By the time Jess finished the mug his eyelids felt heavy and his head started nodding forwards. Matt took the mug and Jess was asleep again within seconds.
Jess was woken with a start by a rasping snore. Turning in his seat he saw Matt sprawled behind him – head back, mouth open and snoring loudly. Jess smiled at the sight, and sounds, feeling tension drain out of him.
Turning back he started to run his eyes over the displays to check the ship's status. Then realised he didn't need to. Closing his eyes he reached out, feeling the status, seeing it in his mind. The ship was functioning well but in a very low power state. It had depleted most of its reserves at some point in the past. Powerful as seemed to Jess, it was only a pale shadow of what it could be.
Stretching his thoughts out Jess felt the ship respond, felt it mesh perfectly with his mind. Wiggled the course back and forwards slightly just by thinking about it. Felt the powerful jump engines as they did something Matt had thought impossible, almost as if they were his legs. Felt the strong tingling of the shields around himself. And felt the weaponry come online, aiming felt like moving his arms. The weapons locked to where he pointed.
Opening his eyes he pulled himself back with some reluctance. He was still aware of the ship, of its status, but now he was back in his own body. A body that was decidedly stiff. Stretching he pushed himself up, turned and took a couple of steps before freezing. The web. It was gone. He reached up, touched the back of his head. Hair, skull. Nothing else. No stickiness, no holes. Yet he could still feel the ship in his head. Closing his eyes he reached out for the ship again, linking with its limited mind. Called up a view of the cabin and saw himself standing as if in a trance. With a thought the view changed, was overlaid with temperature and other scans. Now he could see into his head, could see the silvery threads and nodes that formed an intricate lace netting interwoven with his brain. Linking him to the ship without the need of a physical connection.
Now he understood. The web had been a temporary measure, allowing limited linkage and forming the bridge for the permanent connection to be grown. Jess marvelled at how calmly he was taking this. He realised it wasn't new to him, that he'd been made aware of all this whilst he slept. Still – finding it out, facing up to it, was quite a shock.
With a thought his vision shifted to Matt, studying the old man. Matt's brain was completely free of the growths in Jess's head. Whatever was happening was reserved for Jess alone apparently. Fascinated Jess studied the flows of electricity across Matt's brain as he slept, panicked for what felt like seconds when he realised there was no heartbeat before the ship sent a soothing wave with the knowledge that he was thinking far, far faster than normal. What felt like long seconds later this was confirmed as the old man's heart gave a lazy beat.
Jess let his new senses range farther over Matt, found himself drawn to the left lung. To a fist sized mass that seemed wrong. Cancerous the ship confirmed through the link. Likely to be fatal within a few months.
Jess pulled back into his own head with a start, tears blurring his vision. He was already fond of the old man. Did Matt know? Could he not with such a large lump? He stumbled past, towards the main cabin. Both doors opened at his approach, closing quietly behind him.
The main cabin was pretty much as Matt had described. Sal was asleep on one of the sofas, a soft grey blanket pulled over her. The lights were dim, though they started to brighten as Jess walked in. Without thinking how he did it he dimmed them again – not wanting to wake Sal. Stomach grumbling he made his way over to the food dispenser.
It was a large, rectangular, white box positioned against the wall and standing from floor to ceiling. Controls in the lower area of the machine seemed to offer choices and a large door stood above. As Jess approached the machine started to hum. The display flashed up “Pilot's Special” and the door slid upwards revealing a large steaming mug. Jess took it out and made his way to the dining table, settling into a chair at the end and resting the mug.
He sniffed the mugs contents cautiously and caught the wonderful smell of hot chocolate, but with other smells he could only half identify. He felt a gentle prod from the ship to drink up. The ship warned him that most of the changes made to him had come from his bodies own resources, that he urgently needed to replace them. With a shrug he started to sip the drink.
Chapter Three
“Hey, you're awake. How are you feeling?” asked Sal.
