(//This story builds off of a past smuggler character of mine. I've only made two forum posts about him before, which can be seen here and here. Of all my past characters, this one seemed like the best one for this story.)
Fifteen Years Ago
Gary stepped off the Humpback's ramp into the main spaceport on Planet Malta. He had only been here a few times so far, and each time, he was struck by Malta's unique beauty. He suspected it was more than the cardamine profits that kept him coming back here. He had a little time before the people at the spaceport were done offloading the slave sleeper pods and loading the cardamine onto his ship, so he wandered around the city a bit. He enjoyed these strolls, and enjoyed learning about these people.
Today, he decided to go down a street that he hadn't been down before. As he walked, he came across what appeared to be a small chapel, much more nondescript than the Maltese Catholic churches he had seen before. It blended in very well with the buildings around it, and he almost didn't notice it at all. He suspected that it was built that way on purpose, and he was about to pass it by and continue exploring the city, but then his curiosity overcame his cautiousness, and he stepped inside.
Once his eyes adjusted to the reduced light levels in the chapel, he looked around. The interior was much like a typical church, complete with stained glass windows, a center aisle with several pews on each side, and an altar at the front. Above the altar was a cross, much like a typical church. The images on the windows, however, weren't of saints and the like. Instead, the images there were of somewhat abstract, almost biological blue shapes. He didn't have any idea what they might be, though.
Gary's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of another person entering the chapel. He turned around and saw a man in a monk's robes. The monk spoke to him in heavily accented, but understandable, english.
"May I help you, senor?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I was just passing by and I became curious."
The monk smiled at him. "You are not intruding, senor, Visitors are always welcome here. I assume that you are from one of the transport ships that visit our world?"
"I am. My name is Gary Thacker, and I command the independent trader Humpback. I've not been here often, but I enjoy my visits here. I can't say that I mind the profits from these trips, either. I am curious, though. What are those images on the windows?"
"Those are the angels of light that guard our fallen pilots, and it is to those divine spirits that this chapel is dedicated. You see, Gary, our fallen pilots are interred in their fighters, and are buried in space, deep in one of the nearby nebulas. Any who dare to defile our dead by looting their ships face the guardian's divine wrath. They don't usually bother those who go there with peaceful intentions, though this is not always the case. They are benevolent beings, but I wouldn't test them."
Gary found that to be a difficult story to believe, then again, he wasn't very religious at all. "You mean to tell me that there are actual angels here in Omicron Alpha? I don't mean any disrespect, but I find that a bit hard to believe."
"Many before you have said the same thing, before meeting them. I sense that something is a little different about you, though." The monk stops to think for a second, then reaches into his pocket to pull out a small crystalline object. "Here, I want you to have this. It is a divine artifact left by the guardians, and it will keep you from harm."
Gary didn't believe in the divine, but he felt a strange attraction to the artifact. "Are you sure? We just met, and I've already said that I don't believe. Do you really want to give me one of your holy artifacts?"
Again, the monk smiled at him. "Senor, I am sure. I have my faith, and I trust that you are the right person to receive this. Please, take it."
Gary takes the object from the monk. It appears rather unremarkable, but he can't shake the feeling that appearances are deceiving in this case. Before he can say anything else, his timepiece beeps, telling him that the spaceport workers should be done loading his cargo. "Thank you. Unfortunately, the spaceport staff is done with my ship, and I must take my leave. Thank you for the gift. I will always keep it with me."
Gary Thacker had nothing left. Everything he worked for was lost bit by bit. First, his backstabbing, piece-of-biowaste Xeno brother destroys the Humpback and wipes out his credit account. That was galling enough, being forced to seek employment with Interspace. He loved his independence, not being beholden to anybody, and his brother stole that from him. While he flew for Interspace, though, there was some hope that he could save his earnings and eventually buy himself a new transport, and gain his independence back. Even that was lost to him now.
