Star Wanderers: Tales of the Far Outworlds (Omnibus V-VIII) Read online

  It was infuriating but true. If the same crisis had struck almost any other system, aid would have been forthcoming. But the Deltans were hated everywhere, especially in the Oriana Cluster. It was completely senseless and infuriated Jakob to no end, but that was the reality he’d married into.

  “Maybe,” said Noemi. She shrugged. “When the crisis got bad, we lost all contact with the outside universe. People just stopped coming—I guess they thought it would spill over if they tried to get involved.”

  “All contact?” he asked, frowning. “Even the traders and wanderers?”

  She nodded.

  “So how did you get here?”

  Mariya’s eyes lit up, and she leaned forward. “You have got to hear this story, Dad—it’s really, really good.”

  I doubt that anything this poor girl has been through could be called ‘good,’ Jakob thought. Still, for his daughter’s sake, he kept the comment to himself.

  “Oh, I don’t know about,” said Noemi. “It’s a bit unusual, maybe, but not that much of a story.” To his surprise, she actually blushed.

  “Sure it is!” said Mariya. “Don’t be so modest. Tell us again.”

  Noemi smiled, her cheeks bright red. “Well, it all started about three standard months ago, when a small one-man starship arrived at the station. It was a star wanderer from outside the Oriana Cluster. He must not have heard about the crisis, because he came on board to meet my father personally.”

  “Your father let him dock?” Jakob asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, Dad—that was Master Korha’s plan all along.”

  “She’s right,” said Noemi. “My father saw a chance to save one of us, so he invited the star wanderer into our family apartment and made us come out to see him.”

  “Made who come out?”

  “His daughters, Dad. Don’t you remember?”

  “I think so,” said Jakob. “How many of you were there? Five?”

  Noemi nodded. “Five of us. I’m the oldest, though by no means the prettiest.”

  I can see that, Jakob thought to himself. Not that she was ugly—just plain. Back when he was a wanderer, he hardly would have given her a second glance.

  “So what happened next?” he asked. In the kitchen doorway, his wife’s mother joined Giuli and listened with a broad smile on her wrinkled old face.

  Noemi took a deep breath. “Well, Father had all of us line up in front of him. He told the boy to choose one of us so that he could marry us off. That was his plan to save us.”

  The women in the doorway laughed and started chatting among themselves. Jakob lifted a hand to his chin.

  “Let me guess: the boy chose you.”

  “Yes.”

  “And then?”

  “Father married us and sent us off.”

  Stars of Earth, Jakob thought silently. Would he ever have the guts to marry his daughter off to a stranger? Master Korha must have been desperate. Even if it was the only way to save her, Jakob doubted he would ever be able to pull a stunt like that.

  “So this star wanderer is now your husband,” he said. “Does he know that?”

  “Oh yes,” said Noemi, blushing even deeper.

  “Is he treating you right? I mean, it’s probably none of my business, but—”

  “Yes, definitely,” she said. “The things we’ve shared … there’s a reason we came into each other’s lives the way we did.”

  “You’re such a good girl,” said Giuli. She walked over and patted Noemi on the back.

  “They really are meant to be together,” said Mariya. “You should see them sometime. They’re the cutest couple I’ve ever seen.”

  Jakob shrugged. He was still a bit skeptical, but that was just his nature.

  “So where is the boy from?” he asked.

  Noemi bit her lip and glanced from face to face. “To be honest, I don’t exactly know. I mean, I know where his birth world is on a starmap, but I’m not sure of the name.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because neither of them speak the same language,” said Mariya. “He only speaks Gaian—or maybe something else too, I don’t know, but definitely not Deltan.”

  Jakob frowned and glanced back at Noemi. “You mean to tell me that you can’t understand each other?”

  “No.”

  “But you’re married to each other.”

  “Yes,” she said softly.

  “Stars of Earth,” said Jakob, shaking his head. “You’ve sure been through a hell of a lot, young woman.”

