Wanderer - Echoes of the Past Read online

  Now all Dash could do was wait for the response from the Wanderer.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Jess opened his eyes and blinked in confusion for a few seconds before realising where he was — laying on a sofa in the lounge area, under a warm blanket. As he sat up he smiled ruefully to himself, remembering the state he’d been in when he returned to the Wanderer.

  Without his implants he wouldn’t have made it to the sofa. Though without his implants he wouldn’t have been able to accelerate his mind either, so he wouldn't have been in that condition.

  He checked the time. It was early by ship time, just before five in the morning. Even Elizabeth, who got by on just a few hours sleep a night, was in bed. Jess considered heading to bed but dismissed the idea. He wasn’t tired anymore, and the thought of Ali lying in bed stirred his passion. He was pretty certain that if he woke her so early she wouldn’t share his feelings.

  Instead he grabbed a mug of coffee and some bread from the food dispenser then headed for the flight deck. Once there he sat in the pilot’s chair, legs thrown over one side. It was where he often ended up when he had thinking to do, or when he was at a loose end as he was now. He ate the bread, drank the coffee then just sat, sometimes thinking, other times letting his mind wander or go blank.

  *****

  Jess jerked as a message came in, snapped out of a pleasant daydream involving Ali, a bath full of hot water and a lot of bubbles. Annoyance was soon replaced by excitement as he read through the text only message.

  It was an offer of work from the very people they had been trying to contact. An offer with a very tight deadline for acceptance. Jess linked to the ship, feeling his mind working faster and faster as his implants accelerated his thoughts.

  First he prepared an urgent message to the others. It started with an urgent tone, followed by Jess tersely summarising the offer and telling them to get to the lounge. From past experience he knew he had to set the volume carefully, by default when something was this urgent his voice would boom out at deafening levels in every room. He wanted to wake the others up, not scare them half to death.

  As the message started to be delivered, irritatingly slowly from his sped up point of view, he confirmed the status of the Wanderer. It checked out as ready to leave at any time, as he’d expected. The longest delay would be in getting clearance from docking control.

  Jess allowed his thoughts to return closer to a normal level and made his way to the lounge. The others arrived soon after, looking tired and dishevelled. Jess already had a mug of coffee waiting for each of them, laced with several harmless chemicals to help wake them more quickly and cooled enough to be immediately drinkable.

  Only Teeko didn’t arrive. Jess checked and saw that the alien was still soaking in a warm bath. It seemed not to have noticed the message, or not to have acknowledged it at least. Jess increased the volume and repeated the message, then left Teeko to it. They didn’t have time to wait.

  “How much time is left to decide?” Elizabeth asked curtly, before taking a long swallow of her coffee.

  “Just over seven minutes,” Jess replied. “I’ve been able to give it a lot of thought, by using my implants to speed my mind up, and I think we should accept. I can’t see any obvious risks, beyond those for any such mission. My only concern is the tight deadline, but I can’t see what danger it brings for us.”

  “So they hire us, but we have to give the impression that we hired them as an escort?” Sal asked.

  “Yes. Their ship is small, only a cutter, so it wouldn’t be able to handle any cargo run. It does have a decent amount of weaponry for its size though. The mission could be on the level — they’ve heard of a good business opportunity and want to take advantage of it. I don’t see why they’d want to hide the fact they are paying us though.”

  “Could be to prevent anyone trying to make us a better offer,” Elizabeth said. “It's more likely they're using us as cover for something though. We need to be ready to run if needed. They may even be setting themselves up to be paid to withdraw their services when someone else attacks, or to turn on us when that happens.”

  “Are you sure we should take it then?” Sal asked.

  “Definitely. Those are just possibilities. I think they are up to something, but I don’t think it’s likely we’ll be in danger. And this is what we’ve been trying to arrange — a chance to build contacts with those on the wrong side of the law.”

  “OK. I guess it’s only because it’s happening so quickly that I’m worried.”

  “Ali, what do you think?” Jess asked.