Jess turned in the pilot's seat, smiled back at her. She had the grey blanket draped over her shoulders. Matt was still sleeping in the chair behind, though thankfully the snoring had stopped.
“I'm fine. I was just watching the mists. They really are beautiful. They change all the time, you start to see shapes in them after a while.”
She walked up next to him then stopped, a shocked look on her face.
“The web! It's gone!”
“Yeah. I had noticed.” Jess said, grinning.
“So... are you and the ship... not connected now?”
“No, I mean yes, we are still connected. It did something to my head, I can feel the whole ship if I want to, control it. I think that's how it's designed to work, with a single pilot who in some ways is part of the ship. I'm still coming to terms with it.”
She studied him in silence for a long time. Jess started to worry. Though he'd only just met them he suddenly realised how much he needed both Sal and Matt, needed their company, needed them to help him through what was happening. He hadn't thought about how they might feel. He'd been so caught up in his own worries. Now he realised how he must seem to them. Something different. Not fully human any more. A monster maybe. He wanted to speak up, tell her it was still him. He couldn't find the words so sat there waiting for her to speak. Waiting for her to pull away in fear or disgust, to make her feelings clear. Finally she spoke.
“Does it... does it hurt?” she asked, reaching out to touch his arm.
Jess broke down. Everything that had happened came crashing in at once, the enormity of the changes to his mind, his worries about what Sal was thinking and the obvious concern in her question. Concern for him, as a person. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him. Rocking him. Reassuring him. For the first time since he'd been separated from his mother aged nine someone held him while he cried.
He took a few minutes to cry himself out. Sobbing cries subsiding to snivels and finally stopping. He still stayed where he was, enjoying the feeling of being held for a few more minutes, before pulling away. He was surprised to see that Sal had been crying too. He smiled at her.
“Thank you.” he said.
It seemed to be enough. She smiled back.
“Does it hurt that much?” she asked gently, obviously still concerned.
His laugh surprised her. He shook his head.
“No. It doesn't hurt. It's a little strange at times but that's it. I was so sure you'd see me as a monster, as something disgusting. I was so scared you'd want to leave me.”
She shook her head.
“Something strange has happened to you. But you're still the same scared looking kid that got singled out to help us de-trap this ship. Nothings changed there.”
“Same goes for me kid.” said Matt, stretching in his seat.
He winced, rubbing his chest where Jess had sensed the cancerous growth.
“Getting too old to be sleeping in chairs.” he muttered.
“Matt.” Jess said softly. The old man looked up, waiting for him to continue. “Matt... it's more than that. I saw... through the ship. There's a lump.”
Matt's face tensed. He nodded sharply. Grimaced, sank back in his seat.
“I worried it might be. It's been getting worse for weeks. Not much I could do about it though, the guards wouldn't have cared. Not till I was too ill to work, then it would've been a bullet to the head. Not much more I can do about it here, though I guess I'd rather know than worry about what it might be.”
Sal moved to stand by Matt, hand on his shoulder, lost for words
.
“So. Did this wonderful ship say how long I might have?” asked Matt.
“The Wanderer. It says its name is the Wanderer, or that's the closest translation it can get.” replied Jess.
“The Wanderer. Nice name. Now... how about answering my question.”
“A few months. Maybe a bit more, maybe less.” Jess said quietly.
“Could be worse I suppose. Can get a lot of living into a few months, especially now we're free. Hell... might even be able to find a doctor that can cure it. If I had the money.”
Jess felt a gentle nudge in his mind, the ships way of bringing things to his attention. As he absorbed the information a huge smile spread across his face.
“Well don't you look like the cat that got the cream.” said Matt. “What's up?”
“The back section, the area you couldn't get into. It contains the engineering deck like you thought. But more than that. There's a medical bay. The ship seems to think it can remove the lump and reconstruct the damaged area of your lung.”
Conflicting emotions fought their way across Matt's face. Fear, hope, resignation, concern, relief.
