Flying Dutchman of the Spacelanes
By J.A. Marlow
Exclusively Published By: Star Catcher Publishing at Smashwords
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Book Description
Sora's first surprise of the day is finding the legendary Flying Dutchman of the Spacelanes docked at Langdon space station. The second is finding herself trapped onboard the deserted ship. The surprises keep coming with the discovery of alien skeletons… and then a human skeleton…
Sora races to unlock the riddles of the cursed ghost spaceship in a bid to return home before she suffers the same fate. Only to find the true nature of the ship could give her the dream of a lifetime.
A 8100 word science fiction short story by J.A. Marlow.
This book is dedicated to my family, who have been supportive of all my writing since I can remember. All my stories are for you.
This book is also dedicated to all those who love to daydream.
Table of Contents
Flying Dutchman of the Spacelanes
Star Catcher Publishing Appendum
Flying Dutchman of the Spacelanes
The robots suddenly starting to move should have been a clue.
But, Sora ignored it, not wanting to extricate herself from the tangle of wires and tubes. If she didn’t move and disturb the piles, she would be able to put the relay back together again without too much trouble.
"Sora, are you still in Sector 22?” Came a voice from the comm-unit in one ear, interrupting the music she'd had playing.
She didn't want to answer. Really she didn't. An engineering degree with the hopes of seeing a bit of excitement among the stars, and the most she'd experienced was an ant infestation on boring Langdon Station. Nothing happened at the orbiting spaceport, not even pirates.
Except broken components, some of which were almost impossible to replace.
"Yes, still down here. And no, I am not able to move easily to take care of a different problem. Call an exterminator if you see something moving," Sora said.
"Do you see anything unusual?"
The words made her freeze in the act of re-installing tubing along the top of the component she'd just finished replacing. Mr. Giskin's voice didn't sound worried, yet it still held a note of strain.
She half pulled out of the access panel and glanced up and down the wide utility corridor. Even though only every third light was turned on, it was enough to see either end. Nothing moved, nor could she hear anything. To the right she spotted a service robot silently cross the corridor.
Still, that was normal.
"Nothing here. Control, what am I supposed to be looking for?" Sora asked.
The pause before they answered didn't help her feel any better. The quiet and solitude of the area took on an ominous quality.
"We believe a ship may have docked in your sector."
"This sector is shut down for major maintenance. I doubt the docking clamps work," Sora said, even as she began to remove herself from the tangled mess she'd made.
"And yet, the docking robotics have activated. Main security systems are still shut down. Can you visually verify the docks?" Mr. Giskin asked.
"On my way, but I don't want any complaining about why I'm not done yet," Sora said.
"Roger that," Mr. Giskin said with a chuckle.
He could laugh. He wasn't the one wandering into who-knew-what. She reminded herself what a boring place it was. That a captain or pilot probably made a mistake during approach and docked in the wrong place. Or, the sensors in the area malfunctioned. The thoughts cheered her considerably. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.
As she approached the docks she found the robots in high activity, as if servicing a ship. The moment she entered the main dock area of Sector 22, she stopped.
And stared.
The ship sat alone and silent, the only one along a string of docks in Sector 22. Just as well. It was so big it took up three regular dock spaces.
The ship looked like a flattened guppy, tapering down at one end from a more rounded front. Or did she have it backwards? Without obvious engine pods she couldn't tell.
The ship looked nothing like the ships that regularly came and went from Langdon Station. The surface of the ship flowed like waves of fabric. On the side facing her was what looked like encased sails.
"Sora, we have a report from the Crown Royal that he sees a ship. He's refusing to dock," Mr. Giskin said.
Sora moved closer to the viewscreens to get a better look at the skin. If her eyes were to be believed, it looked like the outer hull had a pebbly blue and gray texture to it. "Why is he refusing? This dock isn't anywhere near the active docks. By the way, I have visuals. This thing is huge. Didn't anyone see it come in, much less dock?"
"Negative."
"No sign of any crew but I see plenty of lights on. Rows and rows of portals glowing. Is anyone answering hails?"
"The Crown Royal Captain is claiming it's the Flying Dutchman and he's refusing to dock until it leaves."
If Mr. Giskin's voice wasn't so serious, she would have laughed. Even still, she asked, "The one that sails the high-seas on Earth?"
"That one has never been recorded scientifically. The Flying Dutchman of the Spacelanes has, and he says this is it. Can you confirm?"
