The Maiden Voyage - Part 3
Life In The 31st Century - The Misadventures of Derek Dark, Intergalactic Courier.
Welcome to part three. You join us just as Derek and Maiden set sail on her Grandfathers final journey, although all is not what it seems…
This series is being serialised every Friday but if you’d rather skip ahead and get the entire story (and my deep gratitude) direct to your reading app of choice over at https://books2read.com/themaidenvoyage
The Route Home
Danger, navigation alert, danger, navigation alert, specified course adjustment is via hostile space, danger, danger, danger
I checked the readout on the astronav console and then checked it a second and third time to make sure there had been no mistakes.
“Angel. It would appear our guest wants us to navigate through Northengen space.” I said, responding to the alert.
Well, I forbid it. You know how dangerous the Northengen region is, I can’t have a repeat of last time
“I know, I know, I’m just re-plotting a course to the Andorian system via the standard GalCorp jump points.”
“No.”
I jumped suddenly as I heard Maiden’s voice from the doorway.
“No, you mustn’t. Please stick to the course provided.”
“We can’t. Angel is correct. Your course takes us straight through the middle of some of the most unstable, dangerous and pirate infested parts of the galaxy. Using the GalCorp jump points is much safer.”
“That would take too long. The Northengen route would shave many sol cycles off the journey. We must dock at Andor Six before the systems vernal equinox.”
“I’m sorry, but that route is just too dangerous.”
Maiden paused. staring off into space as if deep in thought. A moment later she looked at me, her eyelashes quivering. I’ve always been a sucker for a sob story, and the look on Maiden’s face suggested she was about to burst into tears.
“I’ll double your fee,” she said, the desperation heavy in her voice.
“Angel is correct. it’s not worth the risk.” I replied.
“I’ll triple it.”
“But she has been known to be wrong on occasions.”
“Do we have a deal?” Maiden asked.
“You’ll be liable for all damages as well.”
“Agreed.”
No, Derek, please, it’s too dangerous
“That’s settled then, astronav?”
The unit beeped and whirred, acknowledging that it was listening.
“Priority command override, Captain Derek P Darke authorisation B0$$M@n69. Input and lock in the original course to Andor Six via the Northengen route.”
Derek, this is a mistake I must insist
“Angel, I am the captain of this vessel and I gave the command override. I appreciate your concern, but we’ll be fine. Once we reach Northengen space, we’ll direct all auxiliary power to the long range sensors and be able to see anything approaching long before it becomes a problem. Besides, the Rust Bucket has a few tricks up her sleeve ports. We’ll be fine.”
Yes, captain
If it was ever possible for a machine voice to humph off in a sulk, then Angel nailed it perfectly. Sometimes I would lie awake in the middle of the sleep cycle and imagine what kind of physical form Angel would take or how her original programmers must have envisioned her. Right now, all I could imagine was a foot tapping, arms folded, pursed lip, screwed up eye scowl that could freeze the heart of a dying star. I’m sure I’ll end up paying for this later but, I have to admit laying down the law like that, on my own ship, felt good, and I made a mental note to try it more often.
With the course plotted, there was nothing else to do until we reached the first jump point and vid-game sims didn’t seem that appropriate at the moment. That gave me about thirty-six standard time units to get to know my new guest and find out why she was so eager to risk both our lives and possibly several limbs to get to her destination in such a short time.
She seemed like the silent type, so I figured it was up to me to open a line of communication. I turned around, only to find she’d gone. Oh well vid-game sims it was then.
Maiden was the first paying guest in as long as I could remember and I had no idea of her expectations or even her dietary needs. If I’d had more notice, then I’d have made better arrangements, particularly with regards to the food.
For myself, a lack of culinary ability and diet of apathy usually meant I just stocked up on enough prefab meals to last the next journey and then splashed out, eating proper food in one of the chain eateries at the next docking port.
With nothing else available I prepared two protein prefabs, a fresh jug of hot tea and tidied up what used to be the Darke family dining area. Never let it be said that Mrs Darke’s little boy was not brought up right.
It felt weird knocking on my own bedroom door. Maiden opened it a few ticks later.
“Yes?”
“I, err, I was wondering if you were hungry. I’ve prepared some food in the galley area. It’s ready now.”
“Err, thank you,” Maiden said. “Nourishment would be agreeable.”
I stepped back and indicated the way to the galley. “It’s just through here.”
Maiden nodded and followed me along the main corridor. I indicated the vacant chair and motioned for her to sit.
“This is very, err…” she said.
