Chapter 4

Disembarking from the transport, Kal was instantly familiar with the starship, even though he had never been on this particular vessel before.

They were all the same, every single starship that utilized the Engine to travel faster than light. They were capable of jumping vast distances instantaneously and were the lifeblood of trade in the Empire and invaluable tools for war. Their shape and size were controlled by a mathematical formula severe enough that even the mass of their cargo and passengers were severely limited.

His transport had deposited him in the main cargo hold. A single space so enormous that Kal couldn’t see the distant walls from the clutter of vehicles, cargo, and bustling crowds. It was well-lit, as bright as noon on Caledon, and overwhelmingly noisy.

People were shouting to be heard over the sound of other voices. At the same time, hovering drones controlled remotely by crew operators lifted cargo crates and containers into neat stacks, making room to offload them at their next destination.

Starships were relatively common, the Empire had millions of them, but they were costly to operate and maintain. Even to carry a person of his stature, a noble of the Empire, the Ship would still need to make multiple stops along the way to his destination, picking up and delivering passengers and cargo to mitigate costs.

Kal sighed as he joined the multitude of people, blending in despite his height and appearance. He remembered when he had travelled through space with his Grandfather, they had thousands of starships under their command, several dedicated to simply carrying their family wherever they desired, according to their whim.

If he was forced to travel by commercial Ship, they were likely gone, sold or destroyed during his centuries of confinement, or lost during the Rebellion.

‘Beggars cannot be choosers.’ Kal thought, the age-old saying coming to mind as he assessed his surroundings. A consequence of his years of isolation had made him prefer quiet and solitude. He wanted to be away from the mob.

Weaving through the crowd, Kal found a seat by a large window, somewhat quieter and out of the bulk of the passenger’s way. The window was black, a security measure to ensure the anonymity of the Prison’s location to the travellers. It would clear once the Ship jumped, granting them a view of the journey.

Kal had barely sat down before the Ship lurched, a disorienting sensation as if somebody suddenly pulled the ground out from beneath him. It felt as if he were falling, tumbling through the air before it stilled abruptly. His stomach roiled, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, waiting for the ill feeling to pass.

The window next to his seat cleared, revealing a bright blue sphere. To the left of where he was sitting, the planet was dark, twinkling with city lights. Half in darkness, the sun shone just over the horizon as the starship rose high above.

Kal could see hundreds of other ships around them, including several starships with Engines, while most were only intrasystem vessels, only able to travel within planetary space. They appeared to be offloading cargo and passengers, overseen by dozens of heavily armed security ships maintaining order and peace.

Kal had no idea where the Prison was, relative to Caledon or Terra, giving him no frame of reference on where he was. He didn’t recognize the planet through the window, and the system was utterly foreign to his eyes. But that wasn’t a surprise. The Engine could have jumped them anywhere in the galaxy, only limited by its Captain’s desire for fuel efficiency and cost savings.

Coinciding with the clearing of the viewing window, the Imperial Net became active once more, giving the passengers access to the service. Kal had lost his implants when he surrendered to the Imperial Guard, cutting off his ability to access the Net remotely, but luckily, the passenger chairs had built-in display screens.

Picking up the Datapad attached to the arm of his chair, he frowned at the dirty display. Kal delicately wiped the terminal with his sleeve, clearing away the fingerprints and grime that had built up on the display before tapping the screen with his finger.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Kal searched for news of Caledon first, ignoring the entertainment or unrelated local events. Headline after headline came up on the screen, painting a picture of his home that he had feared to see.

He read news articles about crime currently at levels unheard of in centuries, matching the worst statistics of the Empire. Homelessness, corruption, and unemployment rates were so high Kal thought it would be easier to count those who still had a job rather than the unemployed.

The more information that he found, the bleaker life on Caledon appeared. After his trial, the Empire stripped their former dutchy of all remaining military assets and imposed strict fines for ‘Inciting Insurrection against the Emperor.’

