The Maiden Voyage - Part 4

Life In The 31st Century - The Misadventures of Derek Dark, Intergalactic Courier.

Welcome to part four. You join us just as Derek and Maiden are making their first jump through the wormhole ready to take Maiden and her Grandfather home…

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

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Gravitational waves crashed against the sides of the ship as it completed its brief foray through the wormhole.

“Angel, divert all excess power to the main shields.”

Aye Aye Captain

I looked over towards the main viewport. Maiden had her eyes squeezed shut and had folded her eyelashes flat against her face like some kind of built in mask. Her knuckles were pale from where she gripped the handrail.

“Is this your first jump through a wormhole?” I asked.

Maiden nodded her head in response.

“The buffeting is quite normal when using these old gates. The extra power to the shields should help.” I tried not to look too smug. “You know, if we’d used the main GalCorp jump gate, it would have been a much smoother ride.”

“It would have taken too long,” she said through gritted teeth. I could see flashes of purple colouration light up around her face and neck and flow down her arms as each wave rocked the ship a little more.

I hoped the Ceruleans weren’t too susceptible to space sickness. The mess is a real pain to clean up.

“Don’t worry, you’ll soon get used to it,” I said, “and this is only a short jump, so you might as well enjoy the view.”

Maiden cautiously opened her eyes and then stood transfixed. Swirling patterns of neon colours danced across the viewport as the ship defied all the normal laws of physics and sailed across a tear in the fabric of space.

“It’s…, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s intoxicating,” she said.

“No matter how many jumps I make, that show never gets old.”

A sudden flash of green light engulfed the deck, causing Maiden to scream in fright..

“Don’t worry, it’s over now,” I said, hoping to reassure her. “The flash always happens as the ship punches its way out of the wormhole.”

“Do you think it hurts?”

“Does what hurt?”

“The ship, does it hurt space as it punches its way through? My people believe that space is a living thing. For us, the thought of travelling through one of these wormholes would be like pushing a needle through your flesh. Cerulean ships would never desecrate the void in such a fashion.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever thought about it,” I replied.

The retina glow swiftly faded and we could see that we were back in normal space again. A quick look through the rearview system showed the faintest traces of the wormhole closing behind us as we sped our way on into the dark.

“Are we there yet?” asked Maiden.

I checked the astro charts on the nav readout. Quickly, I checked them again a second and a third time. “Well,” I said, preparing to deliver some slightly less than positive news. “The thing about natural wormholes is…, well, they have a habit of…, sometimes they…”

“They what?” Maiden asked, her voice rising in pitch, her eyelashes pointed straight at me.

It would appear that the wormhole has shrunk since its last navscan

“Thank you Angel. I was just about to tell her that.”

According to the latest charts and cross-referencing our position, it looks like we’re still several AUs short of our intended exit point. At current velocity, it’ll take us an extra twenty sols to reach our intended destination

Maiden’s eyes opened wide in shock, “but you said…”

“I said we should have stuck to GalCorp’s primary jump routes. Their artificial worm tech jump gates are way more stable than these old devices. If it’s shrunk by that much, then we’re lucky to have made it through in one piece.”

“But an extra twenty sols, that’s nearly a full cycle, that’s too late.”

“What’s so important about the deadline to be at Andor Six?. Your grandfather’s remains are perfectly safe and sealed in the hold. The hermetic seals on his casket should be good for at least a hundred cycles. I checked them myself.”

“No, you mustn’t go near the casket. It is forbidden.” Maiden slammed her first on the console. She stared at me, eyes opened wide, and her eyelashes folded back like some kind of helmet or head armour.

Maiden’s sudden change of heart was quite a shock. One moment she was on the verge of breaking down in tears, the next she was flipping into full on aggressive warrior mode. I thought she was going to attack me.

“Okay, okay, calm down,” I said, holding up my hands in a defensive gesture.

“It is imperative that we reach Andor Six at the agreed time.”

“We can’t, there’s no way.”

“I’ll pay you double.”

“You’re already paying me triple.”

“I’ll double that then, but we must get there on time.”

My mind jumped at the possibility of earning six times our normal fee. If we could make this work, I could invest in some engine upgrades and finally get Louie off my back about late deliveries. I might even be able to take a few sols off and have some credits left to blow on some new vid-game sims.

“What about another jump gate,” Maiden said, “are there any more jump gates within range that could get us there on time?”

I entered the query into the astronav and waited for a response. Turns out both Maiden and I might be in luck. “According to the charts, there’s an old portal about half a sol away. During its last scan, it was reported to exit right on the edge of the Andorian system. If we can open it, then that should get us there with a couple of sols to spare.”

“Then do it. Take us to this portal now,” she said.

“Woah, take it easy for a moment.” I added, holding up my hands in case she got more irate. “Slow down. I’ll update the course heading and we’ll be back on track in no time.” My fingers flew over the flight console and entered the details of our new target.

Derek. That portal is listed as deactivated and scheduled for decommission. It’s not possible to open a deactivated portal

Angel’s voice squeaked out over the intercom. Typical. Why was she always the one to put the damper on things? I thought for a while, and then a sudden flash of inspiration hit me.

“Actually Angel,” I said, trying to emphasise the smug git factor in my voice, “there might be a way.”

I took the computer’s silence as a tacit go-on-then-mr-smarty-pants.

“When I was little, my grandfather used to tell me stories about his old smuggling days. Back then, the smugglers worked out that you could force a deactivated portal to open with a massive influx of concentrated power. It would overload the circuits and flow back into the stability rings, pulling the wormhole open so you could make a quick jump before the hole closed back in on itself. He said that they often used it as a way to escape from any local law enforcement.”

“But how are you supposed to provide the influx of concentrated power?” Maiden asked.

“Well, if I remember correctly, gramps said what they did was rig an old cargo pod with an electronic pulse generator, launch it into the portal and then rig a feedback circuit so it would overload as it crossed the event threshold so that...”

Derek, please listen carefully

Angel interrupted

It’s not in my usual programming to deliver feedback in such a direct manner

I raised an eyebrow and looked at the closest comm speaker. I was used to Angel interrupting me, but this was a most unusual response from the ship’s systems.

Have you lost your freaking mind

Ok, so that was unexpected. I think Angel’s outdated nanny protocols may have got stuck in some kind of protection feedback loop. My mouth opened and closed a few times as I searched for a way to answer her question, although I suspect it was probably rhetorical and the precursor to the deluge that was about to follow.

“Err, Mr Derek?” Maiden asked.

“Yes?” I looked across at Drake Intergalactic Couriers’ first and possibly last paying guest, desperate to draw attention away from the potentially embarrassing electronic dressing down I was about to get.

“It would appear that we have some visitors rapidly closing in on our position.”

Proximity alert, proximity alert

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Thanks for reading, part 5 will be out next Friday. I’ve also updated the index page if you’ve missed parts 1-3. (Life In The 31st Century Index Page).

If you can’t wait to see what happens next then you can get immediate access to this ebook from your favourite ebook retailer of choice for the princely sum of $2.99 (US) over at https://books2read.com/themaidenvoyage. Alternatively please consider subscribing to my publication to get notified when each new episode drops.

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