Ghost of Mind Episode One (2 page)

No doubt if
John had been in the mood, and ready to carry out the unending
directive of the Universal Union to combat crime, he'd grab some
armor, grab some high-powered guns, and try to rustle up some
scum.

He wasn't in
the mood.

A place like
Orion Minor was full of people too unfortunate to keep dragging
into the security station every day just to satisfy the dictates of
the higher ups. Plus, John had far more important things to do.
While he was on Orion Minor, his ship refueling and restocking,
John had to come up with a plan. This was the last stop on his way
to the Rim. And John really needed to be prepared before he stuck
his head into that ugliness.

Not for the
first time and not for the last, John leant his head back, closed
his eyes, and gave the most loud, frustrated, rattling, almost
screaming sigh he could. He was fortunate there was no one else in
the room, he was also fortunate that none of the audio devices
would have picked it up and relayed it to the rest of the building.
He didn’t need security busting down his door thinking he was
wrestling an Andian Lion or fighting off an infection of Terra
Bites.

When John was
finished he stretched his back, planted both hands on the glass,
and stared down at the dirty ghettos below.

Orion Minor was
an unforgiving place, not just for the poor; the weather made the
planet practically uninhabitable. The city was spread out into
various blocks – huge mega structures that housed layer upon layer
upon layer. But while the top halves glimmered and gleamed, the
bottom halves received no such maintenance.

Scum, after
all, didn’t care where they lived, right? You could take away their
heating and light and they’d just get on with their crimes
unabashed and unaffected, right?

At least that’s
what the rest of the planet seemed to think.

For someone who
had climbed up the ranks of the Union Forces, John had come from
the lowest point possible. The slums. As he stared down on them
right now, his eyes locking on those filthy, junk-covered levels,
he remembered them. He remembered how to fight to live. He also
remembered being judged for it. By those more fortunate. Those born
into money, into safety, into success. To them stealing to live was
a crime. Technically it was, but it was just as much of a crime to
allow people to go unfed when you had too much food yourself.

John stiffened
one of his hands, running his fingers along the joint of his thumb.
He’d lost it once; it had been ripped off in the door of a fleeing
transport. John had tampered with the door, sneaked inside,
salvaged what he could, and had been caught on the way out.

When he’d
joined the Union Forces, they’d fixed him up; their fancy
technology knitting him a new one, repairing in seconds an injury
John had lived with for five years.

The pain of the
slums he could forgive; the judging he would never forget.

If it was up to
him, and it bloody wasn't, he would redirect the funds the Union
was wasting trying to pick up Old Tech in the Rim to fixing up
places like this.

Because it was
a waste. How many security forces, how many ships, how many aliens
were being redirected to that area, and for what purpose? So what
if the pirates had found new caches of Old Technology? Leave them
to it. It wasn't like they could use it anyway.

There was so
much about the Union’s priorities that was wrong these days.

And John Doe
hated it. Then again, it wasn’t as if John Doe could do anything
about it. He was just one man in a very big universe.

‘Computer,
continue,’ John said as he walked over to a different console to
pick up his drink. Sipping at it slowly, mulling over the taste,
John tried to let the words of the Great Universal Database wash
over him.

In a way he
already knew this stuff, but in a way that wasn't good enough. If
he was going to take his ship and his men into the very dangerous
territory of the Rim, he needed to know exactly everything he
could. Because if he didn't know everything, and he came across
some unexpected situation, then he would be the one to blame.

And the Rim
would be
full
of unexpected situations. From pirates to
ancient caches of Old Tech, this would be his most dangerous
mission yet.

‘Old Technology
is the backbone of the modern universe. Without it instantaneous
travel between galaxies would be impossible.’

Yes, of course
John knew that. Every single kid in the universe knew that,
everything from the most sophisticated of creatures right down to
sentient slime.

You wouldn't
have the modern universe if you didn’t have Old Tech. The amount of
energy and resources required to travel from one galaxy to another
were astronomical. And yet the Old Ones had done it. They’d managed
to create an interconnected interstellar travel network that served
almost the entire universe, save for the furthest, most far-flung
reaches of space.

John couldn't
say he understood the technology. But to be fair, he couldn’t say
that anyone else did either. That was the point; Old Technology was
steeped in mystery. Only the Ancient Races had understood, and they
were dead. All of them.

But there was
one fact about Old Tech he could understand: it was running out of
energy.

The transport
network still had enough to function though. Everything else did
not.

Just as any kid
could tell you that the Grand Universal Transport Network had been
created by the Old Ones, they could also tell you that the Old Ones
had had access to a type of energy that no one understood and no
one could replicate. How it had worked, even the best scientists in
the universe could not figure out. Everybody knew it was
practically out of juice though. Most of their technology was
utterly useless. Useful as statues, reminders to the past, or giant
paperweights – unless you were a pirate wanting to stuff your den
with rubble-covered ancient memorabilia of a time tougher than your
own, all of it was pointless.

Well, okay, not
all of it. A few items still worked. And that was the reason they
were going to the Rim. If reports were to be believed, then there
had been sightings of actual real usable Old Tech out there amongst
the pirates and death-trap mine belts, asteroid clusters, and
barren, waste-land planets.

The hint of
useable Tech would not make it worth the trouble though.

Because John
had seen it all before. He'd seen planets, he’d seen whole races
uprooted because of the stuff. If a cache of it was found under
some city, say good bye to it. It would be uprooted. Say goodbye to
the inhabitants. They would be moved. Whether they liked it or not.
Their city and everything in it would be destroyed. Apparently Old
Tech was worth it. Who cared about disputes, who cared about
skirmishes, who cared if entire races turned into pirates just to
fight for their lands back? If they could get their hands on Old
Tech, the Union would do . . . anything.

