Galaxy's End: Book One by LeRoy Clary (pdf ebook reader txt) 📕

way of knowing what they intended, but I do know they ordered the murder of the captain of this ship. I can suspect the death of the crew and passengers was a possibility.”

The same woman said, “Let’s stick with pirates for a while. What did they do to earn that name from you? Besides, I’ve heard that a ship in transit cannot be boarded.”

“I’ve heard that too. It’s true, for all I know, but what happens when a ship is ready to launch a missile unless this ship leaves warp-transit and return to normal space?” She waited while they digested that, then continued, “What these pirates appear to have done is that they placed several ships at the wormhole entrance, or nexus as we call it. One reason seems to have been to keep us from using that entrance portal.”

“If they do that, then ships will not go near the entrance,” the first man said, as puzzled as the others seemed. “They will use other portals, once the word is out.”

“Agreed. But the ships emerging from the wormhole are not yet in hyper-transit and the pirate ships can pen them up and threaten to fire their missiles before they enter warp. They can board the ships there and take whatever they wish.”

“And do what? The cargo on a ship is not normally that valuable. Not enough to threaten the lives of all on a ship.” The speaker was a new woman, as big around as she was tall. Her tone was sharp and disbelieving.

Stone knew it was time to end the meeting, but first, she decided to answer the woman in the same tone. “You are correct. There is only one valuable thing on a spaceship. You. Each of you. You’re rich, or the companies you work for will pay ransoms demanded for your return. With a gun to your temple, which of you will not provide the pirates with your biometrics and passwords into your accounts? All of them. You would supply the title to your homes and lands, mines, and companies. Please raise your hand if you think you will not provide that information, then use that hand to slap your face because you are lying.”

Their expressions changed to ones of support for Captain Stone.

Before they could respond, Stone slipped out the door.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

Kat

After using my empathic power on the “pirate” ships, I fell into a deep, troubled sleep. I was mentally exhausted. Weary didn’t even begin to describe it. There was little time between lying down and pulling the covers to my chin, and my mind blanking into a sleep that was almost a physical collapse.

Dreams of Captain Stone ordering me to use my empathic power on thousands of people filled my restless sleep, as did flesh-eating insectoids at the bottom of a pit. The dreams that followed were worse.

In one, we were back at the Coliseum on Roma and she ordered me to encompass the entire crowd. “Kat, Scare them.” And “Kat, make everyone around you scared.” Of course, she hadn’t ever said those things, but that’s what filled my dreams, along with questions about how I would face others after what I’d done. How scared of me they would be if they knew what I’d done. If not scared, they would never trust me to not enter their minds.

Worse, was the implication that such an event might happen. Even worse than that: It had already happened when I’d scared those on the ships chasing us.

As I tossed and turned, my mind convulsed, and tried to justify what happened with the pirates. Convincing a street vendor to add a little more meat-and-cheese filling to a pocket sandwich was far different from what I’d done today.

I’d never heard of such a thing. It seemed a wild tale. It would spread. People would talk and the story would grow with each telling and along with it, hate and fear. I would be killed publicly.

When I woke, a sense of time had passed, far more than my normal sleep cycle. I needed the toilet, water, and food. In that order. My mind reviewed the happenings of the day before. While surprised that I had been able to shed my fears like a blanket thrown over a small child, that was not what held my interest. I had always accepted my empathic powers as part of me, as much as my thumbs. I appreciated the ability but also appreciated what my thumbs allowed me to do.

This time, my mind seized on the larger picture. Pirates, the death of the ship’s captain, us taking command of the tramp starship. Even more than that, the interaction of the beings I cared about most, along with the new one, Fang. My gut said he would join us, and we’d be grateful.

A steward stood in the hall when I opened the cabin door. She said respectfully, “Captain Stone requests you join her on the bridge after you awaken. I can show you the way.”

“I know where it is.”

“Is there anything you need?”

“No,” I started to say, then reconsidered. My mouth was as dry as if it were full of sand. In contrast, if I didn’t use the toilet soon, I’d explode. “Bathroom and a drink.”

“What would you like?”

“I don’t care. Anything wet and cold.” I left her and shuffled down the passageway as I heard the steward open and close another door. I rushed to the bathroom.

When I appeared, the steward waited, glass in hand. I emptied it. The hatch to the bridge was closed and locked so the wheel wouldn’t spin. I pushed the button to the side, a doorbell, and it almost instantly opened.

The inside of the bridge had changed. Cots lined the far wall, three of them where they would be less in the way. People on duty would