The Outer Worlds: Book One of the Epherian Chronicles

by E J Gilmour

Ivan opened the second pod. The man inside woke up and sat bolt upright. He had a thin build and was about seventy years old. His dark eyes widened with fear as he looked at the heavily armed crew.

  He reached for a pistol which had been hidden behind the inner edge of the sleeping pod. Ajax stepped forward and lifted his rifle. ‘That’s no way to treat your rescue party.’

  The old man froze in place and stared at Ajax for a long moment. He visibly relaxed. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said in a faint voice. ‘I didn’t know if you were friends or foes. At first I thought you were pirates.’

  ‘We’re not friends or foes, and we’re certainly not pirates,’ said Ajax as he reached over and took the man’s pistol.

  ‘Who are you?’ asked the old man.

  ‘We’re salvors,’ replied Ajax gruffly.

  ‘Why are you helping us?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ answered Ajax cynically. He looked back at Michael. ‘You see. Even they think us helping them is weird.’ Ajax turned back to the old man. ‘Consider today your lucky day.’

  ‘We have assessed your ship. It’s inoperable. You can come aboard our ship; we will drop you off at the next safe planet,’ said Michael.

  ‘I thank you for your assistance, Captain Michael,’ she said. ‘My name is Aradel, and this is my uncle Adrastus. We are colonists from Herman Beta 3.’

  ‘Herman Beta 3. I thought the Herman worlds were not suitable for colonisation,’ said Ethan, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘We only have a small settlement equipped to meet the needs of no more than one hundred people, but we only had eighteen people living in the settlement. The worlds surrounding Herman Beta are mostly deserted with the exception of a few smaller mining operations. We thought that we were remote enough not to draw the attention of either pirates or aliens.’ She cast her eyes downward and her pale face revealed her deep distress and grief. ‘A little more than three months ago we left for a supply run to Moon 419. We received a transmission that our colony was under attack. The aliens found our settlement. We turned our ship around in an attempt to return to save our family, but we had a major reactor malfunction, and we were forced to enter the sleeping pods.’

  ‘I’m sorry to hear about your loss,’ said Cynthia.

  ‘All is not lost,’ said Aradel, a glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes. ‘We were prepared for the possibility of an alien attack. We constructed a secret vault when we first settled on Herman Beta 3. It is hidden beneath the settlement and protected by an anti-scanning shield. The vault has sleeping pods and supplies. My son sent one last transmission to say that three of the colonists made it to the vault and had avoided being detected by the aliens. I know they’re alive.’

  ‘Once aliens conquer a settlement they always leave a battle group behind to prevent the humans returning,’ said Ajax, his voice was flat and emotionless. ‘Even if there are survivors there is no way you would be able to get to them without a fight.’

  ‘We are not soldiers,’ said Aradel.

  ‘You could employ some mercenaries to help you,’ said Ethan.

  ‘Good luck with that,’ said Ajax, shaking his head. ‘You won’t find many mercenaries who have fighting aliens on their list of services.’

  ‘Even so, we don’t have any money,’ said Aradel. ‘Would you help us?’

  The crew was silenced by the question. Ajax shook his head and walked out.

  ‘I am sorry to hear your story, Aradel,’ said Michael. ‘You have to understand that we don’t have the firepower to deal with an alien battlegroup. As I already said: we will take you to the next safe stop; then you’re on your own.’

  ‘I should be thankful for the fact that you saved us. I’m sorry for asking too much,’ she said.

  **

  The Out Drifter’s engines fired up, and they left the derelict ship behind with the two extra passengers on board. Sara reset the course for Zeno Par. Aradel and Adrastus had agreed to let them salvage anything they liked from the Standmast ship. Michael transferred three thousand credits to Aradel’s GCTD. Aradel had initially refused any payment as she believed that being rescued was payment enough, but Michael insisted because it was a part of the Outer World Salvage Guild code that nothing owned by another could be salvaged without permission and payment.

  Michael, Ivan and Cynthia were seated in the living room around the table.

  ‘Why won’t we help them?’ asked Cynthia. ‘Surely we can at least try.’

