Wanderer - Echoes of the Past Read online

  Wanderer

  Echoes of the Past

  Simon

  Goodson

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Text copyright: 2013 Simon Goodson

  Cover image copyright: 2013 Susan Mullan

  Cover design copyright: 2013 Simon Goodson

  All Rights Reserved.

  First Published 10 August 2013

  Published by Dark Soul Publishing Ltd

  1.010

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  www.simongoodson.com

  by Simon Goodson

  Wanderer's Odyssey

  Wanderer's Escape

  Wanderer – Echoes of the Past

  Dark Soul Chronicles

  Dark Soul Silenced – Part One

  Dark Soul Silenced – Part Two

  Short Story Collection

  Last Sunrise & Other Stories

  Contents

  Part One

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Part Two

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Part Three

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Part Four

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Part Five

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Part Six

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Part One

  Chapter One

  Jess grinned at the stunned reaction from the others. Elizabeth looked like she was about to choke. Sal and Ali just sat with their mouths open. It was Sal who recovered first.

  “OK… right… putting aside the fact the ship is suddenly expressing desires, which we really need to talk about, you want us to just fly off to this star which is weeks or even months away?”

  “Sure,” Jess replied. “We could go direct easily enough. The Wanderer can provide all the food we need. We’ve got plenty of vids and books now to keep us busy. If you want we could stop off at some systems on the way, but why not just kick off in jump space and fly directly there?”

  “You might be captain of this rather incredible ship, but you have an awful lot to learn about travelling in space.” Elizabeth cut in dryly.

  She gestured at the star map that Jess had called up. It was zoomed out, allowing them to see the whole span of human occupied space.

  “Look carefully at the map. There are tens of thousands of systems with settlements in them, but look at how clumped together they are. You see how there’s almost always a sharp division… most systems in an area have at least a basic human presence, then beyond a certain point there’s nothing. Did you never wonder why?”

  “I’d never seen a star map until a few weeks ago,” Jess replied reproachfully. “Slaves weren’t expected to know where they were going.”

  Sal nodded, her expression making it clear she shared Jess’s feelings about the comment.

  “Damn. Sorry. I forget your backgrounds sometimes, and I’m not the most tactful person.”

  “I’ve never thought about it either,” Ali said. “To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the full map before. When I was growing up all we really cared about were the nearby stations, and the systems that were really close by. I knew about some others, but more from curiosity than need.”

  “Hmm…” Elizabeth said. “Different perspectives I guess. All my life I wanted to get a ship and to travel. Once I got my ship I did exactly that. Best way to make money as a trader is to stick to a few routes that you know well. I did the opposite, travelling far and wide. I only reached the edge of the inhabited systems once but it stuck with me. Being so close to worlds that no one had ever visited.”

  Her expression clouded for a moment. Jess thought she must be thinking about the ship she had owned for so long and then lost. Before he could say anything she cleared her throat and continued speaking, back to her abrupt self.

  “All right, getting back to what I was saying. You might not have seen this before but you have to admit the pattern is mighty strange. You’d expect to have a core of systems that the Empire controls, and then a smattering of systems beyond where those wanting to keep out of the Empire’s way drifted to.”

  “Yes, I can see that,” said Sal. “So why isn’t it like that?”

  “It’s down to jump space,” Elizabeth replied. “Jump space where we are now is pretty smooth. It’s easy to travel through. It isn’t like that everywhere. There’s the occasional star that does something nasty to jump space, causing disruption and worse. Think of the disruption that we’ve felt in jump space when a large ship’s engines have blown in real space nearby. Now imagine that multiplied thousands of times and covering anything from a few light minutes to a few light years.

  You can’t see it at this scale but there are many no go areas even in the populated areas of space. You get clumps of disruption more often than pure chance can account for, creating dead ends or narrow paths. Surrounding these clumps of disruption are areas of space that can be navigated with care and a damn good map. Areas where a tiny change in course can soon be the difference between safe transit and your ship being ripped apart.

  There are completely safe routes which are well known, of course, but sticking to them would make the journey at least ten to twenty times as long. The more direct routes are valuable so they are never given away. They can be bought, for the right price and in the right places. That means we need to stop regularly to buy details of our next step.”

  Elizabeth paused for a moment, holding her hand up to stall any replies.