“Are you sure? Really sure?”
Jess's gaze lost its focus as he pushed his awareness out into the ship's mind, checking. It snapped back again almost instantly.
“Yes. I've checked and I'm sure. In fact... please don't take this the wrong way, but the ship seems to feel it's quite trivial. Compared to what it did to my mind that is.”
“When can we start?”
“Now. If you want. The process will take a few hours, then you'll have to stay in the chamber resting for a couple of days while you recover. We'll be able to speak to you, but not come in. The room has to be kept sterile.”
“Well then. No time like the present is there.”
Matt stood. Sal glanced between the two of them.
“Are you sure? We know hardly anything about this ship, and you're going to risk letting it operate on you? How do you know it's even right. Maybe you don't have a growth. Or it's not cancerous.”
Matt placed his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes.
“Sal. It's cancer. It's in my family, something in the genes. I've known for weeks, months, whether I wanted to admit it to myself or not. I'm old. Nearly seventy. And for months I've felt this pain in my chest grow worse and worse.”
He leant forward, kissed her on the top of her head.
“This is my chance. I have to take it. Do you see?”
She nodded, smiled sadly at him. He turned and walked back to the living quarters, Jess and Sal following. When they reached the rear door Matt reached out and pressed the pad to the side. Nothing happened.
“Sorry.” Jess said, reaching out for the ship's mind again and making changes. “Now you should have access to all areas of the ship. Be careful of the engine room though.”
Matt reached out again, the door slid open as he touched the pad. They stepped through into another short corridor, this one with a door to each side and another at the end.
“The room on the left.” Jess said.
Matt moved towards it, the door opened to reveal a small room with a raised bed in the middle. No instruments, no screens, just the raised bed with legs that melded into the floor.
“I wonder where I should be?” Matt joked.
He climbed onto the bed, turned to look at Jess.
“You're sure about this kid? Really sure?” He didn't look so certain now, in fact he looked distinctly worried.
Jess smiled reassuringly. “Yes. Certain. I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise. Just lay back.”
“OK.” With a deep breath Matt did as he was asked. “Now what?”
“Just lay back and relax. You'll be asleep for a few hours during the procedure, then you'll be stuck in bed for a few days.”
“Relax he says. Easier said than done. I don't think I could sleep... if... I...” his eyes closed, breathing slowing into a deep sleep.
“We should go.” Jess said, stepping back into the hallway.
Sal stepped forward, kissed the old man on his forehead, then backed out of the room. The door hissed shut.
“Can we watch the procedure?” asked Sal.
Jess concentrated, linking with the ship again.
“No. Sorry, no we can't. There wouldn't be anything to see.” he lied. “Just Matt sleeping. Trust me, I saw enough of that on the bridge. It's nothing special.”
“OK.”
She started back to the main cabin, Jess following. He felt bad for lying, but from what the ship had fed to him the procedure wasn't something either of them would want to watch and he didn't know how to explain that to her. The procedure would be invasive, very invasive. It would work, but it was better not to know the details.
“Lets get some hot chocolate.” he said.
Chapter Four
Three hours later Jess sat alone on the bridge, gazing out at the ever-changing mists. His skin tingled from a hot shower that had removed months of dirt and the touch of new, clean clothes. He'd checked in on Matt a few minutes before, confirming that the first stage of the operation was completed. The cancerous growth had been removed. Now the damaged lung was being rebuilt. Seeing the web criss-crossing through Matt's chest had made Jess shiver, knowing something similar had been done to his brain.
A flashing red light flared to life on the display board. Jess reached out for the ship, felt time slow around him, saw the light flash slower and slower as his mind sped up. Information flowed in from the ship. It had picked up a distress call in real space, nearby – as far as near had any meaning between real and jump space. He reached out, using the ships “legs” to change direction, to close in on the beacon. They could be there in a couple of minutes. He pulled back a little, returning to thinking at near normal speed.
