Ruimtewedloop

By Charlton Cussans

It is 2350. For more than two centuries, humanity has spread across the stars. FTL technology has opened a galaxy for exploitation and settlement. Untold wealth and the endless frontier have enabled both unprecedented human unity and a diaspora unlike any seen before in our history. The galactic face of our species is the democratic federation known as the Commonwealth of Humanity. The endeavours and exploits of its Starpatrol pioneers are legendary.

Captain Anthony Lennox is not one of those pioneers. But his new mission will end up with him and his crew reaching into humanity's complicated and unpleasant past?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sea Lion Press
• Release date: Nov 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223295167

Book preview

This book is a work of fiction. While 'real-world' characters may appear, the nature of the divergent story means any depictions herein are fictionalised and in no way an indication of real events. Above all, characterisations have been developed with the primary aim of telling a compelling story.

Published by Sea Lion Press, 2021. All rights reserved.

Part 1: A Ghost of Colonies Past

Earth Date: 05/04/2350

Ship Time: 15:30

Captain’s Log, Commonwealth Starship New Coventry:

We picked up the Kyiann exchange officer from Midway Station, along with our new instructions from Starpatrol Command. Apparently, there have been some troubling developments on New Stellaland, one of the most recent colony worlds established since opening this Galactic Sector. Details are sparse but there have been reports of discriminatory practices on the colony, violations of both the Commonwealth Constitution and the Constitution of the Kingdom of Belgium, of which New Stellaland is formally a Colony. That country’s fractured political scene, and non-existent military or law enforcement assets in the area, has led their Government to formally request that the Commonwealth investigate on their behalf. I have been endowed with temporary power by the Belgian Government and Commonwealth Council to arbitrate disputes and resolve any problems I may encounter.

Captain Lennox looked over the words he had typed and, feeling satisfied, closed down the computer, the holographic screen and hard light keys slowly disappearing, the information within secure both electronically and physically, armoured deep within the hold of the ship. He always liked the way the computer shut down; he didn’t know if it had been designed to be a visually relaxing experience, but to be honest he didn’t care. Very little is needed to make a happy life, came the words of a long-dead philosopher-emperor, and if the concerns of Captain Anthony Lennox were different from those of Marcus Aurelius there was nevertheless a shared commonality, in that they were conscientious men with a great deal of power. The Captain wouldn’t have described himself as such, but it was still the truth. Starpatrol did not appoint malcontents, fools or thugs to command its ships. Risk-takers, adventurers and the lateral thinkers, sure; but never cruel people, never idiots. Captain Lennox was not one of Starpatrol’s leading lights – this he would freely admit. He was, as he often said, just one of many people who made up the organization. But that was an organization designed to be superlative, to attract the talented, those willing to put human needs before national or regional distinctions. Which was why he found himself heading to New Stellaland, to resolve an issue for the Belgians regarding some misbehaving colonists.

He’d had a table talk with his senior officers the previous