“I’m sorry, with such short notice it’s all we had onboard, it’s…”
“It’s fine, I don’t usually…”
“If it’s not to your liking or suitable, then please let me…”
“No. Erm, sorry, it’s my fault. You weren’t aware until the last minute and—”
“Is it not suitable? I’m sorry, I don’t know what Ceruleans like or…”
“Algae.”
“Pardon?”
“Algae. It’s a hydroponically grown protein substance that my people farm. It’s the primary source of nourishment on our home ships. That and filtered reclaimed water.”
“Oh, well, this should be familiar then,” I said, trying to make light of the awkwardness, “try the tea, it’s better hot.”
“Thank you,” Maiden said, as she nibbled at the prefab and sipped gently at her drink.
We ate the rest of the meal in silence.
Maiden stood up from the table and pushed her container forward, “thank you for the meal Mr Darke, let me help with the disposal.”
“No, it’s fine, really,” I said, “it’s all part of the service.” I gathered the containers and mugs and carried them to the disposal chute.”
“How long is it until we get to the first jump portal?” Maiden asked.
“Angel, status update and estimated time to the jump portal, please.”
All systems nominal. We are on course to arrive at the jump point in sixteen point two-five units
“If you’ll excuse me, Mr Derek.”
“Please, just call me Derek.”
“If you’ll please excuse me, Derek. I’d like to rest if that’s acceptable.”
“Of course, I, err, I need to run some, err, checks. I’ll let you know when we arrive.”
A Jump To The Left
Proximity alert, proximity alert
I was jolted awake and almost fell off my chair again. Looking at the console, I realised we were closing in on the first jump gate that would take us deep into Northengen space.
“Angel, can you please stop triggering the proximity alert every time we get close to the thing we’re actually supposed to be getting close to?”
As you wish... Captain
It never ceased to amaze me how Angel’s programmers could inflect such disdain into her otherwise squeaky, artificial voice.
The astronav guided the ship towards the ancient jump gate and began transmitting the protocol sequence to wake up the portal.
Children who live and grow up in space often get a very focused education. Being schooled on the Bucket, I had learned all about portal jump gates and the technology that drove them. Apparently, the first generation gates were energised by naturally occurring wormholes. It must have taken some genius level imagination to name it worm tech.
“Are we there yet?”
I looked up, surprised to see our guest standing by the entrance to the bridge deck.
“What? Err, sorry I didn’t hear you approach. I was, err, about to inform you of our imminent arrival.”
Maiden raised an eyebrow and her long eyelashes fluttered, giving the impression of butterflies dancing around her face.
“That thing you do…”
Maiden looked at me a little confused.
“… with the eyelashes, it’s quite, err, interesting.”
She smiled and blushed again.
I attempted to look away, but I was captivated by her presence. For someone without a need for excessive bodily coverings, she certainly seemed to have a varied selection. She was wearing what looked like a two-piece outfit that left her midriff bare. This time, however, the colour was a much darker blue fading to purple and contrasted magnificently against her pale blue skin. A far cry from my own shabby attire, a functional well worn T-shirt and cargo pants with my grandfather’s old flight jacket thrown in for good measure.
To be fair, I didn’t get many visitors on board the ship and so anything would have been out of the ordinary. At least she wasn’t naked.
“Why are you staring at me, Derek?”
“I, err, I’m sorry I didn’t realise I was. Apologies, it’s your outfit, it’s, err… nice.”
“My outfit? Does it offend you? My people usually shun bodily coverings on board ships. I understand it is customary to remain covered during encounters with other races, but I can remove them if it makes you feel more comfortable.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” I stammered, “it, err, it looks nice, suits you even, just the thing for viewing natural galactic phenomenon in.”
“So have we arrived?” Maiden asked, repeating her earlier question.
“We’re just approaching one of the old jump gates that should take us into the heart of the Northengen region.”
“I’ve never seen one before. How do they work?”
“Angel, can you help us out here, please?” I asked, grateful for the distraction.
The metallic voice broadcast her response over the comms system.
GalCorp owned portals allow for interstellar travel across vast distances by trans-versing sub space anomalies or tunnels in the fabric of spacetime. The first portals relied on naturally occurring anomalies, but later improvements in worm tech allowed for the creation of artificial instances. Gravitational force fields generated by stability rings along the length of the tunnels are used to hold the anomalies in quantum stasis. Once the fields are stabilised, objects can travel the length of the tunnel at sub light speeds and emerge at their desired destination in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take
“Who are GalCorp?” Maiden asked.
