jay as a third wheel.

What was that expression? Third wheel on a bicycle? Well, bicycles weren't that common anymore. Not out here among the stars, exploring the galaxy in their reliable vessel Blue Defender.

Anyway, surely the third wheel on a bicycle just made a tricycle? And didn't that make for something reliable and solid too? Try standing a bicycle up and walking away. Stupid thing would probably just fall on your toe.

At least Naumae was with them. The older local scientist who had gladly accepted their offer to help. She was at least sixty, but she moved with a spry step and had a knowing twinkle in her eye. She was studying the whole ecosystem of the river deltas and swamps. Quite unlike anything else on the planet.

Matti-Jay took a deep breath from the oxygen the mask delivered.

Here on Algoria Three, a planet with an orbit at the distant edge of comfort, the air was thicker than most inhabited planets. But still, four thousand meters above the surface would thin out any atmosphere. It wasn't thin enough to need the bulk of a full environment suit, but the supplementary breathing mask was necessary.

From the height she could see the curvature of the planet. Nighttime approaching from east, and swirling clouds rolling over the vast dark oceans.

Directly below lay a sprawling island, shaped like a jellyfish. It was fat and mountainous at