  “There's a much nastier problem getting where you want to go,” she continued. “At the edge of populated space, on every edge, jump space becomes a chaotic swirling place. The disruption isn't centred on particular stars, instead the turbulence covers from tens to hundreds of light years. So those chaotic regions aren’t pressing up against the inhabited systems. The inhabited systems are pressing up against the regions no one can get to.”

  “And nothing can fly through those regions?” Jess asked.

  “Yes and no. Anyone can try, and the level of disruption can vary greatly. One course might let you fly safely, for a while at least, whil
e a slight variation would mean your ship was ripped apart in seconds.”

  “How does anyone even know that?” asked Sal.

  “Automated probes mostly. It’s an expensive business but plenty of people are interested in finding a clear path through the chaos. Even if it only led as far as a single system just think what that could mean — a system the Empire was unable to reach. Many, many organisations would love to find such a place — pirates, shady businesses, even those looking for a different political set-up than the Empire. And of course the Empire puts even more resources into the search — to ensure they find and take control of any such systems.”

  “And are any found?” Jess asked eagerly, caught up in Elizabeth’s tale.

  “Officially? No. Not any more at least. But there are always rumours saying the opposite. Are any of them true? I have absolutely no idea.”

  “How do they know how far the disturbance goes?” Jess asked thoughtfully. “It might only be very shallow. If it was then a path to one system might open up another huge area of accessible systems.”

  “Now that is a good question, and it relates to our problem with reaching the system the ship wants to get to. Look here…” She zoomed the map in. “You can’t see it until we zoom in, but look at this section.”

  “It’s narrow,” Ali said. “Really narrow.”

  “Yep. In fact between those two stars there’s only a channel a couple of light seconds across — about six hundred thousand kilometres. That might sound a lot but it’s pretty much nothing. It’s so tight that the Empire tightly restricts traffic through that area, to prevent collisions they say. That’s a lie of course. What they are actually doing is cutting the Empire in half, ensuring each half is completely isolated. They even refer to it as the Quarantine Zone.

  Anyway, back to your point. The Empire isn’t too hot on history. The implication is always that the Empire has always been around and things have always been the way they are, since well before any records exist at least. That’s the official version. Other tales are told though, and one in particular says that the Empire was once much smaller. Then someone found a safe route through what had been thought to be an impassable area of space. That route is the Quarantine Zone.

  The tale makes sense, and it explains why the empire works so hard to track down anyone probing areas of disruption. It might not be a single system at stake, it might be enough space for an entire rival empire — especially if a group slipped through and left no trace. It would take time, probably hundreds to thousands of years, but something that could threaten the entire Empire might develop out there.”

  “So we’ve got two problems,” Sal said. “First, we’d have to get past the Quarantine Zone to be able to get anywhere near the Wanderer’s home system. The second is that the system is well inside one of those regions of disruption.”

  “That’s not a problem,” Jess replied confidently. “The Wanderer knows a safe path. We just need to get there. Elizabeth, is there any other way through the Quarantine Zone?”

  Elizabeth sighed. “Again, there are plenty of rumours. Tales of pirates and others knowing secret ways past. In all honesty I have no idea if they’re true.”

  “So the other option is just to blast our way through? It’s a narrow channel but the Wanderer can handle it, and she has scanners that work in jump space which no other ship has. We can avoid any collisions and just fly through. No one will ever know we were there.”

  “If it was that easy then lots of people would try, even without the ability to avoid potential collisions. The Empire uses jump space inhibitors, tar pits, like the one we were trapped by. There are several at least and each is used to force ships past a checkpoint backed up by a massive fleet. The Empire is exceptionally serious about maintaining the Quarantine Zone.

  “But why? Why go to that much trouble?” asked Sal.

  “Another question with no answer. I think it’s partly out of fear. If there ever was a threat to the whole Empire then the Quarantine Zone would serve as a perfect defensive point. It gives them a single, focused point from which they could ensure half the Empire was safe. I reckon that’s also why they allow so little traffic between the two sides — ideas are the most dangerous cargo. They lead to questions and, ultimately, to revolutions.”

  “So we’re back to hoping there’s another way through, that someone, somewhere knows it. And that someone will probably be a pirate who’s highly unlikely to share it with us.”

  Jess’s shoulders slumped at the thought. Reaching the Wanderer’s home had seemed such a simple task. He’d been buzzing with excitement at the idea. Now it looked like it would be impossible. Jess felt as if it had been snatched away from under his nose.

