We do not own the stars- the stars own us.

                                     So long as we allow them to fed on our dreams

                                    They allow us the chance to hear the song

                                    Of moving between the lights and darkness

                                                                     The Star Riders Code

 

                                     We are the Star Riders of Destiny

                                     The stars are our stepping stones to Glory

                                                                    The Revised Legan Star Riders Code

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One

 

 

The tinted curvature of the advance bubble port had been grown to impress the very important or just the very rich that Peyser or someone else at the Company decided was worth the space in the Captain’s skiff.  Today though he had the craft to himself. The only others on the skiff were some of the crew returning from shore leave or who had just secured a berth.  He always loved looking out at his ship. After years with the Company he had, three voyages ago, been given the bridge of the Cariya, the flagship of the Company, the ultimate not in speed but in luxury. 

 

As the skiff grew closer the Cariya seemed to expand, the silver and black surfaces glistening as it lay in its low orbit waiting for the next set of passengers to take off to Watew, Basi, Safire, the various pleasure planets. Or on occasion even to the Allera system, so full of riches that it had become its own private universe.

 

“Captain Sherinan, Sir!” His reverie interrupted he turned to the voice. It was Till, one of the new arrivals in the crew. He stood there at stiff attention as though he were at a meeting for the Legan Brigade instead of a skiff about to dock at one of the premier civilian ships to operate from Hallick  By El what had his planet become? Ah well, just a few more weeks before his ship and he both would be free again between the stars.

 

Lar Sherinan moved away form the port and waited for Till to tell him the reason for the interruption. He knew his face showed the impatience for Till’s entry and had no desire to curb the look. “What is it crewmen,” he asked in the brusque voice that was meant to serve as a reminder to the crewman that he had invaded the Captain’s privacy without invitation.

 

“Captain Sherinan, Sir. Mil Gran Stron is on the vidlink.” Lars waved him away and strode toward the nearest vidlink, a sinking feeling in his stomach. –While he waited for the connection he dialed a cup of sto. He felt someone behind him and realized that Till, rather than leaving was crowding him while the vidlink connected.

 

“Is there something else I can do for you crewman Till?”Lar added an emphasis that reminded Till that he had no rank The crewman shook his head, obviously having no desire to be dismissed rather than listen in to what was obviously, at least to the crewman, an important call. Lars himself was not so sure. Stron had a tendency to call from time to time just to show that he was important enough to call. But then he had the time. The truth is that Stron had no real purpose in the Company. He was a Legan official placed there to make sure there was no evidence of unorthodox thought or behaviour within the Company. The ubiquitous face now appeared on the flat screen of the observation area vidlink. “Mil Gran Stron,”Lar addressed the fleshy face with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

 

 

“Si Sherinan, how are you today?”Lar recognized immediately that the portly figure was trying to show his own importance by refusing to use the Captain’s proper title. He also knew better than to rise to the bait. Instead he simply spread his hands in the symbol of a neutral answer. “I am afraid that I have bad news and worse news for you.”

 

Lars tried to keep his voice neutral. What Stron considered bad news sometimes had connection with reality and sometimes was as trivial as a smudge on one of the gleaming controls. “And what would that be, Mil Gran Stron?”

 

Stron seemed to star through the vidlink as though waiting to gauge the response to his words. “The High Council with magnanimity and humanitarian feeling has decided to allow a group of Ebed to purchase passage from Hallick to a destination of their choosing. The Cariya will be carrying them there.”

 

 

Lar almost choked on the hot cup of sto that he had been drinking. He stared at the figure on the vidlink while trying to decide if Stor was actually being serious. The Legan did not let Ebed go. The Legan confiscated their wealth and then put them in ‘relocation areas’ on the outer moons where life tended to be short and thankfully so. He just did not understand.

 

The Mil Gran paused and seemed to misunderstand Lar’s silence. “Yes I know,”and here the man leaned toward the cam as though they were engaged in some sort of mutual conspiracy. “The idea of taking a voyage with,”and the man actually shuddered. “Ebed is hardly a pleasure cruise. You will need extra security to make sure they do not steal anything. And the entire ship will most likely have to be decontaminated after. Consider it one more step toward ridding our system of them, and helping our relationship with other systems at the same time. Plus they are paying extremely well for thejourney. Twice what the normal clients would pay. And the truth is that you are the only civilian vessel near ready with the ability to carry 900 passengers.”

 

The Captain, still unsure what to say, merely nodded. Finally he composed himself. “Well, if you will excuse me Mil Gran Stor, I must attend to many things if we are going to be ready for a full compliment of passengers in a week.”

 

The landbound smiled. “A week? I am afraid there has been a slight change in plans there also, Si Sherinan. You will be leaving tomorrow. In fact I believe your ‘passengers’ should be arriving shortly.”Lar reached over and thumped the bubble downward. Far below from the surface he could see the small pinpoints of skiffs Not able to control his reactions any longer he began to flush

 

“But there is so much to be done to make the ship ready,”he sputtered.

 

“Nonsense,”said the party hack. “You make it sound like you are carrying real passengers. These are, after all, merely Ebed. They should be glad we do not just shoot them out at random in life pods. But the High Council is apparently more humane than  you or I. This is is their decisions and you and I,”and here Stron put on his best ‘I am the party incarnate so you should listen to me’ “Should never question their decisions. Have a good trip Sherinan. To the Legan!” And with a stiff salute he toggled the end transmission button leaving Lar Sherinan looking at a blank screen,.