Jess dropped the Wanderer out of jump space far beyond the sensor range of their destination. He’d heard enough warnings to make him cautious. The name of their destination, the Fortress, was also a warning that couldn’t be ignored.
The Fortress was a station orbiting Taratus Three. The Wanderer was close enough to the planet for its sensors to show the harsh beauty of the planet.
Taratus was a red dwarf giving off little light and warmth, and Taratus Three was the furthest out of its planets. If it had been orbiting a brighter star then it would have had incredible oceans. Instead it was a glittering ball of ice and snow with a thin atmosphere that wouldn’t be breathable even if the pressure was increased. It was the sort of place no one in their right mind would want to live.
People did live there, though. The planet was home to exceptionally rich deposits of rare minerals, rich enough to be worth braving the awful conditions. Few ships could even attempt a landing in the harsh atmosphere so the entire trove of mined riches flowed to the orbiting station known as the Fortress and was traded from there.
That made the station a hugely tempting target. The risk of being attacked, coupled with the huge amounts of money being made, had led to the station being upgraded and improved until it was unrecognisable. It was now powerful enough to badly maul even a large pirate fleet.
It was also intensely paranoid, with a shoot first, don’t bother to ask questions ever attitude to ships it didn’t know that acted at all strangely. Jess didn’t want the Wanderer to end up as a target and suddenly appearing right on top of the station would probably be a long way up the acting suspicious scale, so he was bringing the ship in from a distance.
But not from this far away. Even normal ships could get a lot closer than this. He’d wanted a chance to look ahead, to see how the land lay. Nothing suggested there would be any danger of remote defences so he pushed the Wanderer back into jump space and towards the station.
When the Wanderer next dropped out of jump space it was much closer to the station but it still had ten minutes before the station’s sensors would detect it. Even so, Ali and Clay had already joined Jess on the flight deck.
“Do you think they’ll attack when they see us?” asked Ali.
“I don’t know,” replied Jess. “They might do but I’m not sure that would make much sense. They must have new ships arrive occasionally.”
“It’s possible new ships only arrive by invitation,” said Clay. “If so, the question is whether they give a polite warning or just open fire on ships with no invitation.”
“We’ll do everything we can to appear to be no threat,” Jess said. “And I’m not getting too close until we know for sure how they’ll react.”
“What happens if they do attack?” asked Ali.
“I don’t know yet. It depends how many forces they use I guess, and what they say to us. If anything.”
They lapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts as the Wanderer closed in on the station.
The ten minutes slipped by. The Wanderer warned Jess of the moment they crossed into range of the station’s sensors. Mere moments later they received a transmission.
“Unidentified ship, this is the Fortress. Strangers are not welcome here. Turn around and leave. Now.”
“We’ve heard you tolerate strangers who come bringing money. A lot of money. We wanted to see if that was true.”
“Even if that was true, our definition of a lot is far greater than that of most people.”
“Would you consider this a lot?” Jess asked, sending over details of what the Wanderer currently had on board, though with the rare items the Fortress sold removed from the list. They’d get suspicious if there was nothing they had that the Wanderer would want.
There was a short pause, then the reply came. “That appears to be reasonable. If you are lying, though, if you don’t have those amounts, then you will be killed and your ship will be taken for scrap. We don’t take kindly to liars or time wasters.”
“We understand.”
“Alright, I’ll send you an approach vector. Please send over your ship’s full identification. Until we have that you will not be allowed to dock.”
Jess used his link with the Wanderer to send the requested information. When first discussing the Fortress he’d considered sending a fake ship’s name, but had decided against it. If possible they wanted to enlist the Fortress in the fight against the Empire, or at least get agreement that it wouldn’t work against Admiral North’s fleet. If those on the Fortress found that Jess had been lying about the name of his ship then the ultra-paranoid station would be sure to refuse any further contact.
“Thank you, Wanderer,” sent the station. “Here is your approach. Please do not deviate. Fortress out.”
Jess double checked the comm channel was dead before speaking.
“So far, so good,” he said.
“We hope,” said Ali. “We’ll find out for sure in about ten minutes when we dock.”
“At least we won’t have to go far from the Wanderer, if the admiral’s information is correct at least. It stresses many times that captains and crew don’t get to leave the docking bay, and are only allowed to assist with moving cargo.”
“Even so, I’m not keen on this. How are they going to react when they find out we’re here to talk, not buy?”
“Actually we’re here to talk and buy. The Wanderer could use some of those rare minerals and so could the fleet.”
“Stop being pedantic! You’ve seen how paranoid they are already. How are they going to react when we start telling them we’re from a large fleet and want them to join?”
“Possibly violently… that’s why the Wanderer will be heading away from the station before we bring that up!”
“I don’t like this, Jess. I’ve got a bad feeling about it.”
“I know… but it’s the best I can come up with. Any sign of trouble and we’re getting out of here.”