  “That I’m too tired for this,” Ali replied. The others chuckled. “Yes, I think we go for it. This is what we wanted.”

  “All right. Sal — you’re definitely a yes?”

  Sal nodded.

  “Elizabeth, sounds like you say yes too?” Jess asked.

  “Yep. We need to grab this chance.”

  “All right. And I’m a yes too. Teeko hasn’t stirred and we don’t have time to wait. He’d be outvoted if he said no anyway. I’ll reply now saying that we accept, subject to agreeing the fee before we jump from this system.”

  “Good idea,” Elizabeth said. “Makes sure they know we aren’t a push over. You’re getting the hang of this.”

  Jess smiled, even as he prepared and sent their reply. He sent it back in the same text format the offer had arrived in.

  *****

  “Response from the Wanderer,” Hackett called out.

  “That was fast,” Dash said. He’d expected them to overrun the ten minute deadline. Instead they'd replied well within the time.

  “They accept our offer, subject to agreeing the fee before making the jump. They are ready to leave immediately if necessary.”

  “Good. Tell them to launch now. Jasper, get us moving and plot a course so we can meet up.”

  “Aye Sir,” Jasper replied.

  “Captain,” Hackett said. “What fee do you want to offer?”

  “I’m not worried about the money on this run. Tell them they can keep seventy-five percent of the total income.”

  “That low?”

  “Yes. If we offered them more they’d become suspicious. This way it still seems that we’re skimming a decent profit. They’ll probably come back asking for more. We can go to eighty percent, but no more.”

  “OK. I’ll send the message.”

  Dash felt the Shadow Beam detach from the dock, before swinging round and moving off. He worried that he’d made a mistake. The Wanderer’s crew had accepted the offer very quickly, and had been ready to launch immediately. Could they be part of a trap somehow? Not Sal, he was sure she was genuine, but he knew next to nothing about the rest of the crew.

  Or were they just efficient? Did they always keep the ship in a state of readiness? Dash stifled a sigh. Only time would tell for sure. He would just have to be on his toes until then.

  *****

  “Seventy-five percent of an unknown amount,” Jess said. He had no idea if it was a good deal. “What do you think?” he asked Elizabeth.

  “As a business deal it stinks,” she replied. “But they know we aren’t in this just for the money. It might even turn out to be profitable, but you never want to do business like this normally.

  Still… we don’t want to look like a pushover. Go back and ask for eighty-five percent.”

  The reply quickly came back. Eighty percent.

  “Accept it,” Elizabeth said.

  Jess sent the message, and received confirmation back, together with a rendezvous location and directions on where and when to jump. Jess shifted the Wanderer’s course accordingly.

  “I wonder what the cargo will be.” Ali said.

  “We’ll find out in just over nine hours,” replied Jess.

  Part Four

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The flight gave them ample time to speculate on what cargo they would be carrying, from the mundane to the outrageous. Jess didn’t find any idea particula
rly persuasive, though something illegal did seem likely.

  He continuously monitored their companion, the Shadow Beam, in case she suddenly dropped out of jump space. The Shadow Beam would be completely blind, unable to detect anything, as all ships were when traversing jump space. As far as Jess knew only the Wanderer was able to monitor other ships in jump space. An ability that had saved their lives on several occasions.

  Conversation eventually died off as they grew tired of speculating. Elizabeth went to her cabin to get some rest. Jess couldn’t imagine sleeping. Sal and Ali seemed to share his feelings.

  Movement caught Jess’s attention. He looked up as Teeko walked into the lounge area. The alien’s movements seemed slower than normal, less fluid. It walked towards the sofas then stopped, not saying anything.

  “Teeko, are you all right?” Jess asked, concerned.

  The alien slowly turned to face Jess. Now Jess was certain something was wrong.

  “Jess Friend.” Teeko’s voice was even deeper than normal, it spoke more slowly. “Good feel not. Sad feel do I. Lonely feel do I. Hopeless feel do I.”