"I have no idea what that ship was supposed to look like." She rested a hand on the metal frame of the portal, her face almost flat against the window so she could see more of the ship. "This ship is a beauty. Curved lines, although a bit too much like a squashed beach-ball for my tastes. Whatever it is, it knows how to signal for the attention of the automated docking systems including the service robotics."
"The ship has been known to do that. Activates the robotic systems before anyone realizes it. I'm sending you the only visual I have readily available. Do you have a match?"
The image showed up on her wrist-comm a moment later. The picture wasn't of the best quality or very big, but there was no denying the shape and color. Then she noticed the date.
"Mr. Giskin, is this date correct?"
"It is."
Her eyes flew back to the ship. "This picture was taken before the Starblink Event?"
"There are more recent pictures, but we would have to access the archive. But yes, the sightings began at the beginning of human spaceflight. We have a controller in here who seems to know all about it."
"Gary," Sora said. It wasn't hard to guess. The guy seemed to perpetually have his head in the past or the surreal. Knowing all about the Flying Dutchman of the Spacelanes would be just like him. "Still no sign of crew. All the docking clamps are working normally. Were repairs completed down here and I didn't know about it?"
"We would like you to retreat to Sector 22's South entry. Security is on their way."
"Roger that."
The fact he didn't answer said something. She pushed herself away from the portal with the intention of heading out of the dock area. Then she saw a series of three freight robots with their long flat backs piled high with boxes of all sizes, and one of them had on it a crate she recognized.
With the crystalline coated erthometic converter inside.
"Control, shut down the robotics in this sector. They're getting into the supply warehouses," Sora shouted as she ran towards it.
She ran in front of the freight robot with the precious crate, but it merely butted up against her with its square front and started pushing her backwards.
She hopped up on the front rim, trying to pop open the control panel on the side. "Stop, you stupid thing. They just started building those again, and I need it!"
"Sora, what is happening?" Mr. Giskin asked in her ear.
"The converter! It took us two years to get it and one of the robots is trying to take it on board."
And who knew what else, if it were going after such valuable commodities. It had taken scientists forty years after regaining spaceflight after the Starblink event wore off to duplicate the component. She was about to lose the only one Langdon Station had been able to requisition.
"Sora, where are you? We're losing your location," Mr. Giskin asked, his voice breaking up.
Sora was too busy struggling with the robot to answer. No matter what she did, the thing just kept on moving. How could it when she pulled the breaker for the main power supply? But, she knew one thing that would stop it, even though she knew she would get in trouble for it.
She closed her eyes and worked to reach out with her mind. Goodness, when was the last time she'd actively tried to do anything with her limited psi abilities? It was the one thing she'd disappointed her family in: the lack of natural mental gifts to use in an occupation.
An image built up in her minds-eye of ribbons of electricity flowing through the robot like arteries and veins through a body. It helped she was right on top of the thing. Then came doing something with what her mind was sensing.
It took her a moment to calm down enough to ball up enough energy. It began vibrating through her senses and making her skin tingle. At the point it became uncomfortable she sent it coursing through the robot with a sharp push of her mind.
The robot stopped with a start, the back of it bumped by a following freight robot.
Sora slipped off the front of the robot with a tart, "Stop pushing, or I'll short you out, too."
She glared down at the dark robot settling to the floor. She had the converter back, but she would spend at least a week rebuilding the robot. What a pain.
A thump nearby made her start, making her aware of her surroundings for the first time. She wasn't on the dock any longer.
With a panic Sora ran past the dead robot. Other freight robots were still trying to deliver their cargo, blocking her way.
"Control, can you hear me?" Sora shouted as she finally broke free from the robots.
The walls changed from a pebbly creamy-white to powder lavender just before the wide corridor ended with a sealed door. Through a small portal she had to bend down to look through she could see Langdon Station quickly receding.
With it her heart sank. She asked once again in a weak voice, "Control, this is Sora. Can anyone hear me?"
Still no answer. She pulled the earpiece out. The light at the end indicated it was fully functional, which meant something was blocking the signal. Most likely the ship itself.
A legendary ghost ship all captains feared in case it brought them bad luck on their voyages.
And, she was standing inside it.
The spacedock disappeared in a buzz of frazzled light that made her senses spin. She'd heard enough from freighter captains who had a small Psi ability to know that meant they'd just entered slipstream.
