Wanderer - Millennium: Wanderer's Odyssey, #7

By Simon Goodson

Kaira is in the kind of trouble it would take Jess and the Wanderer to fix, but they've been gone for a thousand years.

 

What she gets is Tarkus and the Glimmer, a rundown ship and a taciturn captain who doesn't even know she's stowed away. Yet.

 

If she's lucky Tarkus will throw her off at the next station if he finds her. If she's unlucky she'll be ejected into in cold space without a suit. If there were any other options she'd take them.

 

There aren't. All she can do is huddle in the darkened hold and hope the Glimmer gets her where she needs to go before her world caves in… and before Tarkus realises she's there.

 

Will she reach her goal?  Will she even survive?  Read Wanderer - Millennium now to find out!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon Goodson
• Release date: Nov 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781910586310

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Jess

Born into slavery, his life ruled by the Empire. Destined to die a slave. Until the day he stumbled into a unique starship.

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The Wanderer

An ancient starship, one of the last remnants of an incredibly advanced race… who still hadn’t been able to do more than stop the spread of the Taint. After sitting dormant for decades it came to life under Jess’s touch, starting them on an amazing journey.

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Ali

A young woman captured and drugged by pirates, who then tried to use her to drug Jess in the same way. Jess threw off the effects, with help from the Wanderer, and so freed Ali. Over time they grew close and fell head over heels in love. Until the Taint intervened.

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The Taint

A being which existed by taking control of the minds of other sentient beings, convincing them what it did was for their own benefit. Every mind it captured strengthened it, made it more powerful. It was capable of communicating with those under its control over thousands of light-years, growing stronger with every new being it captured.

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Unity

The name those who fell to the Taint used for it. A name which encompassed their love for and trust in the mighty entity.

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Sal

A fellow slave who escaped with Jess on the Wanderer and shared many adventures with him… until she was overwhelmed by the Taint and ended up as one of its primary agents.

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Victory

After a heroic journey Jess faced twin threats – the Taint, and the destruction of the entire Universe which the Wanderer’s creators had triggered as a final way to stop the Taint. Jess and the Wanderer, with vital help from Ali, managed to find the one-in-a-million path which kept the Universe intact and also destroyed the Taint.

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The Limited

In response to the Taint, the Empire developed the Limited – former humans turned into mindless drones by surgery and technology. This was a threat as bad as the Taint had been, especially once those in charge decided all but the highest ranked officers should be subjected to the procedure. Their one weakness was fear. Fear that others might rival their power. So they restricted all knowledge of how to create Limited to their own fleet.

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Showdown

A fleet opposed to the Empire had a chance to destroy the Imperial fleet. Jess reluctantly agreed to join the effort when it became clear that without the Wanderer most of the ships would refuse to go.

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Betrayal

Mere minutes before the battle started, Sal led a revolt. A peaceful revolt, but still a revolt. She had created a following amongst those who missed Unity, who rejected the term Taint and desperately wanted to return to the feelings of connection they’d experienced as part of Unity. She and her followers broke away from the fleet and left, leaving the remaining forces in disarray.

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Retreat

With no time to reform the now much smaller fleet to meet the Imperial forces, it was forced to turn and run. Jess, Ali, and the Wanderer had an idea as they accompanied the retreat. An area of jump space along their route was incredibly unstable. If they left a device at just the right place it could start a chain reaction and destroy the Imperial fleet. If it was timed correctly their own fleet would be safely past before that happened.

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Sacrifice

The device failed to work. In desperation Jess, Ali, and the Wanderer turned and headed back into the area of instability. When they reached the Imperial fleet Jess had the Wanderer trigger a massive disruption in jump space. It spread quickly, wiping out the Imperial fleet… and the Wanderer. Jess, Ali, and the starship never returned from that final flight.

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Rumours

Rumours abounded, of course. Reported sightings of the ship, Jess, and Ali. None turned out to be real. As days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years it became increasingly clear they would never return.

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Time

Years turned into decades and decades into centuries. Rumours of the Wanderer’s return still spread, but they were all made up or mistaken. However life and freedom endured, thanks to the sacrifice of the three heroes. Almost a thousand years have passed. Jess, Ali, and the Wanderer have never returned. But life goes on. And wherever there is life, there is trouble…

PART I

1

Kaira grabbed three dirty glasses from a recently vacated table, then threaded her way back through the dark bar to deposit them for cleaning. Once done she looked around, but none of the customers were trying to get her attention. She had a few moments to simply wait and listen.

That suited her perfectly. She’d only taken the job so she could listen to the ships’ crews as they drank, and so she could find one particular person.