Tapping his
foot against the side of the console, wincing as he took another
sip from his drink, John tried not to be too cynical.

‘It is the
imperative of the Universal Union to acquire as much Old Technology
as it can. It is currently being stockpiled in several key systems
throughout the Union. It is integral to ensure no Old Technology
falls into the hands of the Factions.’

Factions. Ah
yes, John felt like ducking his head back and laughing at that.
What exactly did the Universal Database mean by factions? Pirates,
dissidents, people who had been uprooted when the Union had decided
they wanted their hands on the Old Technology sitting under their
houses and towns?

Yeah. If John
hadn’t been dealing with a computer, he would probably point out
the nuances of that particular position, but there was really no
point. Instead he shifted his shoulders again as he walked further
around the room.

‘There have
been many skirmishes to date in the Rim, as the technology believed
to be there is of great import. It is also of great import to stop
any Factions from gaining hold of any Old Technology that has yet
to be catalogued. It is a fact that although the Universal Union
has acquired and catalogued much of the Old Technology, there are
still many devices that we have never seen and have only heard of.
If Factions were to gain hold of these,’ the computer began.

John put up a
hand. ‘Stop there,’ he mumbled. He had finally had enough. Mulling
over his drink, twisting the glass around and around in his hand as
he closed his eyes, John shook his head sharply.

It was time to
go out. He’d had enough of this stuffy room, he’d had enough of
this stuffy lecture, and he just needed to feel air, real air on
his cheeks.

Dumping the
glass back on the computer panel, and only flicking his gaze over
to it once as the molecules were broken down by the recalibrater,
John headed for the door.

He didn't even
pause as the computer manufactured a thick jacket over his
shoulders; he just headed straight out as soon as the doors opened
with a swish before him.

It had been
years and years since he had been to Orion Minor, and it was time
to see if the place had changed.

Chapter 3

Alice

Alice stared at
the alien before her. The one with the giant jowls, the one with
the skin that hung off its arms, that bunched in great bands around
its legs and stomach. To many of the softer races, especially the
humans, the alien before her would have appeared disgusting. From
the green slime slowly dripping off its pale yellow skin, to the
red bloodshot eyes, to the way it talked – it was not a pretty
sight.

But Alice
didn't have the same sensibilities as a human; she couldn’t afford
them. She survived only by hiding amongst the worst scum of the
galaxy. So slime and rotting flesh weren’t even worth a
grimace.

‘Please, I need
to get past,’ Alice tried again, maneuvering her body slightly to
the left, catching a glimpse of the corridor beyond her.

‘No,’ the alien
replied. It had a distinct voice. A really, really horrible one,
and every time Alice heard it, her back creaked and crawled.

While the alien
was giant, Alice was not. She was relatively small as far as aliens
went. If she had been as large as one of the rock warriors from the
Carion Cluster, then maybe she would have been able to bowl into
the creature, nock it to the left, and continue on her way.

Alice did not
have size on her side. Then again, that didn't mean anything. In
her case appearances were misleading. Very misleading.

Alice was
strong. No, she was more than strong, she was incredibly,
incredibly powerful. If she wanted to, she could redirect the
special energy coursing through her to maximize her strength,
resilience, rigidity, intelligence, anything. It was up to her. If
she felt like making a scene, she could leap right over this
creature's head. If she felt like making even more of a scene, she
could grab up its fat, drooping tail, pick it up without much
effort, and throw it right out of the smart-glass ceiling high
above.

She could not
afford to make a scene though, she could also not, however, afford
to stay here while the creature sat there in her way, stopping her
from moving anywhere.

‘What is it
exactly that I have to do in order to get you to move?’ she asked,
making her voice clear, really trying to keep hold of her disdain
as she stiffened her lips and chin into a semi-affable smile.

‘Nothing,’ the
creature answered, that voice of its still hissing in her ears.

Clamping down
on her jaw, bringing her hand up until she created a tense fist,
Alice looked its way.

Then she turned
around.

She was not
going to make a scene.

She would have
to find some other way around.

Alice would not
get that option though.

Just as she
turned, it let one of its awful fleshy arms dart her way, then it
grabbed her around her middle.

A human might
have screamed. Most of the other races would certainly have
protested, but Alice didn't do a thing.

She noted the
move; she could feel the pressure around her middle, and her brain
certainly did register the fact she was now dangling a meter or two
in the air as thick slime covered her clothes and skin.

Alice didn't
bother to shriek, she did not shift, and she did not beg to be put
down. She did, however, blow a huff of air through her pursed
lips.

She also
redirected her energy into her arms, middle, legs, and torso. It
made them strong. Ridiculously strong. If the alien suddenly got
the idea that it would be fun to squeeze the life out of her, it
could try for the rest of its horribly short existence to give it a
go. But as one of its long arms wrapped around and around her, it
would soon find that her skin was stronger than reinforced diamond,
more resilient than even the toughest materials out there.

‘Pay,’ the
alien told her, its voice strong and sharp.

Pay? Did this
guy fancy he was a troll of some sort?

Alice was quite
fond of old tales from Earth; she liked to read books, watch
movies, even listen to poetry. And she understood what a troll was.
She could appreciate the concept too. They would hang around under
bridges and wait for unsuspecting travelers. Then they would pop
out, demand a fee, or said unsuspecting traveler would not be able
to pass.

Well troll or
not, Alice was not going to pay.

If it came to
it, she would fight though. Not at the full range of her abilities;
she didn’t want to blow a hole in the side of the planet. But she
would defend herself. Then she would run. Find some other slum on
some other backwater planet. Find some dark and thick shadows to
hide within.