EPISODE 1: REM LANDS ON THE PLANET

SETTING:

The night before the events of "Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing".

A chrome manta-like spacecraft left hyperspace. Ahead of it was a silvery moon that orbited a blue planet.

Within the vehicle, there was a catlike girl with green hair: Rem Tlamid. She stood about two feet high and stared out at the small blue sphere. "So that's the planet the elders called Xiemdioru?"

"Yes, Mistress Tlamid," said the ship's computer. "The coordinates are precise."

"Excellent," the girl replied. "Find us a place to land, Riuo." She leaned back in her chair to relax.

"Mistress, my sensors are detecting life signals from the surface."

This announcement made Rem's ears perk up. Things were living on Xiemdioru, just as the people back on the Galaxian speculated. She leaned forward "Riuo, do you detect any cities or technology?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Take us down. Stay away from any settlements, but not too far."

So much for a simple expedition! If anything, this mission could very well prove that her race, the Tomino, were not the only intelligent species in the universe.

The Riuo flew over a small city with the cloaking device enabled.

The craft touched down outside the town; four legs extended as it neared the ground. The gangplank was lowered from beneath.

A moment later, Rem left the shuttle. "The instruments weren't kidding," said Rem. "The atmosphere on this planet is just like Davetat's."

Rem wandered around in the woods with a flashlight. If not to walk off the stiffness from the flight to the planet, then just to look around. Eventually she reached a sign.

Xiemdioru apparently used the same alphabet that the Tomino used. The sign read:

KLASKYVILLE

A Haven of Friendship

Population: 22,759

Rem tried to read it out. "'Kl…Klah… Sss... Skee-yuh… Veel… Lay. Ah ha-vin… off… fff…frai-ayn… dzh…' Ugh! I can barely read this stuff!" She really tried to read it, but failed. The way the aliens spelled things really threw her off. "Whatever this place is called," said she "I'll have to probe the area for info before I can do much more."

She ran back to the shuttle and called from the foot of the gangplank: "Riuo! Can you launch a probe?"

"Yes, Mistress Tlamid!"

A small Frisbee-like robot came out of the ship and hovered in front of Rem.

"Scan the area, I want some intel on the natives," she ordered. If she wanted to get close to the aliens, she'd need to look like one.

The disc flew away, making its way toward the town.

"You can shut down for the night, Riuo," said Rem. "We've both earned a little down time."

As the lights in the Riuo dimmed out, Rem took a small remote out of her pocket and pressed its sole button. A door appeared right in front of her and she walked right through it.

Outside a certain home, the probe hovered in front of window. A play of some kind was being shown on a strange box. It involved a guy with a red shirt and a few other people doing something that the Tomino weren't familiar with. It was being watched by what seemed to be a little Xiemdioru child with golden hair done in pig tails and purple clothes. A girl, perhaps?

The saucer was able to pick up what was going on through the glass, giving equal focus to the child and the box.

The man in the box spoke: "With all due respect to candidate number one and candidate number two and candidate number three… my deciding vote goes to… candidate number four!"

These three candidates turned out to be three women. They were surprised by the announcement. "Four!?"

This well-dressed older man protested: "But there were only THREE candidates! Not four, you fool!"

Another, heavier man spoke up as well: "What are talking about Gilligan?"

"I had my own candidate," the man in the red shirt responded.

Soon, the guy revealed "candidate number four" to the shock of everyone: a gorilla!

This turn events had the child rolling with laughter. "Oh, that Gilligan's so awesome!"

The robot having recorded what it needed, started to hover away it grazed the window.

"Did you hear something, Cynthia?" the little girl asked a strange doll with a bizarre hairdo.

The doll never responded.

The child shrugged. "Neither did I!"

CONTINUED