She knew the name of the captain she sought, Tarkus, but not what he looked like. She hadn’t thought that would prove to be a major problem, but three hours into her shift she was still no closer to finding him.

She had been assured that Tarkus always drank at this bar when he visited the station, and that he was docked currently. Which meant he should be in the bar drinking at some point.

That might well be the case, but unless she went around asking for him, which would raise suspicions she needed to avoid, she was having to rely on dumb luck.

So far luck had failed her, and it didn’t look as if that was going to change any time soon. The only people talking loudly enough for her to hear were a group of seven sitting around a table and loudly discussing the legends of Jess and the Wanderer. Kaira shook her head. Nearly a thousand years had passed yet people were still arguing over the facts.

I’m telling you, Jess was a damned hero! said one of the men. He saved the entire universe! You can’t get any more heroic than that!

Hero my arse! replied one of the women at the table. He was a bloody fool! Look at the damage he caused. Look at the harm he created.

Don’t tell me you’re one of those Church of Unity nutters! Are you about to tell me that the creature which tried to enslave all of humanity was misunderstood and Jess shouldn’t have killed it?

"Of course not! I’m just saying he ballsed everything up! I mean, seriously, look at the ship he had. The Wanderer. With that ship he should have done a much better job! Maybe then we’d be able to travel decent distances in jump space like everyone could before Jess made such a mess of everything."

Ha! jutted in another of the group. Not everyone minds the mess Jess made. He twisted in his chair, shouted out to a man sitting on his own at a corner table. Hey, Tarkus! What do you think of Jess? You must like what he did. The state he left the Universe in is what lets you beat the rest of us on trading runs and lets you make so much money!

Kaira froze for a moment, then forced herself to physically relax and keep sweeping her eyes around the room. But that was him! That was Captain Tarkus!

He’d been in the bar for two hours. She’d even served him three times without any idea who he was. She’d mostly noticed the nasty scarring from a burn on his arm, fighting not to wince at the old injury.

Tarkus didn’t respond to the group, and soon enough they turned back to talking loudly amongst themselves.

He can’t be making that much money, said another woman at the table. Have you seen the state of his ship?

He makes good money, said the first to speak. But it all has to go into keeping that ship running. He’d be a rich man otherwise.

Then it’s time he sold that ship and got a better one. That way he could stop pouring all his money away.

Quiet! hissed another of the group. Don’t criticise his ship! The last person who did that ended up with a broken nose and three broken fingers!

What? Why?

The ship reminds him of his wife. The two of them flew it for years before the accident that killed her.

Accident? What accident?

Haven’t you heard? It was…

The conversation continued, but in much quieter tones. Kaira had no chance of hearing any more but it didn’t matter. She’d found her target. She knew who he was. And from what the others had said to him she knew he had the skills she needed.

That just left deciding whether she should take a risk on him. He hardly seemed to have noticed her when she served him. He certainly hadn’t paid her the sort of unpleasant attention many of the other drinkers had, both male and female. That was a good sign.

Damn it. She had no choice really. She realised she was going to do it. She was going to take the risk. The first step was to get out of the bar before Tarkus headed back to his ship. That was easily done. He didn’t look like he was going anywhere in the immediate future. She slipped through the staff only door, down the grubby corridor, grabbed her pack, then headed out of the back door into the alley.

That was the easy part. Getting aboard his starship, the Glimmer, that was going to be a lot harder.

2

Kaira stood at the back of the loading bay, half hidden by the shadows. Standing beside her was Jace, a grizzled old dock worker, arms covered in fading tattoos and his hair cut short. He’d just prised the lid off a large barrel as tall as Kaira’s waist.

You see, he said. Plenty of room to hide inside.

"You’re sure this will be loaded onto the Glimmer?" she asked.

Definitely! With what you’re paying me to smuggle you on board I’m not going to mess you around. There’s plenty of room in there, and air holes here. There’s a cutter inside as well which will get you out when you need to. I’ve made sure this will be one of the last pieces of cargo loaded so there won’t be anything stacked on top of it.

Kaira rubbed her arms. Now that it comes to it, I’m not sure this is such a good idea.

Look kid, if I meant you harm I could pick you up and shove you in the barrel right now. No offence, but you’re not exactly packed with muscles and I spend all day every day shifting cargo around. I’m on the level. Trust me.

All right. I’ll climb in then… wait! Did you hear that? Someone is coming!

I didn’t hear anything.

I’m sure about it. You go check in case they get here. I’ll climb in and pull the lid down.

"All right, but get in quick. If someone is coming and they see you stowing away we’re both in big trouble."

