Wanderer 3: Tainted Universe (5 page)

Chapter Seven

“What happened to unloading direct to the base?” Jess asked Dash.

Dash paused for a moment, then let out a deep breath.  What should he say?  How much should he tell them?

“Knuckles knows the situation better than I do.  I haven’t visited in several years remember.  If he says unloading directly to other ships is the best option then it’s the best option.”

“
What about the base.  Are we in any danger?”

“
I don’t think so,” Dash lied.  “I trust Knuckles with my life.  He saved it on several occasions.  We go right back.  If something was wrong, he’d find a way to let me know.”

“
If he’s such a good friend, why did you turn down his offer to go see him?”

Jess was clearly suspicious.  Dash decided to stick as close to the truth as possible.  It was always best when lying.  Making it too complicated was always a recipe for tripping up on the details.

“My conscience.  It’s still likely that some of the prisoners won’t survive.  I want to know that I’d done everything I could for them.  I can’t sit around drinking beer knowing people could be dying.”

“
Strange attitude for a pirate chief.”

Dash shrugged.  “You know my story.  That wasn’t what I set out to be.  I was just trying to keep my people safe.  That led me to become what I became.”

“All right.  We know we can trust you.”  Jess’s tone gave the lie to his words.  “What about the ships the people we freed end up on?  How do we know they won’t be sold straight back into slavery?”

Dash sighed deeply, suddenly feeling very old.  Had he ever been this idealistic?  That caused him to chuckle.  Of course he had.

“What’s so funny?” Jess asked, scowling.

“
Sorry.  I was laughing at me, not you.  Remembering how I was when I was your age.  I’d have been standing right next to you in those days, lending you my support.  The years wear you down.

“
How do you know you can trust them?  You don’t know.  Even I don’t.  But every one of them is here because they’ve shown themselves to be trustworthy and, more importantly, to have strong ethics.  Those aren’t great in a pirate organisation, as I’m sure you’d be quick to point out.” 

Dash couldn’t resist making the barb.  Jess didn’t rise to it, so Dash continued, glad to be on a subject where he could be completely honest.

“That made it easy to shift them out to roles on the periphery of the organisation, and in time to rotating them through this base.  So I think they’ll do the right thing, especially with us asking them to, but I can’t guarantee it.  If I’m honest it’s likely that at least a few will end up as slaves again.

“
What alternative do you have though?  Send a robot onto every ship?  Follow them to their destination?  Watch over the resettlement of everyone you freed?  You can’t do that.  They’ll need to go to many different systems.

“
This ship is amazing Jess.  You’ve achieved incredible things with it.  But you have to learn that there are still limits.  If you don’t then you’ll tear yourself apart.”

Frustration radiated off of Jess.  “There must be something we can do.  If not then we’ll take them on board the
Wanderer
.”

“
For how long?” Dash asked.  “Things are crowded down on the main decks as it is.  The people down there are just glad to be free right now, but soon enough they’ll get restless.  If you try to squeeze four times as many people into that space they’ll revolt in no time at all.”

Jess opened his mouth to argue, but couldn’t find the words.  Ali put her hand on his arm.

“Jess, Dash is right.  I know you feel responsible for them, for all of them, but we’ve done what we can.  We are giving them the best chance we can.  Especially compared to what they were going to.  Elizabeth found the details on the
Steady Light
’s computers.  They were facing certain and agonising death cleaning up a radiation leak.  You’ve given them back their lives.”

Jess smacked a hand onto his thigh in frustration.

“Damn it!  We should be able to do more!”

“
Jess, I understand,” Dash said, his quiet and earnest tone got Jess’s attention.  “I stood where you are now, many years ago.  I didn’t have a ship like the
Wanderer
but the one I had was pretty good, and I had my men behind me.  Highly trained soldiers.  We’d seen what the Empire really stood for and wanted to fight against that.

“
It started well, but before long I reached the point you have.  I realised that whatever I did would only be a splash in the ocean, that almost everyone I saved would have to be left to take their chances again.

