Starting homeward

Three days after Sachiko found me on the deck of the Void Dog, we made port in Cobo Landing. For all three days, I had been feeling the occasional pull of a Stepping point as the spheres of different realities had revolved past the deep ship. Sachiko had found it very interesting, and had begun talking about the uses of having someone with dimension hopping skill as part of an exploratory crew. In the normal course of events, Sachiko would have had to 'land' the Void Dog in an unexplored dimension to find out anything about it, and actually finding the proper entry point was hit or miss, at best. But I could feel when Stepping points were approaching, and when they were closest. I actually got to earn a bit of my keep by Stepping to Cobo Landing and arranging for the slip Sachiko needed for the Void Dog.

Transferring to the slip from the void was very interesting. Stepping is like a bad jump cut in a film; suddenly the scenery is different. But docking a deep ship is gradual, like coming out of a dream. Shapes began to appear in the blackness, solidifying around the ship until the void was gone. In less then five minutes, we were fully docked in the Landing. It was fascinating to experience.

It was nice to be back on solid land, but that was balanced by the fact that I had no idea where Cobo Landing was, and how I was going to get back home. I had assumed that Sachiko's dislike of the Traveler's Guild put me somewhere near my normal stomping grounds, the section of the void she sailed turned out to be, by her choice, quite far away from anywhere the Guild controlled. She said that most deep sailors avoided the Guild worlds. The Guild had no way of tracking ships like the Void Dog, and tended to be heavy handed in their methods of trying to curtail the deep sailor's wanderings. Sachiko's normal route lay just outside the area controlled by the Jump Cops, the so-called 'Boundless Realm'. The Realm, while quite large, was miniscule compared to the Guild's Dimensional Congeries. The Guild's reach extended quite a bit further than I had ever thought. Sachiko had never heard of any of the places I named, except the Gambling Hell, which also seemed to be a much more widespread operation than I had assumed. Her collection of maps might have shown some areas I knew, but the deep sailor method of listing location names and relationships were too foreign to my understanding to be much help.

Sachiko did have some suggestions for at least finding my way back into the Guild Congeries, which might be all I needed.

“I wish you well in your travels, Runcible.” Sachiko told me as I stood on the dock next to the Void Dog. “It has been most enjoyable and illuminating to have you as a guest. Your help today was, also, much appreciated. I hope that your path back to your home is untroubled. Would it make you uncomfortable to receive a gift?”

“Sachiko, my friend, I would be more than pleased to accept anything you might offer.”

She stepped close to me, and placed a light necklace around my neck. It was shaped like a crescent, with the upturned points connected to the links that held the necklace to me. The crescent was silver, with a blue filigree pattern on it. When I slipped it under my shirt, it felt cold for just a moment, then felt like nothing at all.

“You've been very kind to me, Sachiko, and I feel lucky to have landed on the Void Dog. I wish you sailed closer to my home. I'd love to have you to talk to again. I also wish there was some way to repay you for your help, but right now a thank you is all I can offer. I hope to be able to return this gift in kind, one day.”

“The help was given freely, as was the gift, Runcible. The necklace will allow you to feel when a deep ship is near, and may allow me to sense you, if we are ever near one another again. Take care, and be well.”

“And to you.”

I walked down the dock towards the city. When I reached the end of the dock and looked back towards the Void Dog, Sachiko had disappeared.


Cobo Landing was a busy port, hosting port facilities for space, sea, and deep ships. Like any port city, it was bustling with traffic and business being done, both legal and otherwise. Drovers moved various loads in animal drawn carts, powered vehicles, and by their own strength. Vendors hawked dozens of types of foods and sundries. I enjoyed it all, and kept an eye out for pickpockets.

Sachiko had told me about a few places I should visit; a cybernetics peddler who might be able to tell me something about my metal left hand; a fortune-teller of good reputation; and a group who might be able to help me find my way through the Boundless Realm, known as the Sig Nomad.

I headed away from the deep ship moorings, heading for the cybernetics dealer. My mind was filled with thoughts of Yendin Baddo, and as I walked I clenched and unclenched my own left hand.