Since the administration ruling in Kal’s stead couldn’t pay, the Empire seized all their readily available assets. Imperial Bank accounts, industrial and manufacturing equipment, commercial goods, everything went to pay their debts.

To survive, his administrators borrowed more from the banks to feed and shelter their people, increasing the debt repayments and forcing them to borrow even more. It was a vicious, inescapable cycle that had driven Caledon to poverty.

Kal saw images of his homeland, filled with slums. The cities were decayed husks of their former beauty, turning to ruin as time wore them down. The people lacked the resources, and the determination, to repair them.

Caledonia, the city housing his ancestral home, was shocking to see. The gardens were gone, and the beautiful green parks that his Grandmother herself had tended were left fallow, overgrown with weeds. The people had cut down all the forests, using the tall trees that had brushed the sky to construct simple homes, little more than shacks, to shelter entire families.

Planet Caledon was once a lush and fertile garden world, the jewel of the Empire. Its people were healthy and prosperous. Caledonia had been the cultural center of their Duchy, home to artists and scholars, with universities and libraries.

The struggle against this new reality in which they found themselves had ripped away the people’s dedication to higher learning. The need for education had been replaced by the struggle to survive.

Turning off the display, Kal dropped the Datapad onto his lap. The shock of what he saw was enough to make him despair. He had expected it to be terrible, but this was beyond his wildest dreams. He thought the Emperor had granted him some mercy, keeping him alive and allowing him to retain the title of Nobility.

But this convinced Kal that the true torture awaited his return. The stasis had merely been a way to allow time to construct a homecoming that would break him. He imagined the Emperor, laughing on his Imperial Throne as he reduced the rebellious Caledon to a pathetic nothing.

Kal’s despair turned to rage. His hand clenched into a fist, and his knuckles cracked. It lasted only a moment before calm returned to him. His planet’s current plight was not the Emperor’s doing. Kal’s father was the one to blame. It was him that joined in a rebellion that saw worlds burn. Caledon was paying the price for one man’s mistake.

The resolve within him overwhelmed all other emotions. He would set this right, protect the people, regain what was lost and restore his Grandfather’s legacy.

Leaning back in his chair, Kal closed his eyes. He began to create a plan. It was easy, in a way. He already knew the starting and endpoints. He only needed to fill in the pieces. Where he was, with nothing, to where Kal wanted to be, with everything he had lost. He would regain Caledon’s pride and prosperity.

He felt the Ship jump again. The feeling of falling accompanied it, but he was growing accustomed to the sensation. By the third time it happened, he barely reacted, and his plan was coming together.

Kal opened his eyes and picked the data pad back up, quickly searching the Net for his family’s assets. The Imperial Bank, the largest in the galaxy, had seized all his accounts. His parents, his own, even the few they had hidden under false names and distant relatives. The Emperor’s accountants had been thorough.

Closing the link, he contacted several of the smaller banks, using code names and aliases, only to learn that they, too, had been found. Frustrated, Kal let out a deep breath. He wasn’t sure what the temporary administration of Caledon had for finances, but he doubted it was much.

Understanding that he was essentially destitute, Kal began the long process of reconnecting with old allies. Here too, he was hampered. Most were dead or imprisoned. With his military assets seized and Caledon a den of criminals, he would need backing to restore order.

Lost in his thoughts, Kal acquainted himself with this new universe he found himself in. Alone and penniless, implementing his dream of restoring Caledon to its former glory was becoming more of an unattainable fantasy, a pipe dream.

But there was still hope. Kal may have been alone, but he carried a legacy, part of a hereditary Noble line that extended to the initial exodus from Terra. He only needed to have the strength and determination to see it through.

Thinking, Kal watched as the scenery changed. Planet after planet passed through the window. All around him, the voices surged and ebbed as people left the starship and new ones arrived. Before long, a familiar sight greeted his tired eyes.

He could see a blue and green marble hanging in the darkness, orbited by a pair of white moons. Finally, after 500 years, Kalen Caledon was coming home.