“
I decided I needed more strength, more power, and I set out to get it.  I succeeded too.  It just made the scale of the problem bigger.  Now I could save a few hundred, or even a few thousand, and ensure they stayed safe but I saw tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, that needed to be saved.  So I sought more power.

“
And for each bit of power I sacrificed something.  Sometimes my principles.  Sometimes a small part of my ability to act as I chose.  Sometimes the life of someone I cared about.  Sending them on a mission I would never have sanctioned when I first started out.

“
I know you don’t trust me fully Jess, but please believe me on this.  You stand at a crossroads.  Don’t take the path I did.  Accept that you have limits.”

“
I should just give up?  Not try?” Jess spat back angrily.

“
No!  Not at all.  You need to understand the limits, then keep pushing them as hard as you damn well can.  More often than not you’ll gain ground, and those times will make you feel good.  Great.  But if you try to fix everything then you will only ever find bitterness.”

Jess didn’t reject the advice immediately.  He sat, anger on his face but considering what Dash had said.  Dash was impressed.  Once again he was struck by how mature Jess could be at times.  Thinking back to how his younger self would react to such advice Dash nearly laughed again, stifling it with a cough.  He’d probably have punched whoever offered the advice.

Jess abruptly stood.  He muttered something about needing a few minutes then stamped off towards the flight deck.  Ali started to follow him then stopped, face stricken.  Worried about the young man she loved but uncertain what to do.

“
Leave him Ali,” Sal said quietly.  “Roberto is right.  Jess needs some time to come to terms with that.  He’s angry right now.  Angry and frustrated.  If you go in there he might turn that anger on you.  Give him a chance to calm down.”

Dash felt a warm glow at Sal’s words.  Despite everything, she still called him Roberto.  It was how she’d first known him.  Very few people used his first name any more.  Sal using it gave him hope their friendship might survive all that he’d thrown at it.

“It’s so hard,” Ali replied.  “I know how important this is to Jess, and I care about the people we rescued too.  But I can’t feel it in the way that Jess does.  And you too Sal.  I’ve never been a slave.  I hear you and Jess tell us about it, but it isn’t the same as having lived it.”

“
Jess knows that.  You try, that’s what matters.  Sometimes… well, sometimes the memories are just overwhelming.  So is the ability to do things, to make a difference.  That’s new to us.  Making choices.  Deciding our own fate, let alone other peoples.  Sometimes I just feel like curling up in a ball.  Shutting everything out.

“
Jess must feel that way too, but he knows he can’t do it.  He’s the captain of the
Wanderer
.  He has to stay focused, stay strong.  That’s tough.  I don’t know how he manages as well as he does, though I’m sure a lot of it’s down to you.  You make him happy.”

Ali blushed at that.  “How are… how about a drink?”

The hesitation was almost too short to notice.  So was the way Ali’s eyes glanced at Dash before she changed the subject.  Dash caught both though.  He was certain Ali was going to ask how Sal was doing, then she’d changed her mind when she remembered Dash was there.  But was that because she thought Sal had feelings for Dash?  He didn’t know.  There were too many other possibilities.

Still, maybe it was.  And maybe Sal
did
have feelings for him.  His eyes followed Sal as she and Ali fetched drinks, and he felt a tug on his heart at the thought of leaving the
Wanderer
.  Leaving Sal.  He realised he had to say something to Sal soon, or risk regretting the missed opportunity for the rest of his life.

*****

Jess was in the pilot’s chair once again, but slumped down this time.  In many ways he still didn’t trust Dash, but the older man’s advice had seemed honest.  The more Jess thought about Dash’s words, the more they made sense.

The
Wanderer
was massively more powerful than when Jess had first come aboard.  It had repaired and reshaped itself into a much more deadly ship, and that had allowed Jess and the others to help far more people than before.  To save far more people.  But, as Dash had said, that just highlighted the far greater number they couldn’t help.

