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MAIDEN VOYAGER
by R. Edward Main
Published by Five Star
ISBN: 1594144206
Copyright (c) 2005 by Ray E. Main
FROM THE BOOK JACKET:
By the end of the twenty-first century, interstellar
travel has become a reality due to the discovery of tears in the
fabric of space. Called the Void, these dimensionless rifts provide
pathways between the stars that can be navigated by those with
exceptional mental powers. But crossings must be completed in a
matter of minutes, before the Void pilots lose all sense of their
physical reality.
Jackie Claver's sheltered life in a posh girls' school ends when the
ship her father pilots becomes lost during a crossing. Sensing he
still lives, the teenager is convinced she can mind-link with him to
guide him out. But no qualified pilot will risk the dangers of such
an impossible mission. Then Jackie learns of a former Void pilot
named Crow whom her father once befriended. Crow, to Jackie's great
disappointment, turns out to be a seedy alcoholic. Still, he agrees
to help.
CHAPTER ONE
Jackie raced down the now empty hallway that led to the visitor's
room of Mrs. Denning's Music and Drama Conservatory, the thudding of
her feet softened by the antique twentieth-century hall runners.
Portraits of distinguished past members stared down from heavy gilt
frames, disapprovingly. A robomouse cleaner scuttled out of her way
as she pounded past, almost tripping over the silly thing. The
electronic hall monitor whined its stock reminder: "Running through
the halls is not proper decorum for a Denning's girl." Its camera
eye followed her, recording her image for later disciplinary action.
Normally, the seventeen-year-old would have considered it beneath
her dignity to be caught running through these venerable halls of
learning. Not today. Today, a lot more was at stake than dignity.
Breathing rapidly, she drew up at the heavy oak door that had
guarded the privacy of the visitor's room for the better part of the
past two centuries. She reached for the brass knob, worn into
dullness by the many hands that had turned it over the years. Her
own hand trembled so that she drew it back.
"You must calm yourself Jackie," the disembodied voice of her
computer advisor cautioned. "It's self-defeating to let your
emotions run away with you."
"Please, CAP," she said aloud, "this isn't the time to be bugging me
with platitudes." She didn't have to speak to communicate with CAP,
but it took more concentration to mind-talk without speaking. And at
the moment her mind was thoroughly occupied.
"You told your teacher I would be acting as your advisor in this
matter."
"And I want you to. But not now. Not till I find out what's happened
to my father." Still, she hesitated, fearful of the message that
waited for her inside. At least she knew her father was alive. She
could always pick up feelings from him, even from another part of
the galaxy. Like the time he slipped on an oil spill and fractured
his wrist. A sharp, sudden sensation of pain had flashed through her
mind. She spent a week worrying before he showed up at the
Conservatory, a big smile on his face and his arm in a sling.
Normally though, all she sensed from him was a warm, comforting
feeling. He had laughed when she told him. Said it was all in her
head. But she knew what she felt.
Yesterday, she had sensed something more disturbing than pain. A
sudden panic followed by an aura of despair. And the impressions
were fuzzier and less distinct than normal. CAP had tried to
reassure her, claiming that PanGalactic would have informed her if
anything serious had happened.
And now, someone from PanGalactic was on the other side of this
door--here to see her. She felt like she was about to burst into a
thousand pieces.
But as fearful as she was of discovering what had happened to her
father, not knowing was worse. Taking a deep breath, she clasped the
knob, turned it, and pushed open the door. A large man in one of the
latest styled loose-draped business suits rose from a wingback chair
that looked too fragile to support his bulk (one of Mrs. Denning's
"moldy monstrosities" as her roommate, Cherral, called the antique
reproductions). The man eyed her uncertainly.
"Miss Jackie Claver? I'm Bradly Goodman, Vice President of
Personnel." He glanced behind her, frowning. "You should have a
counselor with you."
She shook her head. "I'm equipped with a fully functional
computerized internal advisory program."
"A computer advisor?" He raised a disapproving eyebrow. "I'd rather
a human counselor be present."
"Please, just tell me why you're here."
His craggy face took on the expression of an ailing basset hound.
"It's about your father. I'm afraid I bring bad news."
A sudden urge to giggle and cry at the same time made her realize
how close she was to losing it. Legs suddenly weak, she collapsed
into another of the antique chairs. Her throat constricted and a
rushing sound filled her head. "Tell me," she managed to say.
"Your father's ship, the 'Golden Arrow,' was lost in a Void crossing
between Maddoc and Draco-3."
"How?" she heard herself ask.
"A Void crossing is always a chancy affair. Jack Claver was one of
the best, but somehow he must have lost focus."
She stiffened in her chair. "My father would never have botched a
crossing. Something must have happened to his ship." She stared up
at him, searching for anything in his expression that might give her
hope. "Has PanGalactic sent out search parties?"
He grimaced and shook his head. "No ship lost in the Void has ever
been rescued. No one even tries anymore. It's pointless. Physicists
have concluded that matter under the influence of the Void for more
than a few minutes ceases to exist. When a ship fails to complete a
Void crossing, its occupants are declared legally dead."
Her hands clenched tightly into fists. "You're telling me my father
is dead?"
"I'm sorry, but that's the truth of it." He bowed his head, as if
her father's corpse were laid out in state, right there in the room.
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