  Michael leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. He drew a deep breath and sighed before replying. ‘I hope this won’t be an ongoing problem. Cynthia, you have to realise that we will come across many people in similar situations. We can’t help everyone.’

  ‘I’m not asking you to help everyone, but I think we could try to help them. I looked up their world on the navigation computer; it’s not far away. We could at least investigate.’

  Ajax walked into the room and stared harshly down at Cynthia. ‘I can guarantee I won’t put up my hand when it comes to the crew vote on whether you stay or not,’ he said.

  Cynthia’s eyes widened with surprise. A moment later her expression hardened. ‘I’m just trying to help these people.’

  ‘We have enough problems,’ said Ajax.

  ‘Don’t you care? These people are desperate.’

  ‘Firstly, you are right, I don’t care; and secondly, marching into an alien infested world is a guaranteed way to meet an early death. We are not equipped for such a mission, and you can bet your last credit that there won’t be any survivors left in their hidden vault.’

  ‘You can’t know for sure,’ murmured Cynthia.

  ‘I know. Aliens don’t take prisoners.’ Ajax groaned. ‘Cap, you have to tell Cynthia to stop doing this. She’s driving me insane.’

  Michael liked the fact that she cared, but he also knew Ajax was right about the risks involved in such a mission; the idea of trying to rescue people stranded on an alien conquered world was far beyond their capability. ‘Cynthia, I appreciate that you want to help these people, but you have to understand that even approaching an alien occupied world would be very dangerous.’ Cynthia lowered her eyes and gave a slight nod. ‘Aradel and Adrastus are happy that we were prepared to take them to a safe port. That’s all we can do for them.’

  **

  The Out Drifter’s engines were at full power and they were travelling at interstellar speed. Cynthia was sitting in the co-pilot’s seat beside Sara who was completing her last checks of the autopilot settings.

  ‘How are you finding your time on the Out Drifter?’ asked Sara, not looking up from the control console.

  ‘I don’t think I will stay long. Ajax told me that he is going to vote me off the crew.’

  Sara gave a warm smile. ‘Don’t worry about him.’ She paused for a few moments before continuing. ‘He has mood swings. One minute he is the friendliest man in the galaxy, the next he is looking for any excuse to argue with anyone. Half of what he says is not what he means.’

  ‘You clearly don’t like him either,’ said Cynthia.

  ‘No, I wouldn’t say that. He has some redeeming qualities. He’s a good fighter, and he always gets the job done, but like most people he has some problems. He has been through a lot in his life, and some of the things he’s seen and experienced have left lasting wounds. Drinking distracts him from having to face the pain.’

  Cynthia noticed an orange light on the communication console light up. Sara looked at the light and flicked several switches.

  ‘It’s an encoded emergency beacon,’ she said as she turned a dial beneath the light.

  ‘What does it mean?’ asked Cynthia.

  ‘It means someone is in trouble and they don’t want the aliens to know their location. The message is sent in three separate waves which are scrambled and then reconfigured further away from the beacon. The system uses an algorithm that predicts the bending of waves through space and brings them back together at a distant point. It’s an old technol
ogy, but it’s probably not monitored by the aliens. Look, here’s the message.’

  The voice of a young man could be heard faintly from the com speaker.

  ‘…Emergency. Emergency. Please respond. We are stranded on Herman Beta 3. We belong to a colony which has been attacked by aliens. Our power supply is dwindling and our food synthesizers are offline. There are aliens here. We are hiding. They haven’t found us yet. Please help us.’

  Cynthia’s heart leapt in her chest. ‘We have to respond. Can we talk with him?’

  Sara didn’t answer for a few moments; she blankly stared at the console. ‘No. The message is seven days old,’ she said, glancing across at Cynthia. ‘It’s probably best that you don’t tell Aradel and Adrastus about this.’

  ‘What! Why not?’

  ‘Because this message will probably upset them.’

  ‘But they have to know.’

  Sara drew a deep breath. ‘Cynthia. I fought the aliens for years before I joined the Out Drifter. These stranded colonists will not make it. They’re already dead. They may have an untraceable hiding place, but once they come out into the open the aliens will make light work of them.’