Who was it that had told him he would need to change the Empire, bring it down, to help everyone?  He couldn’t remember.  Too much had been packed into such a small space of time.  Was it Matt?  Or maybe Elizabeth?  Sal even?  He didn’t know.

That piece of advice merged with one from Dash.  Know your limits, but push at them.  Stretch them.  Fine.  He’d accept the limits he now faced, but his goal was to change the Empire as much as he was able.  Maybe even to bring it down.

An almost unthinkable task, but maybe one he could accomplish given the right help.  And the right resources.  He was constantly aware of the
Wanderer
’s desire to return home, to the system far on the other side of Imperial space.  Jess and the others had decided to go there, mostly for the adventure.

Now Jess felt another reason to visit crystallise in his mind.  He would need something amazingly powerful to destroy the Empire.  Where better to find it than the system that built the
Wanderer
?  Maybe he would find allies, though he thought it unlikely.  Somehow he felt sure the original builders of the
Wanderer
were long gone.  How could the Empire span so much of space otherwise?

Yet the ship longed to return which told Jess there should be something there.  Or at least there would have been thirty or forty thousand years ago.  The ship’s intellect had been greatly reduced for that immense span of time.  Lobotomised effectively.  Jess had helped to smash through the barriers, to bring the amazing ship fully back to life, albeit without knowing what he was doing.

Yet the ship knew how long had passed and it still seemed keen to return.  And if the
Wanderer
had survived such a long time it seemed likely that other ships and stations could have too.

Jess straightened in the chair, eyes bright with ideas.  His desire to smash the Empire burnt strongly, and it gave him renewed strength to look at the current problem.  He might not be able to protect the former prisoners, but he could give them the means to protect themselves.  The
Wanderer
could produce knives and even simple guns that would be difficult to detect.  He’d make damn sure the prisoners had a chance if it came to a fight for their freedom.

Chapter Eight

Ali entered the flight deck tentatively.  Jess had been alone for well over twenty minutes.  She didn’t think leaving him on his own for much longer was a good idea.  In some ways Sal understood Jess far better than Ali did, but in others Ali was sure she knew him better.  Their relationship had been short but incredibly intense.  So much so that she couldn’t imagine her life without Jess in it.

Jess had been sitting facing forwards.  Hearing the door he swivelled round quickly.  Despite her worries, Ali couldn’t help smiling slightly.

“Glad to see I still put a smile on your face,” Jess said lightly.  He seemed nothing like she’d feared.  Instead of gloomy and upset he seemed bright and alive.

“
I was just thinking you’ve really got the hang of that swivel now.  I hardly ever have to help you up off the floor.”

Jess grinned sheepishly at that, remembering the time he’d ended up sprawled with his body on the floor and his feet tangled in the chair.  It hadn’t swivelled then, or not until Jess had thought how he wished it would.  It was one of the first indications he got of just how closely the ship and his mind were joined.  The ship reacted to his wish immediately… and Jess found a fixed seat suddenly spinning and tipping him out.

“Yeah…” he said with a grin.

Ali walked forwards and dropped into his lap, tilting her head to one side.  She was still smiling at the memory of Jess sprawled out on the floor.  Jess wrapped his arms around her and gently kissed her neck.

“Mmmm… that’s nice,” Ali said.

She wriggled in place, drawing a groan from Jess, then leaned in for a passionate kiss.  They pulled apart several minutes later, both breathing heavily.

“I could lock the door…” Jess suggested, with a grin that made her heart skip.

Ali groaned.  “Oh… I’m
so
tempted.  We can’t though.  I came to see how you were, and to tell you that Dash thinks we should be hearing from the base soon.  He was worried… well, we were all worried about you.  I’m here you know, whenever you need me.”

Jess’s face turned serious.  “I know.  I don’t think I can ever tell you how important that is to me.  I love you so much.”

They kissed again, softly this time with Jess cradling her face.

“
I love you too,” Ali said as she pulled away.  “How are you?”

