The Outer Worlds: Book One of the Epherian Chronicles (14 page)

**

They had
rescued four young colonists from the vault on Herman Beta 3. Ivan
and Cynthia had prepared a meal for them, as they were clearly
malnourished.

‘
We didn’t think anyone would ever come for us,’ said Harry, a
scrawny boy with blond hair. ‘We had two rifles and three
magazines. We were making plans to leave the vault and fight our
way out.’

‘
You wouldn’t have survived the fight,’ said Aradel. ‘I’m glad
you waited to be rescued. We are all that is left of our colony,
and if it wasn’t for the crew of this ship we would not have
survived.’

‘
What will we do now?’ asked Becker, who was a fifteen year old
girl with tanned skin and cropped hair.

‘
Captain Michael has agreed to take us to Zeno Par,’ said
Aradel. ‘From there we will find a transport to a civilised world
where we can start over. We have suffered, but soon we will be
safe. I promise.’

**

The Out
Drifter felt very crowded. Michael decided the sleeping pods were
the only way to escape the confines of the ship and the relentless
questions of the crew about the events on Herman Beta.

The End
Machine was a multidimensional singular consciousness. It could
read the minds of people across the dimensions of space and could
examine the thoughts of billions of people at once. Michael
pondered the question as to why the machine had not yet destroyed
humanity. He had been aware of the presence of the End Machine ever
since he had been cast out of the Epherian Empire, yet he could not
understand why it was holding back. It had the power to wipe out
the human race, but for some reason the machine had chosen to hide
its presence and wait. He hoped Acacius had the answers. Acacius
Trifon was a teacher of the Lore of the Ancients; he was the only
man in the galaxy who could help Michael fight the End Machine.

**

Cynthia sat on
the floor in the back corner of the cargo bay. She was staring at
the wall as she tried to process what had occurred. She replayed
the events in her mind over and over again but she still couldn’t
make sense of what she had witnessed. She knew one thing was true;
Michael was not a normal man, and it was questionable as to whether
he was a man at all.

‘
What’s troubling you, Cynthia?’ asked Sara. Cynthia lifted her
eyes; Sara was looking down at her.

‘
It’s the Captain,’ she muttered.

‘
What do you think he meant when he spoke about advanced
machines?’

‘
I don’t know,’ replied Cynthia.

‘
Cynthia, we both know what happened on Herman Beta 3 was
impossible. People can’t survive an explosion like that. What did
you see?’

‘
I can’t say. What I saw doesn’t make sense. It wasn’t
scientifically possible.’

‘
What doesn’t make sense? What wasn’t possible?’ asked
Sara.

‘
I really can’t say,’ said Cynthia, averting her
eyes.

‘
Cynthia, tell me.’

Cynthia slowly
lifted her eyes. ‘I think Captain Michael is not human. He has
strange powers.’

‘
What!’ exclaimed Sara, involuntarily stepping back. She
glanced over her shoulder at Michael’s deep sleep pod.

‘
You think he’s an alien?’

‘
I can’t explain it, but what he did can’t be done by a normal
human being.’

‘
Did Michael cause the explosion?’ Cynthia nodded, and Sara’s
eyes widened in shock. ‘How did he save you from the
blast?’

‘
He has abilities, Sara. He can do strange things. His hands
were glowing like a bright star. I had to look away because the
light was so intense. He caused the explosion, and he protected us
from the blast.’

‘
Aliens can’t cause nuclear explosions with their bare hands,’
said Sara sternly.

**

The glass
cover slid off Michael’s sleeping pod and he woke instantly. Ivan
was standing beside him.

‘
We are approaching Zeno Par.’

‘
How is the ship?’

‘
Operational.’

‘
That’s good to hear,’ said Michael as he sat up.

Michael and
Ethan’s sleeping pods had opened at once. Ivan had left Aradel and
the young colonists sleeping in their pods. Sara and Cynthia had
chosen not to sleep for the duration of the journey and they gave
their pods to the colonists.

