Wanderer - Tainted Universe

Chapter 2-4

Dash sat on the edge of the bed, mind whirling. He knew he should sleep but it wasn’t going to happen. He’d managed three hours before the worries and plans whirling around his head had jerked him awake. Another two hours of restlessness had convinced him to give up on sleep.

Chief among his worries was the reception they’d get at Desolation. He was still shaken by the betrayal of the men he’d brought with him, even as he understood the true mistake had been trusting Hackett too far. Hackett had stuffed the crew with those willing to betray Dash, and Dash had missed it. The fact that Hackett and the other twenty men were all dead didn’t lessen the sting.

Before that betrayal Dash would have been certain of his reception at Desolation, certain he would command loyalty and respect. Twenty years of effort had gone into ensuring the pirate organisation he headed up remained his to control. Now, though, he had no idea what awaited them.

If nothing had changed then he felt confident all would be well. Desolation was a fallback location, one that held many ships but only a skeleton crew. It relied on secrecy for protection rather than force of arms.

Most of those stationed there owed Dash strong loyalty. They were among those who had joined him in the early days, back when he controlled a small, tightly knit force. Back when he could take the measure of everyone in his team. Before everything had gotten out of hand. Before he’d started his rapid rise to become a powerful player in the organisation, then on to becoming its leader.

He worried things would have changed, though. Hackett hadn’t acted alone, in fact he must have been confident of considerable support to risk taking the action he did. Could those behind Hackett have spread their influence to Desolation?

It was an obvious target to those who knew of it. If Dash’s power base was damaged but not destroyed, if he needed to make a tactical retreat, then Desolation was where he would head. He could be leading Jess and the others into a trap. One that even the incredible ship they flew couldn’t save them from.

He couldn’t see any alternatives. Not if they were going to save the slaves in the other three ships. That was something Jess and Sal insisted on. That insistence had reminded Dash of his younger self, that he would once have been just as eager to do the right thing as Jess and Sal were.

Sal. Thoughts of Sal streamed through his mind too. There was no denying it, he found himself strongly attracted to her. He cared deeply for her. Dash saw the pain Markus had caused Sal and knew it was partly his fault. She’d met Markus again purely by chance, and that would have been the last of it without Dash’s interference.

She should have had a confusing meeting with someone who looked like her lost love. Any pain would soon have faded. Instead, thanks to Dash’s manipulation, she had been forced to confront the brutal truth.

As if all that wasn’t enough, he was undecided about his own future. If his fears proved unfounded, then at Desolation he’d be able to pick up a powerful ship and a loyal crew. He could return to heading up the organisation, don the mantle of power once again, then hunt down those Hackett had worked for. After two decades it was the obvious choice, the reflexive choice. Yet it felt cold. Sour.

Spending time with Jess and the others had reawakened something deep inside Dash. They’d told him of their plan to cross the Quarantine Zone, somehow, and head for the Wanderer’s home. The thought of just dropping everything and joining them sent excitement through Dash’s veins. The chance to see something completely new, to travel without being crushed by responsibility. And the chance to do some good, real good, along the way. To make a difference to the lives of others.

In his heart Dash already knew what his choice would be. The question now was whether Jess and the others would accept him on the journey. He wouldn’t blame them if they refused.