He moved toward the more brightly lit area of the loading bay. As he did so Kaira moved fast. She didn’t get into the barrel. She wasn’t that stupid, especially when she could read cargo loading codes well enough to know the barrel was going nowhere near the Glimmer.

She pulled off her fluorescent green jacket, then shoved it into the barrel and jammed the lid on. She was careful to leave a small piece of the material sticking out. Then she moved two dozen steps over to a pallet loaded with four more barrels, all sitting on their ends. They were destined for the Glimmer, according to their labels, and were large enough that there was a fair gap in the centre. One she could wriggle into and out of sight. Without her bright jacket it was much less likely she’d be spotted.

She was only just in time. Through a gap between two of the barrels she could still see the barrel Jace had wanted her to climb into. He reappeared almost as soon as she’d settled into her new spot, muttering under his breath. She was sure he was complaining about her getting spooked.

When Jace got close to the barrel he saw the small piece of material sticking out and smiled unpleasantly. He pulled a small device from his pocket and flicked a switch on it.

Nothing seemed to happen for a few seconds, then Kaira noticed small puffs of smoke escaping through the air holes of the barrel he thought she was hiding in. Jace shook his head.

There’s a cutter inside, he said, then chuckled. Not quite a cutter, just something to keep you snoozing. Sorry, kid, you were just too damn gullible. If it wasn’t me doing this to you it would have been someone else soon enough.

Jace sealed the lid of the barrel down, then walked away, still smiling. Kaira forced her hands to unclench. She wanted to chase after him, call him out for what he’d tried to do, but that would do her no good.

Besides, she wasn’t exactly surprised. She’d needed him so she could get access to this area of the loading bay. She’d had to rely on him to have a chance of getting aboard the Glimmer. But she hadn’t for a moment trusted that he would honour his side of the bargain.

She suspected whoever was expecting to receive a shipment including an unconscious stowaway would be less than pleased to find the barrel empty. They might even suspect that Jace had double-crossed them, and she could hope that would mean them doing something suitably unpleasant to him.

Now all she had to do was stay quiet, not get spotted, and get aboard the Glimmer. After that… well, if she got that far she could worry about it when it happened.

Kaira had far less room squashed between the barrels than she would have had within one of them, but she tried to get as comfortable as she could. There was a little more space lower down because the shape of the barrels curved inward toward the bottom.

She slipped down as far as she could, into a cramped sitting position. It helped keep her better hidden but it certainly couldn’t be described as comfortable.

She stayed as still as she could, hearing raised voices and the clangs and bangs of cargo being moved. She expected the barrels that formed her hiding place to be shifted soon, but they remained untouched.

As five minutes became ten then ten became twenty she started to worry she’d made a mistake. She’d been certain these barrels were tagged to be loaded on board the Glimmer, but what if she’d been wrong and they had been unloaded from the ship.

She started to consider climbing back out and checking, the urge to know whether she’d made a mistake growing stronger and stronger. She resisted it. If she had made a mistake then most likely all the cargo for the Glimmer had been loaded already. And if she was in the right place then climbing out and getting spotted would ruin a very good chance of getting on board.

So she stayed where she was, trying to ward off the cramp she could feel building in her legs and willing the loaders to get on with moving her hiding place aboard the Glimmer.

Finally she heard voices coming closer and forced herself to hold as still as she could. The voices grew louder, though she still couldn’t make out the details of what they were saying. Then they drew close enough for her to not only hear the words, but also to recognise the speaker.

There she is! said the voice she recognised as Jace’s. I told you she was over here.

Kaira’s heart hammered in her chest so badly it felt like it would burst out. She couldn’t see Jace. He wasn’t standing by the barrel he’d tried to trick her into. That meant he must know where she actually was, and now he’d led someone to her.

"I don’t know what she’s doing over here. All the cargo for the Glimmer was supposed to be at the south end. It’s a good job you noticed it Jace. I’d have spent another half an hour looking before I even thought of looking over here."

I couldn’t be having that. Now you have an extra half an hour to spend buying me drinks!

Ha! With all your side hustles you should be buying me drinks! But yeah, I’ll buy you a couple for finding these. Alright then, let’s get moving.

Kaira’s body shuddered in relief as the adrenaline washed through her system. They weren’t looking for her. For some strange reason Jace had referred to the pallet Kaira was on or the barrels upon it as her. At least Kaira hoped it was the one she was on. If so she just needed to stay absolutely still and before long she’d be aboard the Glimmer.

Moments later the pallet was jolted and lifted. As it started to be moved the barrels shifted. Two crushed Kaira’s left forearm, while another pressed against her body, threatening to squeeze the air from her lungs. She wanted to hold absolutely still, but the pressure was stopping her from breathing.