  “I suppose.”

  “Such a good girl,” said Giuli. “You poor thing.”

  “What’s your plan now?”

  “I—I don’t exactly know,” said Noemi. “Find a place to settle down and call home, I hope. But only God knows the end of all things.”

  “You should settle down with us!” said Mariya. “We’ve got plenty of room for you. Right, Dad?”

  Jakob clenched his teeth and drew in a sharp breath. Still, he found his heart going out to the girl. If his own daughter had to rely on the mercy of strangers, he’d hope that they’d show her as much kindness as they could possibly give. Perhaps his family didn’t have much to offer, but at the very least they could give her some sense of that community which she’d lost.

  “You’re welcome to rent from us as long as you like,” he said. “However, I don’t think this is such a good place to settle down permanently. There’s a lot of prejudice against us—most people won’t hire Deltans, and even fewer will rent to us. We’re lucky to even have this place, and even then, they charge us through the nose for it.”

  “I understand,” said Noemi, nodding graciously. “Jerem-ahra and I don’t plan to stay here long.”

  “Who?”

  She gave him a puzzled look. “Jerem-ahra? He’s my husband.”

  “Oh, you mean ‘Jeremiah.’ Sorry, the name threw me off.”

  Mariya rolled her eyes. “Jeremiah, Jerem-ahra—what difference does it make?”

  “Where is he now?” Jakob asked.

  “Back with our ship,” said Noemi. “We’re docked along the station rim, not too far from here. That’s what I think, at least—to be honest, I’m not quite sure.”

  I wonder if he’s come across either of my sons, Jakob wondered. The odds weren’t good, but as a star wanderer, the kid was bound to have visited at least some of same ports that Isaac and Aaron had been through. The Outworlds were vast, but people tended to be a lot closer outside the Coreward Stars.

  “I’d very much like to meet this Jeremiah,” he said, stroking his chin. “When do you expect him to be back?”

  “I don’t know. Not for a while, I think. Mariya told me he plans to make some major modifications to the Ariadne.”

  It’s probably not a good idea to have that conversation here anyway, he thought to himself. Salome didn’t speak much Gaian, but Mariya did, and that was not a fight he wanted to drag her into.

  “Do you know where your ship is docked?”

  Noemi shook her head. “I don’t. Sorry.”

  “That’s okay. You said it’s the Ariadne?”

  “That’s right.”

  He activated his wrist console and jumped onto the local planetnet. The device was an older model, scratched and battered from years of wear, but it made the connection with little trouble. The public records available from the port registry showed an Ariadne docked on the other side of the third quadrant: a fifteen-minute tram ride, or an hour’s walk.

  “I could use a good walk,” he said, more to himself than anyone else in the room. He rose to his feet. “It was good to meet you, Noemi. Welcome to our home, and sorry it’s so tight.”

  “That’s all right—I’m used to it,” she said, dismissing his apology with a wave of her hand. “I’m just happy to have someone I can talk to.”

  I’ll bet you are.

  “Where are you going, Dad?” Mariya asked.

  “To meet this Jeremiah,” said Jakob. “If your mother asks, tel
l her I’ll be back in a couple hours.” That should be soon enough to keep him from getting into trouble.

  “Can I come too?”

  “No, you stay here and keep Noemi company. I’ll be back.”

  A look of disappointment crossed her face, but she relented without putting up a fight. Even if she had, though, Jakob’s answer would have been the same. There were some things a man could only share with another man—and others that only a fellow star wanderer could appreciate.

  * * * * *

  The walk down the rimside corridor was long but not unpleasant. The station was large enough that the unnatural upward curvature was barely perceptible, even with the broad width of the long hallway. Windows ran along the walls and floor, giving a spectacular rotating view of the gas giant Madrigalna. Docking nodes for mid to light freighters and passenger cruisers alternated along either side of the corridor, with only a few token security personnel to monitor the vast numbers of people who disembarked here every day. Ships of all kinds could be seen coming and going, the bustling commerce that made the station such an important destination across the Outworlds.

