Chapter 1

The young man marched into the Commodore’s office, halted in front of his desk, stiffened to attention, tugged his tunic straight¹, and saluted.

¹‘The Picard Manoeuvre’, a habitual mannerism of the twentieth century fictional character Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

“Lieutenant Scott Ross, reporting to the Commodore as ordered, sir!”

The Commodore stifled a smile. Twentieth Century classic science fiction had experienced a resurgence over the previous two decades. He enjoyed it himself and was unsurprised that the young man in front of him had adopted the character as his model.

“Ah, yes. At ease, Lieutenant. You’ve been Second Officer on board a Delta Twelve courier ... in the Ursa Major circuit...”

“Yessir.” the two words ran together.

“Your fitness report recommends your own command, Lieutenant.”

“Sir?”

“Your Commander speaks very highly of you, but feels you will stagnate if not moved up.”

“Yes, sir?”

“You’re entitled to a week’s leave, but we have a Sprinter, an Alpha Fifteen, needing a Commander, right away. Would you be willing to postpone your leave in order to take the command?”

There was a momentary pause as the young man assimilated what the Commodore had said, then, “Yes, sir!”

“Good! I thought you might. The ship is right out of the yard, so you’ll be what used to be called the ‘plank owner’. It’s had the yard tests, but you’ll need to put it through its paces before we formally accept it. Once everything is completed, you’ll have an unusual assignment – Andromeda. Governor Finch has a requirement for a fast courier. You won’t have a regular route, but will run mainly between Earth and Andromeda. There will be opportunities for communications with other systems as well. As regards leave, you will have plenty of opportunity on Andromeda, though of course there’s not a lot of entertainment to be had, and there may be opportunities to take leave in other systems during your duties.”

“Thank you, sir!”

The Commodore stood and extended his hand. “No need to thank me, Lieutenant. Just do your duty as you have been doing and enjoy your command!”

The young man shook the Commodore’s hand, straightened his tunic again, and saluted before turning to leave the office.

The ship still smelled new when he boarded. The hatch slid shut behind him as he settled into the pilot’s position.

He cleared his throat, inserting a chip into place in the panel in front of him. “To Lieutenant Scott Marcus Ross, Transport and Communication Command. You are required to board and assume command of the Sprinter Courier vessel Alpha Fifteen, designation Alpha Fifteen, EU, 25861Zulu. There, you are to complete the required acceptance tests before declaring your ship ready for assignment. Indicate your agreement and give a voice sample.” The voice was a sweet, light soprano.

“Scott Marcus Ross, Lieutenant, T and C, assuming command. Do you have a name, AI?”

“I am 25861Zulu, Lieutenant. If you wish to address me by another name, you need to specify.”

The young man hesitated, then said, “You sound to me like an Esther. Does Esther suit you?”

“Esther is fine, Lieutenant. I am not programmed to have a preference as to how I am addressed.”

“Okay, then Esther. Can you address me as Scott? Or does that conflict with your programming?”

“I can use a personal name for internal ship business, Scott, but must use your full designation for outside communication.”

“Fine. Excellent. How are we set for our acceptance trials?”

“I am ready. The ship is ready, but we still lack some basic supplies. You may want to have some personal supplies – a ship-suit, for example. There is a pressure suit, but you would be well advised to exchange it for one fitted to you.”

“Thank you, Esther. Good thinking.” He frowned. “Is there anything else? Security?”

“Yes, Scott. You need to authorise the loading of the remaining supplies, unless you intend to be here when they arrive.”

“Unless they are scheduled for the next twelve hours, I should be back with my duffel.”

“Very good, Scott.”

The Alpha Fifteen is faster and more manoeuvrable than my Alpha Ten. My ... Oh, of course. You don’t know me. Hector Finch, formerly courier pilot Lieutenant, now through a weird series of events, Governor (Governor? I ask you... ) of the planet Andromeda. Anyway. Before I ended up here, I was perfectly happy riding my little courier Fold-ship from system to system. The new Fifteen is faster, with better acceleration. However, the topology of the Fold-Space universe is such that a faster ship can only shave a short time off the transit; in fact, just the ride to a Transit point, then the flight from the Emergence to one’s destination (or, to an onward Transit point). But the point I want to make is that the ship which brought me here, while elderly, is not significantly inferior to the more modern vessel. I like my Alpha Ten. I just don’t get to pilot her enough these days.

I suppose I need to fill a few gaps? I’ve told the full story elsewhere. Perhaps I should just refer you to ‘Lost in (Fold) Space.’ (To be found in your local data archive) As I say, a weird series of events. Right now, I’ve been landed ... yes. Landed is exactly the right word. With responsibility for a whole planet, I’m stuck here. That sounds as though I’m unhappy. I am not unhappy. Not exactly, anyway. There comes a point in any man’s life when he has to decide (or not) to settle down.

In my case, it was love. Romy ... cannot leave Andromeda, because she is the avatar of the Artificial Intelligence which ruled this planet after its ... her ... creators left. She accompanied me in part when I had to help her negotiate Andromeda’s place in the United Planets Federation. To the Federation, it was Andromeda who was negotiating. However, since she had decided I was the ‘owner’ of the planet and all its assets, I had to authorise her ‘decisions’. But it was not only Romy. Romy insisted I marry a human. She pushed me together with Anya. Anya was willing to bear children for us – for me, but soon enough, Anya became as important to me as Romy. Now it is we three, and let’s not forget our future – two girls, Katya and Janet, and two boys, William and Ivan. My wanderlust is still a part of me. From time to time I lift my old Sprinter off Andromeda for a few hours under grav drive, but I don’t suppose I’ll be allowed to pilot any F-space transits. In fact, Brigadier Abercrombie was the one who belled the cat. He informed me that T & C were sending a new Sprinter – a Fifteen – with a young courier Lieutenant to pilot it. It would be stationed permanently with us to provide any urgent communication we might require.