Trying to ignore the pain in her arm she struggled to push back against the barrel restricting her breathing. It was heavy, very heavy, and she couldn’t even use her left arm to gain leverage, the pain was too great if she tried.

She doubted she could have moved the barrel normally, but panic lent her strength. She managed to shift it slightly. Not enough to be noticed, she hoped, but enough that she could at least manage shallow breaths.

She tried to drag her arm free but there was no movement there at all. Her arm was pretty damn painful but not excruciating, as long as she wasn’t trying to free it or lean on it, so she was pretty sure nothing had been broken. Yet. But over time it was going to do some serious damage, and if the barrels shifted any more they might outright break bones.

She could probably have wrenched her arm free with the right leverage, but it was halfway behind her and she was still struggling to breathe. She had no chance of freeing her arm unless something changed.

So she huddled there, her chest crushed and her arm becoming a blaze of agony, trying not to cry out against the pain. After less than a minute of movement there was a clunk which she felt as much as heard, and the pallet tilted. The barrels moved again and the pressure on her arm increased.

She couldn’t help but cry out, a cry she clamped down immediately in case anyone had heard it. But only for a few moments. The pain was so bad she had to open her mouth to scream… but the barrels shifted again, crushing her chest and the scream with it. She couldn’t choke down the smallest breath.

She started to panic and shoved at the barrel, but this time there was no moving it. The tilt was enough to ensure the weight of the barrel was too much for her to fight back against.

Darkness started to edge her vision, and ringing filled her ears. Terror gripped her heart but no matter what she tried she couldn’t move or make a sound. She’d failed. She’d failed and it was going to cost her her life.

Just before she lost vision completely there was another clunk and everything levelled off. The barrel that had been crushing her chest tilted back in the opposite direction. Not by much, but enough that she could drag down a desperate breath. Then another.

Whatever surface they were travelling over was rougher than in the docking bay. That made the barrels shift around more. Suddenly she felt the pressure on her trapped arm grow lighter. She wrenched it free, gasping in relief.

Then she sat, huddled in place and cradling her arm. Trying to keep the barrels from crushing her again. Before long she felt the pallet being lowered and the movement finished.

She heard voices again but this time she couldn’t make out the words. Then they moved away. She stayed where she was, struggling to believe that not only had she survived, but she’d succeeded. She was aboard the Glimmer and without being detected.

Somehow the crazy scheme had paid off. A laugh of relief started to bubble up inside her, but she forced the feeling down and focused on staying hidden. She was almost there… but the Glimmer hadn’t taken off yet.

After a few minutes Kaira decided she could risk a little movement. She managed to shuffle around in the small space so she could look through the thin gap between two of the barrels. That let her see the entrance to the Glimmer’s hold and some of the docking bay outside.

She froze as she saw someone striding up and into the hold. It was Tarkus, and he was looking her way. She immediately squinted her eyes almost closed, terrified he’d see her eyes reflecting the light from the bay.

He stopped at the entrance, looked around, tutted, then strode towards where she was hiding. No! He’d spotted her! She was so close she thought she’d succeeded, but she must have given herself away somehow.

She hunkered down even further, trying to make herself as hard to see as possible. She hoped desperately that she was wrong, but he was clearly walking right toward her hiding place.

He approached… reached where she was… and carried on straight past. From the sound of his footsteps he only took another ten or so steps, then she heard something clanking.

Bloody loaders never secure things properly, she heard him mutter.

Then he was striding back past her hiding place, casting his eyes around the cargo hold. Everything else seemed to meet with his approval because he walked back toward the docking bay’s external entrance and entered commands on the console there.

Moments later the ship started to vibrate. Kaira watched as the external airlock doors drew closed and finally slammed into place. Only a dim light remained in the docking bay and she could no longer see Tarkus, but she heard his footsteps and then the sound of the internal airlock doors closing followed by him walking through the bay.

She heard another door hiss as it closed before slamming with a clang, shutting off the remaining light and leaving her in total and utter darkness.

Silence fell for several long seconds, then it was shattered by the sound of heavy duty pumps kicking in. For a moment Kaira frowned, not understanding what was happening.

Then it hit her. The air was being pumped out. The cargo was going to be transported in a vacuum. If she didn’t do something, and fast, then she was going to die!

3

Kaira groped for her bag, then rummaged blindly through it, desperately trying to find the torch. Breathing already felt more difficult, but she wasn’t sure if that was really the case or she was just panicking.

