The Outer Worlds: Book One of the Epherian Chronicles (7 page)

‘
I will leave if you want me to, but I have to say this place
is amazing. I had no idea that such places could be so beautiful.
How big is this world?’

The question
distracted Ajax from his initial annoyance. ‘Very big,’ he
grumbled. ‘This is my favourite place. I constructed all of this.
There is a small town on the far side of those mountains. There are
a few people living there.’

‘
People?’ she questioned.

‘
They’re written into the programming.’

‘
Do they seem as real as this world does?’

‘
Let’s just say that you can’t have a deep and meaningful
conversation with them.’

‘
Can you give me a tour?’

Ajax crossed
his arms and turned away. ‘I told you this is my world. You should
have asked for my permission.’

‘
I apologised.’

‘
Sorry isn’t good enough,’ he snapped.

‘
I’ll go then,’ she said, turning away. She took a few steps
and prepared to exit the program.

‘
Cynthia, don’t go yet.’

She glanced
over her shoulder. ‘Ajax, either you want me here or you don’t want
me here.’

Ajax lowered
his eyes. ‘Half the time I don’t know what I want,’ he
muttered.

‘
Why? What’s wrong with you?’

‘
Nothing!’ His face hardened. ‘There’s nothing wrong with me!
What’s wrong with you?’

She turned
away from him and disappeared from sight.

**

Michael woke
to the sound of the ship’s automatic alarm, which was usually a
warning of a critical malfunctions or a potential threat. The alarm
was set to instantly open the deep sleep pods. Ajax was standing in
the room.

‘
Wake up, wake up, ladies and gentlemen; it looks like we have
a grade A salvage opportunity,’ he said loudly, clapping his hands
to rouse them from sleep.

Michael sat up
and quickly stepped out of his pod. He shook his arms to help the
blood flow back through his body.

‘
What’s the story?’

‘
The scanners picked up an abandoned cruiser. I don’t know what
type; you know I’m no good at working the computer, but the
analysis panel is saying it’s a goldmine.’

‘
I’ll check it out,’ said Sara in a sleepy voice as she slipped
out of her sleeping pod and shuffled across to the door; her legs
were still adjusting.

Michael
followed Sara and Ajax down to the control room. Sara took her seat
and checked the scanner display.

‘
It’s an old colonist ship. Colonial Standmast Class 12. The
engine components are rare and valuable. It’s probably at least a
hundred years old. There should be a lot to salvage.’

‘
Are there any signs of life?’

‘
Just a second,’ she said as she flipped to another screen.
‘Nothing, Captain; no people or droids. The reactor is depleted and
life support is offline. There should be enough air for us to board
without space suits, but it will be very cold in there. There are
no signs of significant damage. I think it’s been abandoned and
left floating.’

‘
Pay day,’ said Ajax with a broad grin.

‘
Ajax, prepare the crew,’ said Michael.

‘
You got it, Cap.’ Ajax walked back toward the cargo
bay.

Sara brought
the ship out of interstellar speed. The engines rumbled as the Out
Drifter slowed to standard speed. She then angled the ship in the
direction of the abandoned cruiser. Michael watched through the
viewing panel as the ship appeared in the distance. The cruiser was
about a hundred metres long. It was shaped like a hammer, with a
long thin cylindrical back section which was intersected by a cross
section at the front.

Such ships
were primarily used by colonists and explorers who were searching
for new worlds in the regions beyond the boundaries of human
civilisation. Their chief function was to provide their crew with
the ability to survive for long periods of exploration. They were
equipped with a range of scanners and other instruments for
examining the suitability of worlds for colonisation. The long
narrow section that extended toward the back of the ship was the
engine block. The engine had been built for the purpose of extended
space flights in a singular direction; such ships lacked the
ability to maneuver or perform any agile movements.