He found he could fit a little extra cargo into the Soyokaze Maru by taking it to an independent shipyard, and having some of the armor plating removed. It worked brilliantly, and any extra cargo he carried was pure profit, since he didn't report it to Interspace. All was going very well until one day, the trade lane the Soyokaze Maru was in got disrupted by pirates. The pirates made their demand, which Gary refused, trusting in his ships defenses to see him through. His gunners were doing well, until one of the pirates got a lucky shot in, which disabled the Soyokaze Maru's shield generator, tore through the ships thinned armor, and started a chain reaction in the ships reactor. Gary and his crew barely had enough time to reach the escape pods before the reactor finally blew. Fortunately, a passing police patrol chased off the pirates before they had a chance to destroy the crew's escape pods. The police ships grabbed the escape pods and returned them to the nearest Interspace station, since their patrol passed one.
Interspace suspended Gary while they undertook an investigation into the Soyokaze Maru's destruction. As they reviewed his logs, and looked more deeply into his activities, they discovered his unauthorized modifications to the ship's armor, and held him responsible for the ships destruction. Interspace's upper management was not amused. They terminated him and they took the cost of the ship out of his pay, once again leaving him with barely anything. All he had was enough credits to buy a Rhino. Unfortunately, word had gotten out about what he did, and nobody wanted to deal with him. Even the Outcasts refused to deal with him, since he had lost a load of slaves bound for Malta when the Humpback was destroyed. He eventually found his way to Freeport 11, which was about as far from everything as someone could get. Sadly, though, even the Zoners wouldn't trust him with any cargo, and he was left completely without any prospects for his future.
Not knowing what else to do, he began to lose himself in the Freeport 11 bar. Each day, he stumbled back to his room in a drunken stupor and sank deeper into despair. Eventually, he began to consider killing himself, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Gary walked into the bar, hoping to drown his worries in alcohol yet again. Unfortunately, the bartender didn't seem to be in much of a mood to serve him.
"You've been racking up quite the tab over the last couple weeks, Gary. Not another drink until you pay for what you've already had!"
"I'll pay tomorrow, I think I might finally have a line on some work, but nothing's happening until tomorrow anyway. Can't I just have another drink?"
"Every day, it's just another excuse. You come down here every day, get completely wasted, then stumble back to your room to sleep it off, then you do it all over again! I don't know why I've even been serving you this long. Unless you can pay your tab and your room fee, you're not getting another sip!"
Gary began to get angry. "I told you that I've got a line on some work, just give me a goddamned drink, and I'll pay you back tomorrow!"
"How about you just take your attitude out of my bar and don't come back until you have my credits!"
At this point, Gary was livid. All he wanted was another drink, why wouldn't this idiot just shut up and give it to him?
"How about you kiss my ass and get me a drink!"
At this point, Gary felt two pairs of arms drag him roughly off of his barstool, across the bar, and out the door, where they threw him right onto the deck. Gary laid on the deck for a few moments, wondering what he did to fall so far as this, then mustered what dignity he had left and picked himself off the deck and headed back towards his room. When he got there, he found that his keycard no longer worked on the door. It seems that they were serious about him paying his bills. Good thing he didn't leave anything in the room.
Finally, he went down to the docking bay, got into his Rhino, and undocked from Freeport 11. Without anywhere to go, he just sat outside the station and tried to think of where he could go next. As he sat there, he pulled the artifact he received on Malta fifteen years ago out of his pocket. Now, just as then, he felt a strange attraction to what appeared to be a useless, worthless chunk of crystal. During later visits to Malta, he had tried to find the chapel again, but no matter where he went, he was never able to find it again, and none of the locals were able to help him. If not for the artifact he had been given there, he might have thought he imagined the whole thing. Now, after everything, that trinket was the only thing he had left, and that made it even more dear to him. He lost his ship, his credits, his reputation, and he was quickly losing his will.
After failing to think of a place to go, he just flew off in a random direction without kicking in his cruise engines. After a time, everything disappeared off his scanners except for the larger celestial bodies in the system. He continued to fly deeper into space. Several hours later, though, something new appeared on his scanners. It was a jump hole, which his scanners told him went to the Omicron Iota system. Not caring what was there, or if it would kill him, he initiated his ships dock maneuver and entered the jump hole.