Finally her hands closed on the torch and she turned it on. It seemed much too bright in the pitch black cargo bay, but she had other things to worry about right then. She clambered up and out from between the barrels, forcing her stiff body to move, then half lowered herself and half fell onto the floor. Pain shot through her left arm as it took some of her weight. It was bruised, if not worse, from being trapped but there was no time to worry about that right then.

She pushed herself up and quickly moved toward the smaller door which led into the rest of the ship. As she moved she pulled the small bottle of air with a breathing mask she’d brought for emergencies out of her pack. It would provide no protection against vacuum, but it might keep her conscious for slightly longer, and that extra time could be critical as she sought an escape.

The pumps continued to rattle and wheeze as she reached the door. Despite the danger she was in she found herself pausing. If she did this, if she opened the door, there would be no going back. The Glimmer wasn’t that large a ship. It was highly unlikely there were many places to hide other than amongst the cargo. Going through the door would lead to her being thrown off the ship at the next station and arrested, if she was lucky. The captain would be perfectly within his rights to execute her on the spot.

She stayed where she was, listening to the pumps sucking the air away, but still reluctant to do what was necessary to avoid suffocation.

She must have been standing there for a minute or more when she realised breathing wasn’t becoming more difficult, not now she’d stopped thinking about it. And she hadn’t needed the air cannister. Could it really take this long to pump out enough air for her to notice? Or was something else happening? And if so, what?

Without warning the pumps turned off. Her ears rang at the sudden silence, but she could still breathe. She had no idea why the pumps had been running, unless it was to clear out the air from the station and replace it with ship’s air.

Whatever the reason, they had stopped now. She suddenly realised she was standing close to the door into the rest of the ship for no good reason, and doing so with a bright light. She covered the torch with her hand so only a dim sliver shone onto the floor, then hurried away.

She’d barely made it five steps before another loud noise startled her. It wasn't the pumps this time, but she wasn't sure what it was. A few moments later the floor lurched under her feet.

The Glimmer was lifting off! Not smoothly. In fact far from it. The words of the drinkers in the bar came back to her, their comments on the poor state of repair of the Glimmer.

As the floor lurched once again she started to wonder just what she’d got herself into. How safe was this ship? Was it really that close to falling apart? Had she made a terrible mistake?

Maybe, but she’d had no real choice. The Glimmer had offered the only hope to get where she needed to go in the time she had available. She might be risking her life by flying on the Glimmer, but not taking the chance would have been far worse.

The uneven flight was severe enough that she stayed where she was, holding onto a solid crate which was in turn secured to the deck. The rough ride lasted for another two or three minutes, then thankfully smoothed out.

Once she was certain things weren't going to get rough again she moved further back in the cargo hold, seeking somewhere to spend the journey. There was no way she was hiding amongst the barrels again. She’d been lucky to survive them moving when they were loaded. If they were to shift again there was a good chance she wouldn’t be so fortunate.

It was cold in the cargo bay. She was already missing the warm but bright jacket she’d had to sacrifice to escape Jace’s trap. She had another top in her bag which she dragged out and pulled on, but it was too thin to make much of a difference.

Other than that all she had was a small towel which she could use to try and cover herself when she lay down, but that too would make very little difference to keeping her warm.

She looked around. Lying on the metal floor was out of the question, it would leach the heat from her body in no time. She moved through the cargo hold, not finding anything that looked even remotely promising until she neared the back wall. There she found a wooden crate which was almost as tall as she was, with enough handholds that she could easily climb up and in.

She levered herself far enough up to look inside and she found it was empty, if quite dusty. It wasn't perfect, but it was far better any other option she’d found. At least she’d be hidden from casual sight.

She climbed in and found that there was enough space for her to lie down without being cramped, even if it wasn’t exactly comfortable.

She used her pack as a pillow. It was no comfier than the floor, but it was at least a little cleaner. She curled up and covered herself as well as she could manage with the small towel.

Reluctantly she turned out the torch, not wanting to risk Tarkus entering the cargo bay and noticing the light while she slept. She lay there in the darkness, trying not to shiver, for a long, long time before she finally fell asleep.

Kaira struggled awake as her shivering became too intense to ignore. She opened her eyes to utter blackness and panic gripped her chest. She was laying on her back but there wasn't even a glimmer of light.

She tried to move her fingers but she couldn't feel them or her hands. Everything was cold and numb. She tried to move her arms but they felt like they were made of lead.

Her left arm slammed against something solid. She barely felt the impact but suspected she’d pay for it soon enough. Then something smacked into her nose painfully, making her smell blood. It took her a moment to realise that it was her right hand which had slammed into her nose.

With no control of her arms she had to keep moving them,