Chapter 10 - the long route back
11 May 2021Rsimpson500
I stared at the Galaxy Map, my eyes aching. Five days I’d been trying to get out of here, this barren labyrinth of nothingness. The Abyss. I never truly understood why it was called that until now. 
I’d headed off into the most remote region of the Abyss to escape our pursuers, Alicia unconscious and kept alive by the med-equipment. We were no longer being followed and I’d long since stopped worrying about being ambushed - I was much more concerned about being stuck here forever.
After four failed attempts I finally found a viable path to the Hidden Paradise, with liberal use of premium jumponium. I’d had to stop off at an icy moon to prospect for more Vanadium, but now I had 45 doses ready to use, which would hopefully be enough.
After a few more hours of painstaking plotting and jumping, I’d reached a system 138LY from the Paradise - the Marcus Aurelius could just barely make the jump and I pushed the FSD button with relief.
As I arrived in-system I could hardly believe I’d made it. I headed off to a nearby lagrange cloud and marvelled at the Aster Trees within. If these were near the Bubble they’d be ignored - they’re hideous, I thought. Still, at least it makes a change from empty darkness.
Two wearisome days later I’d found a way out, zig-zagging south and west until I reached a neutron star which catapulted us into a region of higher star density. Finally the route plotter could find a way out without FSD injections. It had taken 60 injections of various quality to get through the Abyss and I swore never to go back there again, even though it had been our salvation.
We’d reached a remote area in the western edge of the Formonian Frontier sector, where few travellers had been before. I planned to head for Colonia as I was worried about Alicia’s injuries and wanted to get her treated as soon as possible. I felt a DSSA carrier would be too risky for a lengthy stay given recent events, though we’d need to make quick pit-stops there to make repairs.
I knew my faction, Canonn Science, had control of a system in Colonia so we could take refuge amongst friends. But it was 40,000 light years away through some very empty regions of space. A long journey lay ahead.
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A couple of days later I settled the Marcus Aurelius down on a high-G planet overlooked by a brown dwarf star. It was an eerie place, but still the most interesting we’d visited in a long time.
I headed down to the med-bay to check on Alicia. I’d been checking her every few hours, and her condition was slowly improving. The medical equipment was able to keep her stable and clean her facial wounds, but I lacked the skill to do anything about her scars or accelerate her recovery from the head trauma she received. Fortunately she was recovering on her own. The med-AI informed me that she was now well enough to wake up for a short time and she was awake when I arrived in the bay.
She had a scar along her right cheek and bruising over her face and scalp. She looked drawn and shaken.
“Rufus”, she said weakly, “what happened? There was a ship...it was going to ram us but...didn’t have time to tell you…”
“It’s OK, we’re safe now. It was the ship that interdicted us back in the Teal Nebula, but it’s destroyed now. We’re thousands of light years away in a remote region and no-one is tailing us any more”.
Alicia looked shocked. “How is that possible? How long have I been out?”
I recounted how I’d escaped from the Krait and managed to get the carrier to destroy it, before fleeing from another attacker and losing them in the Abyss. “That was over a week ago. I managed to get you into the medbay, but you were badly injured and the medical AI could do little more than keep you stable. You’re not in any danger, but you need proper medical attention. I’m taking us to Colonia, I have friends there who can protect us whilst you recover, and I have a well armed ship there of my own. We’ll be safe enough.”
Alicia looked thoughtfully at me. “I’m glad you’re more skilled at combat than I thought. I confess I didn’t think you were capable of doing all that, I’m sorry I underestimated you”.
I looked away, unsure of how to respond. We sat in silence for a while, then Alicia said “You know, Rufus, I haven’t been totally honest with you. I wasn’t sure if I could completely trust you, even though I wanted to…”
I turned to look at her again. She looked nervous.
“I expect you’ve been wondering about our first meeting. When we met at Robigo, it really was an accident, I hadn’t been trailing you. I was on duty - Robigo is a nest of spies and criminals - but my father really was looking for an adventure and I thought I could keep an eye on him at the same time. When he almost ran off with you, I was glad of a break and my handlers agreed for me to come with you for the journey. I let my guard down with you, I felt like we got along so well, then you told me about your parents and…” She closed her eyes.
I waited, not wanting to interrupt. After a while she continued;
“I was sad to hear about your parents and wanted to help, but I felt so conflicted - if I reported it, as I knew I must, it would mean you’d become a mark, a job, rather than a … a friend. I would have to be spy-Alicia and not the real me. I’d have to do my job, the job I never wanted to do, instead of living my life in the way I would like.”
“How would you want to live your life?” I asked.
“To be free!” she said loudly, “to live a life of music and art and travel. I live that life on the surface, but it’s not mine - it’s all controlled by the Empire... When we were on that journey with my father, when you and I stayed up late talking about music and history, when we were seeing beautiful places and going at our own pace, I was so happy.”
“I was happy too, you know”. I smiled at her, fondly. “I thought ... But when I never heard from you again… I tried to contact you once you know, but I couldn’t reach you.”
Alicia looked at me sadly “I know, I’m so sorry. After I told my aunt Risa about your parents, she forbade me from contacting you again until the IIS had a plan.”
“Your aunt?”
“Yes, she’s the powerful person I mentioned. She ‘encouraged’ me to join up as a spy, but she also helped set me up with opportunities in my musical career too. We have an...understanding.”
“Is there any way I can help you?” I said, “Can your aunt be persuaded to change your, er, arrangement?”
Alicia looked at the floor and sighed. “I don’t know. She’s not an easy woman to persuade. But thank you for trying to help me. Perhaps, when we get back to the Empire, we could meet her together?”
“Of course”, I said. “I’m not exactly powerful myself, but my parents moved in high society and I’m not a stranger to dealing with powerful people. I’m a Duke in the Imperial Naval Reserve and I have my fair share of credits too. I don’t know what it would take to persuade your aunt to release you from the IIS, but we have plenty of time to think of something on our journey back”.
Alicia closed her eyes and leant back on the med-bay bed. “I’m glad we had this talk, Rufus. I think I need to sleep again now.”
I closed the med-bay door and headed back to the cockpit.
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For the next 2 weeks, I pushed on through the remote western regions of the Formonian Frontier and Newton’s Vault sectors. After we reached the Winds of Enlil Nebula the sky started to fill with stars again. Alicia gradually seemed to improve and sometimes she came up to the cockpit to sit in the pilot’s chair and enjoy the views. She’d had the fabricator print some temporary tattoos to cover her scars and had let her hair down around her face.
I felt guilty that I’d not been able to avoid the crash in the first place. Alicia didn’t blame me - we thought we were safe - but I resolved never to pilot a ship without weapons and strong armour again. Once we reached Colonia, I planned to strengthen the Marcus Aurelius before we continued to the Bubble.
Alicia had some ideas about Colonia too. “I think we ought to contact the Empire once we’re safely in Canonn space. They might be able to help us get back to the Bubble safely”.
I wasn’t sure, but if someone was pursuing us it might be a good idea to get help. For now, we were 20,000 light years away, heading en-route to Colonia through some of the most scenic views in the galaxy. We might as well enjoy the journey whilst we were still safe... To be continued.