For five years now, Gary carried the artifact with him. No matter how much he investigated it, he simply couldn't figure out what it was for. By all appearances, it was just a useless trinket. Strangely, though, he couldn't bear to part with it, and he kept it in his pocket at all times. A couple times, he considered having it analyzed to see what it might be. Each time, though, he suddenly changed his mind before telling anyone about it. The manner in which he changed his mind was strange though. It almost seemed as if the thought did not originate within himself.
At times, Gary thought the pressure of his work might be getting to him, that he might be going crazy. Lately, he had a hard time sleeping. He just couldn't shake the idea that something was watching him. Eventually, though, he managed to get to sleep. His sleep was a fitful one, though, and he didn't get as much rest as he would've liked. Despite this, his dreams were still quite vivid.
Gary found himself floating in deep space. He knew the fact that he wasn't in a ship or a spacesuit of any kind should concern him, but it didn't. Strangely, he didn't feel the slightest chill, nor did he want for air. Floating in space like this seemed like his natural environment. All around him, he heard strange voices whispering in his ear. No matter how closely he listened, he just couldn't understand them, nor could he figure out where they were coming from. Suddenly, Gary felt the need to move, almost like he needed to be somewhere. He didn't know exactly how he accomplished moving in the vacuum of space, but he managed anyway. All it seemed to take was a thought as to which direction he wanted to go, and he speeded off in that direction. It was the greatest sense of freedom Gary had ever felt.
As Gary flew, he realized that he was flying straight towards a planet. It wasn't a place he recognized, but he had the feeling that he was going home. As he got closer to the planet, he began to notice that the indistinct whispers in his ear started to become louder the closer he got to the planet. He still couldn't make out what the voices were saying, and his curiosity drew him in closer still.
He finally arrived at the planet. It looked much like a normal terrestrial planet, though it looked to be frozen over much of it's surface. He didn't see any of the typical signs of Human civilization, but he knew that someone was down there. He could hear them! Gary concentrated on the voices, trying to figure out where they were. They seemed to be coming from the planet's surface. He entered the atmosphere, completely certain in where he was going, despite the fact that he had never been here before.
As he got closer to the planet's surface, he noticed that there was a small hole in the tundra below. He knew that the hole was exactly what he was looking for, and he slowed himself down as he got closer to it. He managed to reduce his speed by a fair bit when he finally reached the hole, and he glided through it. As he looked out before him, what he saw took his breath away.
It was a city, though one completely unlike any he had ever seen in his life. At first, he didn't see anybody around him, but he knew they were there. The voices here were almost clear, though he still couldn't make out exactly what they were saying. The buildings themselves appeared to be both crystalline and organic at the same time, and they glowed blue with their own inner light. Gary's curiosity led him to lower himself to street level and walk around a bit. He knew that this city had not been built by human hands, and he wanted to learn as much as he could.
As he walked, he began to see the city's denizens. They were definately not human. They looked to be composed of both energy and matter, and they glowed with the same blue hue as the city itself. Each one looked a bit different from the others, but there was no doubting that they were the same species. Before he could notice anymore, though, one of the aliens looked straight at him.
***Defiler...intruder!***
Then Gary saw a bright blue-white flash, and then nothing.
Gary awoke with a start. It took him a moment to gather himself, but when he did, he noticed a beeping coming from his comm unit. He answered it.
"Thacker here."
"Captain, we've been trying to contact you for ten minutes, are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Though, Gary wasn't sure he was. "Just overslept is all, what did you need?"
"We're almost to our destination. You'll be needed on the bridge shortly"
"I'm on my way, just give me a moment."
"Aye, sir."
With that, Gary heard the connection close. He couldn't shake the feeling that something significant had just happened to him, but he dismissed it as the result of overwork, and pledged to take a vacation as soon as circumstances would allow. A week on Curacao should set him straight.
![[Image: pyBjInU.png]](https://i.imgur.com/pyBjInU.png)