  ‘But surely there is something we can do.’

  Captain Michael stepped into the confined control room. ‘Something we can do about what?’ he asked.

  ‘We just received an encoded message from the surviving colonists on Herman Beta 3,’ said Sara.

  Michael nodded; his face was strained. ‘Let me hear it.’

  Sara hit a switch and the message replayed. Michael stood completely still, looking down at the com speaker until the message finished. He gave a curt nod and turned to leave.

  ‘You’re not going to say anything?’ questioned Cynthia.

  He glanced back over his shoulder. ‘I don’t think there’s anything to say.’

  ‘How can you be so cold?’ asked Cynthia in a raised voice.

  ‘Cold…’ he replied, his brow furrowing. ‘Let me clearly explain this to you,’ he said as he turned back around to face her. ‘No one is happy about the alien invasion. Many people have died trying to hold back their advance, and many more will die before the war is over. This situation with the colonists is tragic, but there is nothing we can do to save them. Sara knows this, I know this, and you should also accept this as a fact. We can’t help those stranded colonists.’

  ‘I believe we can try!’ she said firmly.

  Michael was silent for a few moments.

  ‘Cynthia, what is your problem?’ he asked. Cynthia averted her eyes and didn’t answer. ‘Tell me, Cynthia! That’s an order from your captain.’

  She glanced up at him with sad eyes and began to speak in little more than a whisper.

  ‘I didn’t grow up on X5126. My parents were colonists on Petramorning 7. About four years ago the alien fleet was approaching our world. Our small colony didn’t own a spacecraft, so we had no way of escaping the invasion. We sent out requests for help. We knew there were human ships in the Petramorning system, but only one ship answered our call. The ship was owned by a ruthless and greedy merchant. He took advantage of our desperation and vulnerability. He agreed to save only one of us, and his price was every last credit owned by the entire colony. There were forty-four colonists, and we decided to draw straws to see who would be saved. My mother drew the saving straw and she insisted that I go in her place. I was the only survivor of the Petramorning 7 colony. I never saw my parents again. They were killed by the aliens.’

  Michael listened intently. He had heard many stories of people cruelly making money from the desperation of people fleeing the invasion. ‘I’m sorry to hear about your loss.’

  ‘My parents died because no one helped us. No one even tried to help us.’

  Sara didn’t say a word. Michael looked out through the viewing panel into the darkness of space. A dim star in the distance drew his attention, and he stared at the faint glow. There was once a time, before he was banished from the Epherian Empire, when he would have never questioned a request for help from stranded colonists. For the first time he realised that the battle was not just with the aliens. There was a conflict deep inside his own mind, and there was a question that refused to leave him in peace. For many years he had been on the run, and he had turned his back on his past and his real purpose. He knew the time was coming when he would not be able to run anymore.

  ‘We will try to save the colonists,’ he said.

  ‘Captain, you know this is a bad idea,’ said Sara firmly.

  ‘I know. Each crew member will have the option to sit this one out. Sara, you don’t have to come on this mission.’

  ‘You know I will,’ said Sara. ‘This plan is reckless, but I never back down when it comes to aliens.’

  Michael nodded and smiled. ‘I know.’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘What!’ yelled Ajax. He abruptly stood up and kicked the wall with all his might, causing a small dent in the metal lining. ‘This is totally crazy, Cap. This mission will get us killed.’

  ‘Take it easy, Ajax,’ said Michael sternly. ‘The ship is already falling apart; it doesn’t need your help.’

  The entire crew were sitting around the table in the living room and had been gathered together to discuss the latest turn of events.

  ‘I’m giving everyone the choice to sit this one out. If anyone wants to wait on X5126 we will drop them off there and pick them up after the rescue.’

  Ajax groaned and rolled his eyes. ‘That’s a really bad deal, Cap. Firstly, you won’t complete the rescue; secondly, anyone waiting on X5126 will be as good as stranded on that rotten piece of space junk! We have to be smart, Cap; come on, listen to me!’

  ‘Sorry, Ajax; I’ve made up my mind. We will attempt the rescue. Now, let me see a show of hands. Are you in or out?’