“Who are GalCorp? Are you serious? The GalCorp portals fuelled the first great expanse across the galaxy. The transit income alone made GalCorp one of the richest and most powerful organisations in history. They run one of the largest empires the galaxy has ever known. Unizon is the only other mega corp who even stands the remotest chance of coming close to them. Across the regions GalCorp control, they’re the largest provider of jobs, security, transport, infrastructure, homes, food, welfare and anything else you could ever possibly need. They also act as judge, jury and if need be executioner, so it’s best to not get on their bad side.”
“Oh,” there was a pause whilst Maiden digested what I’d said, “and in the regions they don’t control?”
“They make moves to ensure they do. Unless Unizon gets there first.”
A sequence of beeps from the main sensor panel cut our conversation short. The device readouts showed something I’d not seen for a long time.
“This looks like one of the really early first generation models that use naturally occurring wormholes. I thought these had all been replaced with ones that could create their own anomalies. Once it’s active, the stability rings will only be able to hold the tunnel open for a short time. Angel, make sure the ship is ready to move as soon as the sequence is complete.”
Sequence locked, Captain
I turned to Maiden, “Please, take a seat by the main view portal. You’re in for quite a show.”
“What’s a wormhole?”
“You certainly ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”
Maiden raised an eyebrow and her long lashes fluttered across her face. “I was raised to believe that asking questions is how we learn about the places where we live. Don’t you want to know about the place where you live?”
“Ok, so a wormhole is formed when two points in space on the opposite side of the galaxy get too close to one another.” I held out the index fingers of both hands and slowly brought them together. “Eventually, gravity rips a hole in space and forms a tunnel that can be used as a shortcut to jump from one place to another.”
“How can they get too close if they’re on opposite sides of the galaxy?”
“Beats me, something about shifts in quantum dimensionality and Eigen bridges. I never paid that much attention. They aren’t actually close, it’s just that sometimes bits of them they think they are. That means that natural wormholes have a tendency to open and close at random. So it’s only safe to travel when they’re held open by the portal’s stability fields.”
“But what about the worms? Are they safe?” Maiden’s expression betrayed a hint of worry as her eyelashes quivered.
“No,” I laughed, “I remember asking my mother the same question when she first told me about them. No, it’s supposed to refer to the way the tunnel burrows through space in the same way that worms burrow through the ground on planets. It was the term used by the first people to discover the phenomenon many centuries ago.”
“I’ve never been on a planet? What’s it like?”
I looked at her with surprise, “what never?”
She just shook her head. An update from Angel interrupted us before I could answer her question.
Portal activation sequence at ninety-five per cent. Prepare for transit
Through the front viewport, we could see the ancient portal fire up. I watched in awe the spectacle of the wormhole opening before my eyes.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Maiden’s voice made me jump. One moment she was standing on the far side of the deck, the next she was right next to me.
“Yes, it is, and it’s not something you see very often. This close up I mean.”
“I’ve only heard about this in legends. My people have a word for this. They call it tagetmiur. In your tongue, it means a silent scream. They believe the universe is crying out in pain as gravity twists and pulls at the very fabric of space.”
“Wow, that’s deep,” I said, letting the enormity of the statement resonate, “so who exactly are your people? I’ve never heard of the Ceruleans before. Are you native to the Andorian system?”
“No. My people have no homeworld. We have travelled the depths of space on colony ships since the dawn of time, learning and exchanging with other cultures and races.”
I laughed.
“Why do you mock me Captain?” Maiden asked.
“I’m not, it’s just... it’s just that we aren’t so different after all. This ship is my homeworld. I was born here. I’ll probably die here. My grandfather won it in a card game many years ago and it’s been my family’s home since long before I was born. All my life, we’ve delivered parcels and supplies all around the quadrant.”
Maiden laughed along with me, “do you know why I picked your vessel?”
“No, why?”
“It’s your name.”
“What Derek?”
“No Darke. To my people, the deep darkness of space is a place to hide in, to seek refuge and safety from those that would do us harm. The darkness is a friend to the Ceruleans. In the tales we tell our young, often a protector will arise from the dark to help the needy. It was a sign that you were meant to help me.”
“Oh,” once again, the enormity of such a simple statement resonated somewhere deep inside.
Portal activation sequence has completed, the jump gate will be stable in naught point two five standard time units
Thankfully, Angel’s update allowed the moment to pass.
The gate completed its stabilisation of the wormhole with a flurry of photonic activity. I stole one last glance at the swirling patterns of light that danced across the entrance of the gate and took my seat at the flight controls. Maiden was still standing glued to the viewport. A single tear leaked from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek. In my head, I thought I could hear the faintest echo of a silent scream.
Thanks for reading, part 4 will be out next Friday. I’ve also updated the index page if you’ve missed parts 1 or 2. (Life In The 31st Century Index Page).
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