  Chapter Two

  Sal thought through what they had heard. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole idea yet, other than being concerned by the ship’s desire to return home. Maybe it would be for the best if the journey was impossible.

  “Hey,” Ali said, in an upbeat voice. “We don’t have to do this. It’s not like we’re planning a rescue attempt to save people again. Don’t get me wrong, we should look in to it but there’s no rush and we don’t have to do it if the risk is too high.”

  “Yes, I guess so.” Jess brightened slightly. “Yeah… you’re right. It still feels like a kick in the stomach though. I thought we’d be able to fly straight there. Instead we could be looking at months or years just to get through the Quarantine Zone, if that’s even possible.”

  “And I won’t be going,” Elizabeth said firmly. “I’ll help you prepare, and hopefully get the chance to pick up a ship of my own on the way, but I’m not going. Getting through the Quarantine Zone once will be a massive achievement. Making it back the other way… that’s really pushing it. I haven’t got any close family left but I’ve got a few good friends and enough drinking buddies scattered across systems to be quite attached to this side of the Quarantine Zone.”

  Jess’s face dropped again.

  “Ali,” he said. “If we go it might mean you can never return home again. Sal and I have no ties, no home to return to and no one to return for. You do.”

  Sal’s stomach lurched at that. It was true that she had no home, but there was someone she wanted to return for — Markus, the man she had fallen in love with. It was impossible. She didn’t even know if he was still alive, life as a slave was often dangerous. Even if he was she had no idea where he was or where to even start looking. She had no pictures, other than those in her mind, and nothing to identify Markus other than his name.

  Impossible though it was she still longed to be reunited with Markus. Seeing Jess and Ali starting a relationship had made the pain inside worse. She was pleased for them, especially as they had a future — something no relationship between slaves ever had. She and Markus had managed only a few short weeks together. Pleased though she was, the relationship between the two youngsters was still raking over old pains.

  Ali’s expression darkened for a moment, then she shrugged.

  “I may never get to go back anyway,” she said. “Even if I do it won’t be for years, I’m sure. We can’t risk going there too often, it would put them in danger. I have no family left. The children I cared for are the closest thing to family I have, and they will have grown so much by the time we return that they won’t be the same people. I’m certainly not going to miss out on such an exciting opportunity.”

  “So how do we get started?” Jess asked Elizabeth.

  “First thing to sort out is some official documentation for the ship. Until you have that you can’t risk going anywhere with more than a weak imperial presence. Officially you can only get the documentation from imperial officers. In reality there are many unofficial ways to get what we need, but they are expensive.”

  “Unofficial as in illegal?” Sal asked.

  “Of course. That’s why it costs. Not just for the documentation. We will also need to pay out to get introduced to the right people.”

  “
We’ve still got plenty of precious metals left on board,” Jess said. “It’s not limitless though. If we keep burning through it quickly then we need to find a way to earn some money.”

  “Definitely. Once you have the documentation we can start on that. We will start to establish ourselves as traders, trading for ourselves and taking on haulage contracts where possible. Not only will that earn some money it will increase the contacts we have. Over time we can start to move towards the shadier end of the markets. That will give us contacts within the smugglers, and other criminal organisations.”

  “Won’t they be the same as those giving us the false documentation?” asked Sal. “Why not just approach them directly?”

  “First off, they’ll probably be completely different groups. Even if they aren’t there’s a huge difference between buying false documents and discussing running the Quarantine Zone. We’ll need to have some good, solid connections before we even begin to broach that subject.”

  “I don’t know about this. Just what do you mean by shadier? There is no way we are transporting prisoners, or doing anything else that will lead to prisoners being taken. No way at all.”

  “I agree,” Jess said firmly, a gleam in his eye.

  “Whoa, hold your horses,” Elizabeth replied. “I’m with you. I never liked being involved with prisoners anyway, and my time as one — short as it was — really reinforced that. No, no prisoners. I’m thinking of things like smuggling, supply runs to illegal bases and things like that.”

  “Good,” said Jess.

  “That said… we are likely to come across prisoners quite regularly. I know you’ll be tempted to try to rescue every one, but that just isn’t practical. Before long no one would let you approach, and they would start killing the prisoners you wanted to rescue if you forced the issue. And where would you take any you did free? Very few places can absorb large numbers of people, other than those looking for slaves. Like I told you before, about the only way to stop slavery is to topple the Empire… and that ain't happening anytime soon.”