Michael walked
down to the control room as his body recovered from deep sleep.
Sara was sitting in the pilot’s seat. An image of Zeno Par was in
the centre of one of the console monitors. She glanced over her
shoulder and gave a smile as he stepped through the door.

‘
Did you sleep well?’

‘
Yes, thanks,’ he answered in a gravelly voice as he sat down
in the co-pilot seat.

She hit the
holographic projector. A three-dimensional image of Zeno Par rose
from the console and floated directly in front of them.

‘
It’s a prime world with pristine forests and oceans full of
life. The gravity is rated at 0.98. The planet was owned by the
Epherian Empire up until they left the sector. The majority of the
population left over the last year because of the expansion of
alien controlled space. Zeno Par’s territory borders the alien
battle zone. They are waiting to be invaded. There are five major
cities. The population stands at two hundred million; that’s a
fraction of what it used to be. I don’t know how you plan to find
your friend or where you want to land.’

‘
I should be able to find him once we arrive,’ he
said.

‘
With your powers?’ she asked, looking at him out of the corner
of her eye.

‘
What powers?’

‘
Cynthia told me what happened on Herman Beta 3. I don’t know
anyone who can cause nuclear explosions with their bare
hands.’

‘
Cynthia told you,’ he said, looking away.

‘
I pressured her until she did. Don’t blame her, Captain. She’s
a good woman.’

‘
I know she is.’

‘
Are you human?’ she asked nervously.

Michael leaned
back in his seat and smiled warmly. ‘Of course I am.’

‘
If you really are human and it’s not magic then what is
it?’

He didn’t
answer for a moment. ‘I can’t explain what I did, Sara.’

‘
I knew you were going to say something like that.’

‘
Sara, please understand me; these are important matters. The
survival of the human race hangs in the balance. I will tell you
everything when it is safe to do so, but first we have to find
Acacius Trifon. Everything will become clear when we find
him.’

Sara nodded
and returned her attention to the hologram of Zeno Par.

CHAPTER
NINE

The Out
Drifter descended through the wispy clouds of Zeno Par’s upper
atmosphere. Sara turned the ship toward Oceanside City, which was a
massive metropolis set on the eastern coastline of the main
continent. The city expanded inland for hundreds of miles and
thousands of spires and towers rose up to heights beyond the lowest
level of clouds.

Sara hit the
switch for the Out Drifter’s external com.

‘
Oceanside City Watchtower; this is the Out Drifter; Interworld
code AMB712; mandated by the Outer World Salvage Guild. We request
a class four landing dock.’

‘…
Greetings, Out Drifter. This is watchtower seventy one. You
have clearance. Proceed to landing dock seven thousand, six hundred
and five. The fee for a class four landing dock is set at sixty
guild credits for twenty four hours…’

‘
Thank you.’

The Out
Drifter’s landing navigation computer connected with the
watchtower’s signal and started to guide the ship down toward the
city. Before long they were flying through towering spires and
skyscrapers. The sun reflected off the glimmering blue ocean which
extended beyond the horizon. The flight path took the ship deep
down into the lower levels of the city and guided them toward a
landing dock. The lower levels of the city were shrouded in the
shadows of the massive skyscrapers and were occupied by poorer
residential areas and an assortment of dingy bars and clubs. The
area was also where the cheapest landing docks were located.

The Out
Drifter glided down and entered an area which was almost devoid of
natural light. The glow of many multi-coloured neon signs cut
through the thick smog and gave the city an eerie feeling. The ship
entered a large opening in the side of a building. There was a wide
concrete platform within the building with ten bays for ships to
land. The navigation computer gently set the Out Drifter down and
the engine powered off.

Michael walked
back to the cargo bay. Ethan, Ivan, Cynthia and Dog-Two were
standing beside the exit door. Aradel and the four colonist
teenagers were standing at the other side of the room. Aradel
approached as Michael entered.

‘
I want to thank you and your crew for saving us, Captain
Michael. You really put your lives on the line and risked so much
to secure our safety.’

‘
I’m glad we could help.’