  ‘I’m in, Captain,’ said Cynthia instantly.

  ‘I will participate in this mission,’ said Ivan in monotone.

  ‘I’m in,’ said Sara.

  Ethan and Ajax didn’t say a word.

  ‘Ethan, what will it be?’ asked Michael.

  ‘Certain death or stranded on X5126 until I die,’ he replied dryly. ‘I would prefer to die with the crew, so I’m in.’

  Dog-Two barked and growled. Michael glanced at the ferocious beast for a moment. ‘Sorry, Dog-Two, I didn’t know that I had to ask you. I think that means you’re in,’ he said. Dog-Two gave a high pitched yelp.

  ‘We will turn the ship around and drop Ajax back at X5126,’ said Michael.

  Ajax grumbled and muttered under his breath.

  ‘What are you trying to say?’ asked Michael.

  Ajax didn’t reply. He turned his back on the crew and hung his head low. His eyes were wide with a hint of madness.

  ‘Fine then, I’m in. I might as well die fighting aliens.’

  **

  Sara set a course for the Herman Beta system. The Out Drifter’s engines rumbled toward full power. It was a two day journey to Herman Beta 3, and no one wanted to sleep for that time as they all knew that they were taking a massive risk and that those two days could possibly be their last.

  Sara was sitting in the control room and staring ahead into the vastness of space. Michael was beside her and busying himself with the control console. He was checking over some of the readings of the non-critical systems.

  ‘I surveyed the Herman Beta system on the charts,’ she said. ‘There are five planets in the system and an extensive asteroid belt between the third and fourth. There is a good chance the aliens will detect our presence long before we arrive. We may not even make it to the surface of Herman Beta 3.’

  He knew that attempting such a rescue would be considered irresponsible by most people, but he felt he had turned away too many times in the past.

  ‘Do we stand a chance of getting to the surface?’

  ‘There isn’t another pilot in the galaxy who would say yes. However, I believe there is a way.’

  ‘I’m listenin
g.’

  ‘The asteroid belt is not far from Herman Beta 3. The belt completely encircles the star. If we approach the Herman Beta star from the opposite side as the planet we will avoid being detected by the alien scanners, as they won’t be able to detect the Out Drifter directly through the star. We can then enter the asteroid belt and follow its course until we come close to Herman Beta 3 on the far side. The density of the asteroid belt should prevent them detecting us. From there we can make a dash for the surface, land the ship, hold off the alien onslaught and get out of there before we are completely obliterated.’

  ‘Good plan, Sara.’

  ‘It’s risky to say the least,’ she said in a low voice. ‘I see this as a three phase mission. The first phase is getting to the surface, which relies on us not being detected too early. The second phase is getting from the ship to the stranded colonists; I imagine that will be very difficult. The aliens usually leave about fifty of their soldiers on planets like Herman Beta 3, and they will converge on the Out Drifter immediately after we land. Last of all is getting away. We are sure to face alien fighters if we haven’t already, and they will try to stop us entering interstellar speed.’

  ‘The Out Drifter should be able to outrun alien fighters,’ he said confidently.

  ‘True, but only once we reach full power. Don’t forget that the engines take a few minutes to warm up, and a few minutes is a long time if we are surrounded and being attacked by a squadron. There is also a chance of us having to power down if the pressure release valves overheat.’

  ‘That has only happened a few times since the engine upgrade.’

  ‘Normally, I ease the ship up to full speed. If we are under attack there won’t be much easing, so there will be a much greater risk.’

  ‘I’m sure the ship won’t let us down,’ said Michael, but his tone revealed his doubt.

  Sara smiled. ‘She’s a good ship, Captain. We’ll have to wait and see.’

  **

  Ivan was still working on the jetpack. He had taken off the back panel and the shoulder straps, and he was working on the inner circuitry. He still hadn’t been able to locate the source of the malfunction.

  Cynthia watched him as he worked, and it struck her as odd that a machine was fixing another machine. Ivan glanced up at her and smiled robotically.

  ‘I imagine it is strange to watch a machine repairing a machine,’ he said in dry monotone.