There were at
least forty billion stars in the Triangulum Galaxy. Billions of
stars had yet to be surveyed by humanity. With so many undiscovered
systems, the culture of colonisation had always been strong
throughout history, even twelve thousand years after the arrival of
humanity in Triangulum. Colonists were often idealistic people who
wanted to improve their lot in life and find a world where they
could live in peace, far away from the controls of the Epherian
Empire, the Trade Guild and the many feudal houses and corporations
who ruled the Outer Worlds. However, even with so many uncharted
stars systems, it was often difficult for colonists to find a world
which could sustain human life and even more difficult to find a
world with prime conditions for life to grow. Prime worlds were
prized and often fought over by colonists. Many colonists would
settle for less than ideal worlds out of desperation and a lack of
resources to continue their search.

Sara angled
the Out Drifter toward one of the security doors on the section at
the front of the colonist ship. She masterfully glided the ship
downward. Michael was reminded of her awesome skill every time she
performed such a maneuver. He knew he was fortunate to have such a
talented pilot aboard. He often wondered why she didn’t leave to
join the war effort, as he knew that such gifted pilots were in
high demand among the war fleets facing the aliens.

The magnetic
clamps extended like claws and secured the Out Drifter to the hull
of the other ship.

‘
Well done, Sara. Another perfect attachment,’ he said as he
stood up and walked back to the cargo bay. Ajax, Cynthia, Ivan and
Ethan were gearing up and preparing to disembark. Michael picked up
his charged particle rifle.

‘
If the scanners are saying there are no lifeforms we won’t
need much gear, Cap,’ said Ajax.

‘
You can never be too careful,’ said Michael. He then turned to
Cynthia. Her eyes revealed a high level of anxiety. She noticed him
looking at her and she quickly averted her eyes. ‘Are you feeling
okay, Cynthia?’

She gave a
curt nod. ‘Fine, Captain,’ she replied.

‘
You don’t look fine,’ said Ajax with a hoarse chuckle. ‘You
look terrified, and this isn’t even a dangerous
mission.’

Cynthia’s pale
skin turned bright red, and her eyes narrowed as she stared back at
Ajax. ‘I’m not afraid of anything. I can do anything you can do,’
she said sharply.

‘
Really! Do you think you can carry this plasma enforcer for
me?’

‘
I’m sure I could,’ she said, stepping forward to reach for the
massive gun. Ajax stepped back from her.

‘
Cynthia. I just want you to observe this mission and help out
when needed,’ said Michael. ‘Don’t carry anything.’

Ethan walked
over to the exit door and lifted the quantum code breaker.
‘Captain, there is enough air on the other side for us to remain in
the ship for about an hour. The odd thing is that the ship has no
codes.’

‘
What are you talking about?’ questioned Ajax.

‘
The security system has been removed,’ said Ethan
hesitantly.

‘
Who in their right mind would bother removing a security
system?’ asked Ajax.

‘
Maybe it’s a trap,’ suggested Cynthia in a low
voice.

Michael stared
at the door for a long moment. ‘Have your rifles ready. Ethan, open
the door.’

Ethan opened
the Out Drifter’s exit door and the door of the Standmast ship.
They were instantly hit by the icy air. Michael pointed a
flashlight into the darkened ship. The cruiser’s main service
corridor was directly ahead of them; it cut through the living
quarters of the ship.

‘
Light it up,’ said Michael.

Ethan fired a
florescent flare down the corridor. Instantly glowing mist lit the
entire length of the way. The corridor was completely empty. There
were four doors on each side which were spaced at intervals, and
there was a single security door which led to the engine block.

‘
All right, everyone. I want to do a complete sweep of the
entire ship. Cynthia, Ethan; come with me. We’ll see what can be
salvaged from the engine. Ajax and Ivan; see if you can find
anything to salvage in the main living compartments.’

‘
No problem, Cap,’ said Ajax as he stepped into the
corridor.

