Zombie Road , Simpson, A. [best authors to read TXT] 📗

“Noted.” Jessie said and flipped the switch.

They couldn’t tell the ship picked up speed, there may have been a little more vibration, but it was moving through the void at nearly three hundred thousand miles an hour. The ETA counter displayed a little over three months.

There wasn’t much to do until they got closer to shipping lanes between planets and the space port, so they flipped on the auto pilot. Jessie spent the time learning the universal language, teaching himself to read and working with the gun turrets. He wanted to practice flying the ship, maybe land on an asteroid or empty planet but there was nothing. The only thing outside of a solar system was an occasional rare comet and microscopic dust particles. The rest of space was just nothingness. Black, empty, cold nothing. He’d found a sheaf of paper like material and started writing down some of the things that had happened. He wasn’t planning on keeping a journal but he felt a little closer to her when he wrote. Scarlet had kept one and other than the locket, he had nothing from her, only the memories. The machine Scarlet had said they knew how to time travel, it was basic knowledge even though it was outlawed everywhere. There had to be better machines, more accurate, than the one under the Tower. He needed to find one and figure out some way to get back to where he belonged. Back to her. There must be a way to bypass the disrupters for a few seconds or take it far out into space and use it. He still ached for her and in the quiet moments, when his mind wasn’t consumed with learning new things or simply in awe of his situation, he remembered and his heart hurt.

24

Spaceport

Jessie had been in the pilot’s seat for hours as he watched the planets get closer. They had entered the solar system and now that there was something to gauge their speed, he could finally tell that the ship was actually moving. They passed the outer ice ball planets, the systems jump gate and aimed for the sun and the inhabitable worlds. Maddy had only been able to monitor the high-powered signals from the Madroleeka but now that they were within the system, they were receiving thousands. She spent most of her time listening, deciphering and learning. Much had changed since her time. The rebuilding had used much of the old technology but there wasn’t a strong galactic force that enforced the council’s rulings. Most systems had their own enforcers and from the chatter, some were better than others. The Federation only held sway over a handful of systems, those closer to the hub.

“We can’t land on any of the planets here.” Maddy said. “All ships are required to dock at the space port and travel down on shuttles.”

“Crap. Why is that?” Jessie asked.

“Security is the official reason.” She answered. “There is a prison planet and a forced servitude planet. They don’t want any escapees. However, most of the chatter I’m picking up are complaints about the vacation world. It’s overpriced, the dock fees are high and you are forced to use their shuttles. Which are overpriced, also.”

“Okay.” Jessie said and licked his lips. “Sounds like home. Except there were free shuttles at Disney World.”

He had been prepared to land on a planet, it gave him time to practice a little in a gravity environment. There was probably plenty of room to maneuver, he imagined big open fields with giant helipads and big painted X’s to mark the spot. He wasn’t sure about a space port. It was spinning and moving around the biggest planet, he was moving in at a different speed and angle, there wasn’t any gravity to ease into and he was doubting his ability to land without smashing through a control tower. The closer they got, the more nervous he became.

Over the past months Maddy had taught him about the galaxy before and the current state of things. She had shifted into the various lifeforms so he wouldn’t be shocked when he saw them, spoke in their native tongue and made him practice the universal language. She was obstinate and refused to speak English until he grudgingly tried to start learning.

“It is for the best.” She’d said. “You are foolhardy and reckless. Knowing the language will help in many situations.”

“I don’t want many situations.” He’d complained. “Yeah, it’ll be cool to check things out for a while but I need to get back. All I want to do is find out how to get access to a time machine and return to earth. I have unfinished business there.”

By listening to the other ships, they figured out the protocol and when they were near enough to the port Maddy hailed them and asked for permission to dock. The port was enormous, the size of a sprawling city and without the blinking lights to guide him and Maddy to tell him which ones were meant for him, he never would have figured it out on his own. Jessie took a deep breath, tried to ignore everything else going on around him and guided the vessel into the assigned zone that was flashing amber. As they neared, he could see a shimmer of the bubble they would pass through and tried to line his ship up so when they breached it, the gravity wouldn’t slam them down too hard. He cut the forward thrusters and tapped the ones on the bottom to slow the decent but was still moving forward and at an angle.

“Crap.” He muttered and tried to correct but sent the ship spinning just as they slipped through the gravity barrier.

The jump ship was small, a fraction the size of most transporters and that was the only reason they didn’t smash into the receiving building. It spun, slammed into the pad, bounced and slid sideways, almost to the edge of the platform, before