They continued on for another five minutes without anything happening. Jess was starting to be lulled into feeling that it was just a normal docking run, although one with much greater dangers when they arrived. All that changed as alarms flared in his mind.
“Something’s happening!” he shouted. “Weapons on the Fortress are charging. We’re the only ship approaching so they must be for us.”
“They may just be testing us,” said Clay. “Don’t overreact.”
“Weapons firing! Right at us!” The Wanderer shook as the first blasts struck. “I’m raising the shields to full strength and starting evasive manoeuvres. Hold on… we’re getting a signal.”
“Wanderer, we know who you are! We know you’re the Wanderer. Whatever you want here you are not welcome. You aren’t bringing your death and destruction here.”
Jess prepared a reply with half his mind, the other half focused on dodging the incoming fire.
“Fortress, this is the Wanderer. I don’t know what you’ve heard but we are not aggressive and we are here on a peaceful mission. We came to trade in good faith, both for goods and for information. It’s not too late to do that. Please cease fire.”
“Cease fire? Never! We will never allow you close to our station. We will destroy you if we can, and drive you off if not. Run while you still can. We are going to kill you otherwise.”
The signal cut off abruptly. Ships started to launch from the Fortress — most smaller fighters, but some larger ships too. Several heavy shots from the station struck the Wanderer. Its shields handled them easily enough, but they pushed Jess a step too far.
“For stars sake! What did we do to them? If we were a normal ship those shots would have caused major damage. I’m sick of this. I’m sick of everyone thinking I’m a saint or I’m a demon. If they think that badly of me, then I’ll show them what the Wanderer can really do!”
The Wanderer surged forward, weapons lashing out at the station. Jess only targeted areas which were clearly combat related, those that were firing or launching ships, but that still gave him a massive number of possible targets.
The Wanderer was with him on this. He could tell that by the way it carried out his commands without question, the way there was no resistance when he attacked.
“Are you sure about this?” asked Ali.
“Yes! I’m sick and tired of the way people treat us. They have it coming!”
Jess could sense Ali’s uncertainty through his link to her. She wasn’t convinced what he was doing was right, but she wasn’t convinced it was wrong either. For the moment that was all the approval he needed.
“Jess, you don’t need to do this,” said Clay.
“Yes I do! I have to set an example. Why should I let them get away with this? Why are they even attacking?”
“Because they’re scared. They know what you and the Wanderer did, how you defeated Imperial fleets, the Taint and even the end of the Universe. Now you’re bringing that power here, to use against them.”
“I didn’t do any of that on my own. A lot of other ships were involved. And I’m not going to use it against them! Or… I wasn’t…”
“You know that. I know that. They don’t see it that way. Jess and the Wanderer, that’s who won those battles. That’s who they’re scared of.”
“Damn it. Maybe they should be. Maybe this is where I show them what attacking me for no reason leads to. I doubt I can totally destroy the station but I can definitely bust it up badly.”
“Is that really what you want?”
“Yes! I’m suffering every day, tortured by those I didn’t save. Why shouldn’t someone else suffer as well?”
“Do you want to add those on the station to the list you’re keeping? Many of them won’t have any choice over how the Wanderer gets treated. And how will killing them make people fear you less?
“No. It’ll just reinforce what they believe. I know the way people treat you cuts deep, but is this what you really want? Do you want to become some awful, vengeful god, descending on stations or ships and unleashing your anger? Do you want the children on stations and ships to be terrified that the Wanderer might arrive one day?”
Jess sat for several seconds, the Wanderer continuing to dodge but otherwise taking no hostile actions. Finally Jess spoke, the words dull and leaden, all fire gone.
“No. I don’t want that. You’re right.”
The Wanderer swung around, and started to slip away from the Fortress. Fire continued to rain down on them but Jess was no longer interested in retaliating. Instead he sent a message to the station.
“I am not what you believe me to be. I’m just someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and so was able to prevent two great tragedies. Now there’s a third on its way in the shape of the Empire and the Limited. No matter how good your defences, at some point they will roll straight over you. You can’t defeat them alone. No one can. Not even the Wanderer. I hope you realise that before it’s too late for you.”
There was no reply from the station, but the barrage of fire eased off, and what remained was aimed to miss. Jess didn’t talk again as the Wanderer eased away and entered jump space, but he did think a lot. He thought of those on the station and ships he’d been ready to kill, and the fact that Clay had been right.
He didn’t feel guilty about it, he didn’t feel angry. All he felt was tired, and all he could see in his future was one desperately urgent task after another, all of them keeping him bound to Admiral North and the fleet.
There never would be a right time to leave. He realised he’d been deceiving himself there. There would never be a chance for him to go unless he made one, and if he did that he’d know he was letting people down. Letting people die who he could have saved.
He knew deep down that he was going to have to leave soon, that he simply couldn’t keep doing this, but he also knew how much that was going to cut into his soul. All that remained was to decide when to slip away… and how to live with the decision when he did.