Sora turned away from the dark portal, knowing she wouldn't see anything outside she liked. When they came out of slipstream she doubted they would still be in the Langdon system. Her only chance now was to find what controlled the ship and make it take her back.
It was a short walk to rejoin the robots. Well, most of the robots. She saw several of them in other corridors, apparently delivering the goods they carried. All except the one she shorted out.
She leaned against the darkened robot, glancing around the rounded room with so many directions presented to her. Which way to go?
She pushed aside the rising panic. She needed to keep her head, find the bridge, and get home. Up and forward should be the bridge, if the ship layout followed any normality. The front and rear of the ship hadn't been obvious, but she decided to go with her initial instinct on which end of the ship housed the engines.
"Like a ghost ship is going to be normal," she chided herself as she took a look at what else was in the robot cargo area.
Nothing of use to help her explore. She grabbed the repair kit from the lower hatch at the back of the robot and looked inside. Simple gear welcomed her, most of it useless to what she needed to do, but the tacky notepads gave her a good option.
She set off down a corridor. Anytime she was forced to change directions she attached a notepad to the wall with a marked arrow in the direction she'd come and gone. With any luck she would be able to easily find her way back to the robots and the airlock near them.
No markings on the walls, no sign of a computer, no convenient section map. Nothing to help her find her way around the ship. At random she tried the doors. Some opened into empty store rooms, others were filled with crates and items of other shapes.
She didn't stop to explore. She didn't have the time.
A door opening into what suspiciously looked like an elevator gave her pause. It was a chance to get to another level, but could she find her way back down?
A search of the walls on the outside found a small symbol to the right of the door. She copied it down as best she could on a notepad.
Taking a deep breath, she poked her head inside. Once again, she couldn't find any kind of a control pad. Nor did any computer voice ask for her destination when she entered. The silence began to weigh on her, giving her an even bigger sense of urgency.
Sora cleared her voice. "Bridge, please?"
The doors slipped shut and a light blinked at the top of the door. There was no sensation of movement, but she had to hope she was going somewhere.
She glanced down at the symbol. How was she supposed to get back without knowing what it was or how to pronounce it? She'd hoped for a control panel where she could match it up.
Great, she was in even worse trouble. Lost on the Flying Dutchman. As the seconds ticked by she grew more nervous. The pounding of her own heart joined the sound of her breathing.
When the doors slipped open she practically ran outside. While the doors slid closed behind her, she copied down the new symbol on the wall outside the elevator door on the notepad next to the first symbol. Then she copied it again and put the new copy on the wall next to the door. With her entry point marked, she turned to greet the new level.
A level of luxury. Sitting areas, tables off to the left, glass-enclosed rooms to the right. Fancy lighting dropped down from the ceiling. Art and sculptures filled every wall and niche. All of it screamed 'passenger liner.'
With no people to be seen anywhere. Nothing in the shops lining one side of the large open area and all the tables bare. At least nothing in evidence indicated a military ship. It should have reassured her.
Then she noticed the chairs at the tables. While they had arms coming up on either side, they had no back. The thought of sitting in them for any length of time made her back ache.
Curled decorations lined the edges of the walls and ceilings, appearing to be inlay with shining gold and silver. The further she walked, the more convinced she became it once housed luxury passengers. All still waiting to be used and enjoyed, to be filled with passengers to be coddled and pampered.
Then she saw the first skeleton.
She moved forward despite herself. She really didn't want to see, but knew she needed to. The bones had fallen apart. The head rested on a couch arm, with the rest of the body laying disjointed on the cushions and floor. Small dark gray flakes lay pinned under the bones. Perhaps once clothes or even skin? It was hard to judge the exact size and shape, but she guessed the creature to be shorter than herself.
With a long tail, and that meant it didn't belong to any alien species she knew of.
Sora backed away, then turned and ran. Then she saw another skeleton. And then another.
All of them in relaxed positions in either chairs or couches. Only one lay in the middle of the floor. Maybe walking when whatever hit them?
What happened to them? Was it still here?
She needed to get to another level. She wasn't learning anything other than the crew and passengers of an unknown species appeared to all be dead.
Only, she'd forgotten to mark her last turn.
She looked up and down the wide hallway branching off into other corridors that appeared to hold private rooms. No, no more of those. She wanted an elevator. That meant finding one of the open spaces.