  He reached the gate where the Ariadne was listed and found himself looking out at a beauty of a starship, a little old but none the worse for wear. Like most Outworld freighters, she had no marks of insignia other than the name ARIADNE painted just below the cockpit window. Her wings were short and stubby, just long enough to give the maneuvering jets enough leverage. She was rather small for a starship, with two oversized engines reminiscent of a cargo hauler’s, but the modifications, if there were any, were seamless.

  “Hello,” said a young man behind him. “Can I help you, sir?”

  Jakob turned to see a young, clean-shaven kid with wavy brown hair and sharp features. He smiled and offered his hand.

  “The name’s Jakob,” he said. “You’re Jeremiah, I take it?”

  “That’s right.”

  Jakob pointed out the window to the Ariadne. “That’s a beautiful ship you have there. Was she built in the New Pleiades?”

  “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

  “Not yet,” said Jakob. “You should know me soon, though—you’re subletting a room from me. Your wife told me I could find you here.”

  Jeremiah’s eyes lit up at once. “Ah—you must be Mariya’s father.”

  “I am.”

  “It’s good to meet you, then,” he said. “Pardon me—I guess I expected you to be Deltan like the others.”

  They shook again, this time more warmly. Jakob took a moment to look the kid over. Though he was tall with broad shoulders, he didn’t seem to carry himself with much confidence—not like most outworlders, at least. His grip was not particularly firm, and he had a habit of glancing down whenever he spoke. Still, he wasn’t as awkward as some of the younger star wanderers who came through the station. He’d probably been out for just a couple of years—long enough to get his feet under him, but not so long that he didn’t occasionally yearn for his birth star.

  “I understand you just came back from Megiddo Station,” said Jakob.

  Jeremiah’s face fell. “Yes,” he said softly. “I’m sorry to say, things out there are a mess. I’ve registered an alert with the local authorities—”

  “That’s all right. We all knew it was only a matter of time. What can you tell me about yourself?”

  He paused. “Well, what do you want to know? I’m a third-generation star wanderer from Edenia, out near the Central Rift.”

  “I’m familiar with the sector.”

  “My ship was built in the New Pleiades, just like you guessed. She’s named the Ariadne, after an old pagan god of some kind.”

  “How long have you been a star wanderer?” Jakob asked. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. Out in the hallway, a group of dark-skinned women in flowing white robes walked by, on their way to whatever ship would take them across the stars.

  “Not too long—about three years. I’ve only been to the outskirts of the Oriana Cluster before this, though. The last voyage was my first time at Delta Oriana.”

  “First and last,” Jakob muttered, low enough that the kid couldn’t hear him.

  “What was that?”

  He smiled. “How long do you plan to stay here on Oriana Station?”

  “Oh, not long,” said Jeremiah. “I just need to outfit my ship so Noemi and I can live on it together.”

  On that tiny thing? Good luck.

  “Well, you’re certainly welcome to stay with us. I’m sure your wife welcomes the chance to spend time with people from her own country.”

  “I hope so.”

  Something about the way he spoke made Jakob pause and cock his head. Was that a trace of regret he sensed? Or was it merely the same sense of apprehension that all wanderers felt before they settled down? Perhaps the kid’s feet weren’t so firmly under him as he’d thought.

  He laid his hand on Jeremiah’s shoulder. “Listen, kid, I know how you feel. I was there once myself.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Taking a wife, settling down, learning her culture and moving someplace foreign to you both—I’ve been through it all.” He chuckled. “In particular, I know what it’s like to butt heads with a hard-nosed Deltan woman who can’t get her way. Trust me, that’s a thing you’re lucky to survive.”

  Jeremiah frowned. “Noemi and I aren’t like that. We get along fine.”