Jess grinned.  “I’m fine.  I understand we can’t protect the former prisoners, not directly anyway, but I’ve had an idea.  We can’t tell Dash though.”

His excitement was contagious.  Ali poked him.

“
Go on then, tell me!”

“
The
Wanderer
can produce some weapons.  Mostly knives, a few simple guns.  What’s important is that they’ll be easy to hide and difficult for any scans to detect.  If anyone turns on the people we freed, if anyone tries to enslave them again, then they at least get a chance to fight.”

Ali chewed her lip as she thought.

“That makes sense,” she said.  “But you realise they might not use them for defence?  What if they decide they want to take over a ship?  If Dash is right then they’ll be attacking crew who are trying to do the right thing.”

Jess grimaced.  “I hadn’t thought of that.  It’s a good job I’ve got you as my conscience.  I want to say that they’re pirates, so no matter what happens they deserve it.  From what Dash said though they’re not the sort who deserve to be hurt.  We can’t know if that’s true though.  I can’t leave them defenceless.”

“No.  No, you’re right.  It worries me though.  We can’t warn the crew?”

“
No.  They’d refuse to take them on board, I’m sure.  Any that did accept would almost certainly be planning on enslaving their passengers anyway, and would know they had a way to do that without danger from the weapons.”

“
Then there isn’t a choice.  We need to talk to the prisoners though.  Tell them that we think the crew are really going to help them.  Tell them that the weapons are just in case, and for wherever they end up.”

Jess brightened a little.  “Yeah… that might work.  At least we’ll have done everything we can.”

“Great.  I guess you’ve already started manufacturing the weapons?”  His grin told her she’d guessed right.  “Then we should go speak to Dash before he takes another call from the station.  Sal and I have been speaking to Elizabeth and the other two captains too, letting them know what’s going on.”

“
Yeah, I know.  Thanks for that.  I should have done it but…”

He stopped talking and smiled fondly as Ali gently tapped the side of his face.  It was Ali’s way of telling him not to take too much on, to let the others help.  Though at the start of their relationship it had been a full on slap rather than a tap.

“We’d better go speak to Dash,” she said, climbing off his lap.

Jess sighed theatrically.

“Later…” Ali promised with a gleam in her eye.

Jess’s heart jumped and he grinned back at her.

“I’ll hold you to that!”

Ali simply smiled more widely and disappeared through the door.

*****

Dash took a deep breath, steeling himself.  Ali had just disappeared into the flight deck to speak to Jess.  Dash and Sal were left alone.

“Sal,” he said tentatively.  “Can we talk?”

Sal stiffened for a moment before nodding.  Not a great sign.  Well, he was committed now.

“Sal, you know about me now.  You know that when I leave you I’ll be going back to being the leader of a large criminal organisation.  That I’ll have power and wealth, if not that much safety.”

“
Unless you’ve been overthrown,” Sal said sharply.

“
Yes.  Though even if that’s happened I’ll have enough allies that I can head for somewhere else and set up again.  Or retake the organisation.  All of that is waiting for me.”

Dash paused, locking eyes with Sal.  She held his gaze unflinchingly.

“Sal, I don’t want to go back to that.”

That startled her.  Emotions chased each other across her face.  Dash’s usual ability to read people vanished, washed away by his own hopes and fears.

“Really?” she asked finally.

“
Really.  It’s difficult though.  Just getting away without being tracked would be a major achievement.  Then I’d have to spend every day wondering if someone had recognised me.  If a killer was stalking me.  No matter how far I go that fear will never leave me.”

“
So you’re what you are because you’re a coward?” Sal asked.

“
Maybe.  I’d never thought about it in that way but yes.  I suppose you’re right.”

“
So you’d like to quit but you can’t.  Fine.  Don’t expect any sympathy from me.”

“
But there is a way,” he said earnestly.  “There is somewhere I can be safe.  The other side of the Quarantine Zone.”

Sal nodded slowly as understanding sank in.