  “Why?” Jess asked. “I thought you were excited about searching for others of your kind.”

  “Excited was I. Keen was I. Records searched did I. Traces found none did I. Alone am I. Alone always I.”

  In the face of such overwhelming sadness Jess couldn’t find anything to say. Ali moved past him, reaching out to place a hand on one of Teeko’s arms.

  “Teeko… you found no hint of anyone like you?”

  “Nothing found I. Nothing was there.”

  “So you didn’t find anything about yourself? Even though you were kept in one place for so many years.”

  The weight suddenly seemed to lift from Jess’s shoulders as he realised where Sal was going with her question. Teeko considered for a while before answering.

  “Nothing found I. Nothing of Teeko found I.”

  Jess was sure the alien slumped a little less.

  “You see!” Ali said happily. “So there may be others around like you that are also being kept secret.”

  “Yes… secret could be.”

  Now Jess was sure that Teeko seemed less depressed, and his words were coming more quickly.

  “There you go then,” Ali said. “And remember that the records are all monitored by the Empire. They insist that there are no aliens, but you’re proof that isn’t true. We think this ship has had aliens on board before too, that it may even have been built by aliens.

  That means that either the empire doesn’t know about the aliens, or it’s deliberately destroying the evidence. Maybe it doesn’t know about them and so destroys any evidence thinking it’s fake. Whatever. What matters is that you can’t rely on the records. We need to explore, to break into systems and look for evidence. And we need to travel to the Wanderer’s home system. Who knows what information will be there?”

  “Ali friend, much thanks. Right are you. Hope is there.”

  Jess flashed Ali a smile, then spoke to Teeko.

  “Teeko, you don’t ever need to feel lonely. Whatever happens we will be here. Your friends will be here.”

  “Friend Jess, know I that. Dreamed of escape long had I. Dreamed of finding my kind long had I. Escaped now had I. Escaped but my kind found not. Hard escaping always was. Others of my kind easy finding was, thought I.”

  “But now you’ve escaped and the reality is different?” Ali asked softly.

  “Ali friend yes. Different much. Mind change must.”

  “Is that why you didn’t come when I sent the message earlier?” Jess asked.

  “Yes. Sorry am I. Message important not seemed. Important nothing seemed. Travel we now?”

  Jess nodded, then explained what had happened. Teeko seemed interested, though still not its usual self — as far as Jess had any idea what normal was for the strange alien.

  “Matters not where,” Teeko said once Jess finished his explanation. “Moving are we. Good is that. Others find may. Rest now will I. Think now will I.”

  Jess watched Teeko walk back to its room. The alien was clearly feeling better, but still weighed down by worry.

  “Poor Teeko,” Ali said. “I wish we could do more.”

  “All we can do is help it search,” Sal said quietly. “And even then, the chances of us finding another like it at all are tiny — let alone finding them anytime soon.”

  Jess nodded, feeling the gloom settle again.

  “Then we need to do what we can to improve the chances!” Ali said. “Jess, we can work on some search routines to try and find clues. Not just obvious searches for aliens but anything that might be a hint.”

  “We’d get a lot of false hits…” Jess replied thoughtfully. “But we could set it to only report where there are quite a few different matches. Yeah.” He was warming to the idea now, pleased to have something to focus on. “Yeah… we can do it. We haven’t got anything to do for a few hours, let’s get started. But first…”

  He quickly crossed to Ali and grabbed her tightly, pulling her into a passionate kiss which she returned enthusiastically.

  “What was that for?” she asked, short of breath, when he finally broke away.

  “Just for being amazing,” he replied with a smile.

  *****

  “One minute till we leave jump space,” Jess told the others. “Everything still seems normal. The Shadow Beam is still out there. I’m not seeing anything unusual in real space.”

  The ability to scan normal space from jump space was another that was unique to the Wanderer as far as Jess and the others knew. Jess wondered what it must be like to fly blindly through jump space, and to drop out at the other end with no idea what you would find. It made him very glad to be flying on the Wanderer.