‘
We will be leaving your company now,’ she continued. ‘I have
heard that Zeno Par is a good planet, but the open information
networks are reporting that the aliens are coming, so we plan to
leave as soon as we can to avoid the invasion.’

‘
Where do you think you will go from here?’ asked
Michael.

‘
We will take the first available transport to the Green Home
System.’

Michael
nodded. He had heard of the Green Home System. The Green Home
worlds were ruled by a benevolent government. ‘It’s a good choice.
You should do well if you go in that direction, and Green Home is
not in the path of the alien expansion.’

‘
We may have a year or two of peace before we have to move on,’
she said.

‘
I wish you all the best.’ He then turned to Ivan as Sara
walked into the cargo bay. ‘Ivan, I want you to help find a
transport for Aradel, Conner, Davis, Harry and Becker. You can pay
for their passage from my personal account. After they’re safely
away I want you to return to the ship and take Ajax to an advanced
medical lab and get him back on his feet. I’ll go with Cynthia and
Dog-Two to find Acacius Trifon.’

‘
You don’t have to pay for our journey,’ said
Aradel.

‘
We didn’t risk our lives to leave you strandard on a planet in
the direct path of the alien fleet. I want to be sure you get away
safely.’

Aradel
respectfully bowed her head. ‘Thank you once again, Captain
Michael. Meeting you and your crew has been a blessing for us. We
will repay you one day if ever we can.’

**

‘
How do you know Acacius Trifon is here?’ asked
Sara.

‘
I just know,’ he answered softly.

Sara shook her
head and smiled. ‘You better give me those answers you promised
when we find him.’

‘
I will when the time is right.’

Ethan opened
the exit door. Michael stepped out onto the docking platform and
the others followed him. They were immediately greeted by a service
droid, which was a rectangular metal box set on tank tracks. A
single large robotic arm extended from its side with an assortment
of attached tools.

‘
Welcome to Paradise Ship Docks,’ said a metallic male voice
from its external speaker. ‘Your ship is safe with us. Full payment
can be settled on your departure. We will impound your ship for
five standard days if you do not have the credits to pay. After
five days we can make a debt claim against your ship under Zeno Par
law. Our mech-droids can provide a full basic service for only six
hundred credits.’

‘
My ship doesn’t need a service,’ said Michael, giving a
dismissive wave. He disliked the idea of a strange droid working on
his ship. He had heard stories of such droids accidently destroying
crucial components, and more often than not mech-droids were used
to steal valuable parts for the owners of the docks.

‘
I disagree with you, Captain. The ship really needs some
work,’ said Ethan as he walked along the side of the Out Drifter
and closely viewed several scorch marks which had been left after
the battle with the alien fighters. ‘There are a few places where
the outer armour is completely breached. We also have to recharge
the shield batteries and resupply the rocket launchers, and the
reactor still needs to be replenished.’

Michael gave a
curt nod. ‘All right, Ethan, I’ll leave it to you, but there is no
way this side of Epheria Prime that I’m going to let a strange
droid work on my ship.’

‘
I can do most of the repairs myself,’ said Ethan as he ran his
hand along the side of the ship. His fingers came away covered in
black soot. ‘We’ll have to see if we can find a company that does
Armostonian reactor replenishments.’

‘
Do we have enough fuel to make it back to Timber 5?’ asked
Michael, looking to Sara and half expecting the answer to be
no.

‘
Only just,’ she answered. ‘We won’t be able to make any
diversions.’

‘
Then see if you can find someone to replenish the reactor at a
reasonable price,’ said Michael.

‘
We’ll do our best, but I expect the prices will be high,’ said
Ethan.

‘
Just do what you can. I shouldn’t be gone for more than a
day.’ Michael gave a nod and then walked past the service droid.
Cynthia and Dog-Two followed him as he continued to where a group
of six rental air-vehicles were waiting beside the edge of the
platform. The air-vehicles were painted bright yellow and were open
top convertibles; they could seat six people, three in the front
and three in the back.