“So you head over to the base, drink with your friend then take one of the ships,” she said.  “Fly through the Quarantine Zone then live happily ever after.”

Dash laughed.  “It really isn’t that simple.  Getting through is almost impossible.  Even Imperial forces need special permission to move through.  None of the ships docked here could make it.  The
Wanderer
could though.”

Dash held up his hand to stall anything she wanted to say.

“Please Sal, hear me out.  I know you probably don’t want me anywhere near after everything I put you through.  I don’t blame you at all.  Saying I didn’t mean them to happen is no excuse.  They happened, so it’s my responsibility.  I am more sorry that you got hurt than you can ever know.”

Sal smiled, a bright smile full of life.  Not at all the reception Dash had expected for his words.

“Roberto, I don’t blame you.  Not really.  And I remember where you were when it mattered most.  When my life was in so much danger I knew I was about to die you stepped up.  You stood by me and shared the risk.  I looked into your eyes then.  I looked into your soul.

“
Do I trust you?  No.  Not really.  Not where the ship is concerned, or the others.  I don’t believe you will hurt me though.  Not deliberately at least.  And if you left now I think I’d miss you.  A lot.”  Her face darkened.

Dash smiled back, then the smile faded as he considered her words.  She didn’t hate him.  She didn’t want him to leave immediately, or any time soon.  But she also didn’t trust him.  And she was right not to.  How would she react when she found out he’d lied once again?

“I’m sorry.  I lied about the base.  It’s been taken.”

The words were out before he could think stop them, leaving him hovering between fear of Sal’s reaction and relief at having come clean.

“What?”  Her eyes narrowed.  “And the ships we’re preparing to pack the freed prisoners off to?”

“
Not them,” Dash said hurriedly.  “Only the base.  Knuckles and I have a set of codewords.  He told me the base is taken but that the ships are still loyal.  Most of them at least.”

“
You’re sure?”

“
Yes.  Absolutely.  I know the ships that should be here.  I know the few captains that might not be trustworthy, and I know the handful of ships that have no right to be here.  I would have ensured none of them took our passengers.”

“
And you?  What did you plan if you had to leave the
Wanderer
?”

“
I’d have travelled on one of the shuttles directly to a ship whose crew I could trust, then slipped out of the system.”

“
What about Knuckles?”

Her voice was sharp again.  Dash winced.

“Knuckles is already dead,” he said in a leaden voice.  “He knows it as well as I do.  Even if I had hundreds of ships and thousands of assault troops I could never hope to get near the base before he was killed.”

“
What about a sting operation?  Like your men pulled on the
Wanderer
?”

“
It wouldn’t work.  He’d be held somewhere well away from where we landed.  Any sign of hostility from us and he’d be killed.  If we weren’t hostile then they’d disarm us. And it’s not just Knuckles.  All the staff on the base will be killed.  Most will have been already, or will be stuck in holding cells to wait to die.”

He had to swallow at that.

“I’m sorry,” Sal said softly.

Dash shrugged.  “It’s hard.  Everyone on that base is someone I’ve hand picked.  Someone who made the best of a bad situation, choosing to help others wherever possible.  Now they’re all dead, or soon will be.  All to get to me.”

“We have to tell the others,” Sal said.  “They need to know what’s at stake.  Maybe they’ll be able to think of a way to save some of your people.”

Dash shook his head, then shrugged.  “Yeah, they should know what they face.  As for rescuing them… I doubt it.  Unless the Wanderer can teleport them out.” 

He said it as a joke, but the moment the words were out he found himself anxiously waiting for the answer.  The ship was simply amazing.  Could it add one more impossibility to the list?

Sal dashed his hopes.  “No.  Sorry.  Not that I know of at least, and I think we’d have found out by now.”

Dash shrugged again, embarrassed at having pinned so much hope on what could only ever be an impossible dream.

“
Before the others come back,” Sal said.  “Is there anything else you’re keeping secret?”

Only the fact I think I love you,
Dash thought.  But he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.