  They were sat in the lounge, watching progress on a screen. Jess could control the ship just as well from there as the flight deck, and it was more comfortable for the others.

  “Thirty seconds… twenty… fifteen… ten… five… four… three… two… one… now.”

  Jess felt the Wanderer reach out with its jump engines and rip at the fabric of space, forcing the ship back into real space. He sensed the Shadow Beam doing the same. Both ships crashed back into real space, maintaining the same distance as when they’d first jumped.

  “Incoming message…” Jess said. “From the Shadow Beam, just text again.”

  “That’s starting to become worrying,” Sal said. “What are they hiding?”

  “What aren’t they hiding?” Elizabeth asked. “They don’t trust us fully yet. They want to keep their identities hidden. If and when we earn their trust they’ll open up more.”

  “Maybe. It still gives me a bad feeling.”

  “What was in the message?” Ali asked impatiently.

  “Coordinates. There’s very little orbital infrastructure here. Our cargo will be delivered by a heavy lifter shuttle.”

  “Just one?”

  “Yes. Gravity on Solcant is pretty low, just under half standard. They can transport far more from the surface than on most worlds.”

  “Does it say what the cargo is yet?”

  “No. Hang on… I was checking information on the system. This is an imperial world. We’ll have to clear checks by at least one imperial ship. I guess we’ll find out if those documents were worth what we paid.”

  “It’s a slave world,” Sal said quietly.

  “What?” Jess asked.

  “It’s a slave world. I just looked up the data. The planet has very little atmosphere so they grow food in immense domes. There’s a huge slave population that tends the crops.”

  There was silence as they all absorbed that information. Finally Ali spoke.

  “Jess, Sal. You know we can’t do anything, don’t you? Look — there are far too many imperial ships around the planet and throughout the system. There’s far too many prisoners for us to save, and we’d have nowhere to take them if we did. I know this is difficult.”

  “Yo
u have no idea,” Sal replied, tears in her eyes.

  “At least we know what the cargo is now,” Elizabeth said. “It's only output is food. Someone, somewhere, has run low on food for some reason and needs an urgent delivery. We need to focus on the job.”

  Jess let out a huge sigh.

  “Yeah, you’re right. We couldn’t even make a dent here.”

  “Isn’t that how everyone justifies not interfering?” Sal asked angrily.

  “Maybe, but I’m not everyone,” Jess replied fiercely. “We can’t save everyone down there, but maybe we’ll get the chance to save one or two if they’re involved in delivering the cargo.

  And I won’t forget this place. Just because we can’t fix it now doesn’t mean we’ll never be able to. Trust me Sal, this is not the end of the matter.”

  “But we can’t just do nothing,” she snapped back.

  “Fine. What do we do then? Don’t you think I’m wracking my brain to find something that would work too?”

  Sal opened her mouth to speak but instead turned away, tears in her eyes. Jess’s anger fled and his stomach sank. He walked over to Sal, each step a battle against the desire to avoid any further confrontation.

  “Sal, I’m sorry,” Jess said, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. “I understand… I didn’t mean to shout… I can’t bear not being able to do anything…”

  Sal turned towards him. For a moment he expected anger, then he saw the sadness in her face, the tears flowing down her cheeks. He fought back a sob himself, tears starting to run. Sal threw her arms around him and he returned the embrace, both seeking solace in the others arms.

  “Are we going to face this wherever we go?” Sal asked through her tears. “Are we going to be constantly faced by slaves that we can’t help?”

  “I don’t know,” Jess replied. “I’m not sure I can cope with seeing this continuously.”

  “Yes you can,” Elizabeth said softly. Jess hadn’t heard her approach, and now her voice was quieter than he’d ever heard it. “You’re tough. Both of you. You won’t give in, but you won’t stop being hurt by what you see either. You have to narrow your focus. Concentrate on finding those you can help rather than thinking of those you can’t. The Empire is far too big for one ship to fix, even a ship like this.