  “Of course, of course—you’re still in the honeymoon phase. I can still remember what that was like.” Just barely.

  “You’re an expert on Deltan culture, then?”

  “Sure,” said Jakob. “You can’t live with a woman and have children by her without picking up some of her ways.”

  “I guess not. I just want the best for her.”

  The kid’s not a bad guy, Jakob decided. That Deltan girl he married really lucked out.

  “We probably won’t be staying more than two weeks,” Jeremiah continued, “but I told Mariya I’d pay for a whole month. I know that finances must be tight, what with your wife’s family and all.”

  Jakob waved dismissively. “Eh, we’ll be fine. Just pay for as long as you plan to stay.”

  “No, we can afford it. It’s only fair.”

  “Fair for who? Keep the money—you’re going to need it.”

  “But—”

  “Trust me, kid,” he said, putting an arm around Jeremiah’s shoulder. “When the universe gives you a free pass, don’t haggle about the price.”

  Chapter 7

  Megiddo Station, Jakob thought as he walked down the narrow rimside corridor. Fitting to name this place after the last mythical battle of old Earth. The paint on the walls was peeling, the floor tiles grimy with wear. For all the noisy chugging of the ventilator fans, the air was thick with the smells of body odor and stale incense. Jakob had seen a lot of stations in his day, but if any of them was likely to come to a sudden and catastrophic end, this was the place.

  Not that the people were all that bad. So far, everyone he’d met had been appreciably friendly. The workers at the docking node had waved to him as he’d disembarked, and the station master himself had been there in person to greet him. Trouble was, no one in this far-flung outpost seemed to speak any language other than their own. That was going to make things difficult, considering the state his ship was in.

  “What do you people eat for food around here?” he asked the short, bowlegged station master. His bald head gleamed from the bright LEDs of the main corridor, his augmented reality eyepiece braced to his skull with metal screws. If he’d heard Jakob’s question, he made no sign of it.

  “I said, what do you—”

  “Food, yes, food much much. Want eat now?”

  “Maybe,” said Jakob, rubbing his stomach. “What have you got?”

  “Don’t afraid, yes yes, come food soon. Firstly, magram, see family to stay, no?”

  How any of that was supposed to make sense, Jakob didn’t know. All he could do was follow th
e portly little man with the cybernetic eye implant and hope he wasn’t being led to someplace where he’d get robbed.

  The station master stopped at the center of a large atrium with branching corridors and a central elevator shaft that led up to the station hub. The overhead windows were wide enough that Jakob could look up and see a similar atrium on the opposite side. By squinting a little, he could make out people walking upside down on what seemed to be the ceiling. Of course, that was just an illusion of rotational physics, and not a particularly convincing one at that.

  As the station wheel turned, the deep blue ice giant planet came into view, uniform in color except for a giant storm near the equator. From the ominous way it loomed overhead, he supposed that was another reason to name this place after the end of all things.

  “Come, come,” said the station master, tugging at his sleeve.

  I hope the repairs don’t cost too much, Jakob thought to himself. It’s going to be a tricky negotiation. Delta Oriana was pretty far out from the rest of the star cluster, but the people who made the system their home were remarkably self-reliant. Even though there were less than four thousand people at Megiddo Station, the place had its own shipyards, with mining operations that extended even to the cloud of comets on the system’s fringe. The people seemed content to live apart from the rest of the Outworlds—which meant that Jakob had very little to offer them. At the same time, with the Medea’s faulty reactor core, he couldn’t easily go anywhere else.

  They turned a corner and walked down a small hallway parallel to the station’s axis. The station master led him up a narrow stairwell into a cozy garden courtyard with a bubbling fountain in the middle and potted plants along the walls. Two levels of apartments surrounded the place, with a giant overhead window that offered a magnificent view.

  “That’s all right—I’m fine with just staying on my ship,” Jakob stammered. If these people offered him their best living quarters, it would make the negotiations all that much harder.