Michael led
Cynthia and Ethan to the engine block security door. The door was
jammed in place with a gap just wide enough to pass through. Ethan
shot a flare down the full length of the narrow corridor beyond.
There were indents with control consoles for the engine set at
intervals along the length of the corridor. The corridor cut
directly through the elongated engine block. Many colonist ship
engines used a similar method of firing particles down a long shaft
directly into a reactor. When the particles struck the reactor at
full speed they would cause a chain reaction which would
significantly reduce the consumption of fuel. The process would
then be repeated as the fuel depleted, which would enable ships to
travel vast distances through space without refuelling. The problem
was that these ships were not useful for other purposes because the
engines were unable to increase or decrease power rapidly.

‘
What do you think, Ethan? Can you remove the particle
accelerators? I think they’re worth about twenty thousand
each.’

Ethan walked
down to the first console. ‘It’s going to take some time, but I can
remove them one by one.’

Michael’s
wrist-com suddenly beeped. ‘...Cap, I think you better come and
take a look at this…’ said Ajax.

‘
Did you find something good?’

‘…
I don’t know if good is the right word…’

‘
What is it?’ asked Michael.

‘…
Let’s just say that this ship isn’t abandoned…’

‘
Damn it,’ said Michael as he turned on his heel.

Cynthia and
Ethan followed him out of the engine corridor and back into the
main corridor. The mist from the flare was still providing a faint
glow. Ajax appeared at a side door and indicated for them to come
in. Inside was a large room with a two sleeping pods which were
covered with scan-defence polymer sheets. Michael had seen the
polymer sheets before; they were mostly used by smugglers to
disrupt scans performed by other ships. The sleeping pods were
occupied.

‘
Are they dead?’ asked Michael as he peered down at one of the
occupants who was a middle-aged woman.

‘
No, they have wired their sleeping pods to a separate power
source which has been cloaked in the same manner as the pods,’ said
Ivan. ‘It appears that their reactor was depleted and their only
option for survival was to power their sleeping pods with a
portable battery.’

‘
Why would they cover their pods? Why are they
hiding?’

‘
I believe they are trying to protect themselves from being
boarded by aliens,’ said Ivan. ‘Aliens will not board a ship if
they do not detect organic occupants. If they detected an abandoned
ship they would most likely pass it by.’

‘
How long have they been under?’ asked Ajax.

‘
Ninety six days,’ said Ivan as he viewed a small monitor on
one of the pods.

‘
It looks like this mission is over,’ said Ajax. ‘It’s the code
of the Outer World Salvage Guild; we can’t take anything from an
occupied ship. Let’s go back to the Out Drifter.’ Ajax turned to
leave and Michael was about to follow.

‘
We can’t leave them like this,’ said Cynthia, grabbing
Michael’s arm.

‘
What are you talking about,’ snapped Ajax, turning towards
her.

‘
These people are stranded,’ she said, staring directly into
Ajax’s fierce eyes. ‘Who will save them if we don’t?’

‘
It’s not our problem,’ said Ajax. ‘I knew the Cap was making a
mistake when he let you join the crew. It’s your first mission and
you’re already trying to give orders.’

Cynthia looked
to Michael for support, but he held his silence. ‘Captain, we can’t
leave these people. It’s not right.’

‘
We don’t have a choice,’ said Ethan. ‘If we picked up every
stranded person we wouldn’t have time for salvaging anything. We
don’t have room for them on the Out Drifter. You have to accept it,
Cynthia; these people have nothing to do with us.’

‘
We have to help these people,’ she said, raising her
voice.

Ajax groaned
and gave a dismissive wave. ‘This is ridiculous. Let’s go,
Cap.’

Michael stared
at the two stranded occupants of the sleeping pods. ‘We will take a
vote.’

Ajax shook his
head and groaned. ‘I can’t believe you are allowing a vote. This is
crazy.’

‘
I vote to save them,’ said Cynthia.

‘
Ethan?’ asked Michael.

‘
No, Captain,’ he replied.

‘
Ivan?’

‘
I am bound by my programming which is dependent on the
intention of the direct task at hand. Therefore I cannot
vote.’