“Sal!” he yelled over his shoulder. “I need you.”
Sal came rushing into the cabin.
“My god, what's wrong? You nearly deafened me, your voice was coming from everywhere.”
“Sorry. I didn't realise I could do that. We've picked up a distress call, I'm taking us in close and dropping back into real space.”
“Be careful. It might be a trap. Don't take us in too close, just in case.”
“I should have thought of that. You're right. Thanks”
“Glad to hear it boy wonder. I wouldn't like to think I was completely useless on this ship.”
He glanced around worried he'd done something wrong, saw by her smile that she was teasing him and smiled sheepishly.
The distress signal was getting stronger as they approached, he started to pick words out from the message. Thirty seconds out and he had the full message. He played it for Sal to hear.
“Imperial ships have destroyed our engines, holed our ship. We are bleeding heat and air into space. Please help us. We have families.”
They exchanged glances.
“How many could we take?” asked Sal.
“Sixty, maybe sixty-five.” The answer popped into his head. “A few more if some are young children. Any more than that and I don't think the life support could cope for long. She wasn't designed for a large crew.”
“Then lets hope there aren't more than that.”
Jess just pulled a face. What was there to say? He reached out to the ship again, fully linking. Despite being in jump space he was aware of the real space area they were targeting, could feel several large ships and some distance off another small ship which was tumbling slowly. He could feel the sensor sweeps from the large ships, mostly concentrated around themselves and the stricken ship. He brought the Wanderer out into real space well away from all the other ships. The displacement could still be spotted but only if someone spared time from the battle. The imperial ships were identified as two frigates and one smaller corvette. The tumbling craft was some form of small cargo vessel.
“Now what?” asked Sal.
Before Jess could answer one of the imperial frigates jumped, quic
kly followed by the other.
“We couldn't be that lucky could we?” asked Jess. “Come on, follow them damn you.”
Warnings flashed across the displays as a sensor swept across them. The corvette had spotted them. A transmission followed, as the corvette turned and accelerated towards them.
“Unidentified ship, you are interfering in the punishment of smugglers. Power down and prepare to be boarded. Resistance will result in your destruction.”
“Strap yourself in.” Jess told Sal. “Time to see how big a punch this thing has.”
“Are you kidding? That's a Corvette. It must be fifty times the size of us at least. They'll blow us to pieces!”
“Trust me. I know what I'm doing. I think.”
“Oh great, now I feel so much better.”
Jess swung the Wanderer round on an intercept course. He was fully immersed in the ship now, its engines were his legs, its weapons his arms. He flexed both sending shivers down the ship. The movements felt tired, lethargic. Warnings that the ship was far from optimum status at the moment. He thought the ship could cope though, or hoped it could anyway.
For some reason the Corvette's shields were running at greatly reduced power. Jess suspected they simply didn't consider the Wanderer a threat. While reduced the shields were still several times more powerful than the Wanderer's own.
He knew that for Sal the two ships must seem to be racing towards each other, for him everything was much slower. The Corvette fired a volley of high-powered laser blasts. Jess already had the Wanderer weaving as it approached so most missed, but one seemed to scald his back and another clipped his heel. The shields coped with both. Jess was glad the other ship had fired first. Now there was no guilt, no concern over whether his actions were right. Now it was about survival. Twisting the ship he brought both sets of weapons to bear, the right side set of lasers fired at the corvettes bridge almost overwhelming the shields there. He sensed the enemy ship desperately routing power forward to shield the bridge from his next attack, draining power from their other shields. He ignored the bridge, instead firing the left side's lasers in a volley at the corvettes engines, punching through the weakened shields to devastating effect. The engines seemed to implode for a second or so, then the collapse was reversed in a massive explosion that ripped the corvette apart. Within seconds all that remained was a rapidly thinning field of debris, few bits bigger than a metre. A scan confirmed there were no survivors.
Wanderer's Escape Page 3
