The Wanderer

1

James Rider had always been a bold, adventurous fellow ever since he was a child. The idea of exploring and unveiling new territories warmed his blood and soothed his soul, and as such, he promised to himself he would explore all the worlds in his Solar System and beyond when he was older.

So, it's no surprise that now, as a young human adult, James is an interplanetary resource collector, traveling from world to world to harvest different ores, precious and rare metals, and uncover lost technologies from ancient people long gone.

Despite his young age, his somewhat precarious but exciting job has allowed him to sate his hunger for discovery, as it provided him the tools to visit all sorts of planets: the dusty and warm planet of Bruinck, rich in scarce metals, unstable winds and ever moving sands that over time consumed all life in the planet; the lusciously paradisiacal small planet of Zanken, right on the corner of the third arm of the Milky Way, overflowing with cultural richness from all over the galaxy, and brimming with ores not seen anywhere on Earth; The mighty primitive planet of Jeiinon, where James was sent to collect a particular kind of stone required for some interdimensional travelling researcher.

He didn't know much about the research itself, but what he did know was that Jeiinon was a brutal planet where different factions of people constantly destroyed each others land to assert divine dominance over the other. No need to say that that was a complicated mission. But James succeeded, as usual, and still managed to…borrow a few ancient texts during his convoluted stay. He wouldn't find himself coming back to Jeiinon any time soon, though.

Those planets were only a few of the ones James kept in his memory, as he visited dozens due to his wanderlust and curiosity. And as James sits on his ship, plowing through space on warp speed towards his next destination, an unconscious smile forms on his face as he recalls all the serendipity, chaos, danger and cheer fun that accompany all his missions. This one wasn't going to be any different, and James was overflowing with excitement at the thought of it. At least…so he thought, at this point in time.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

He had been hired by a research fellow at the museum of Natural History in the cosmopolitan planet of Ituzhu, where he had dropped off the ancient documents he had acquired in Jeiinon. Upon the delivery of the texts, this researcher was incredibly impressed by James's ability to not only survive in the harsh war-riddled planet, but also at his carefree and frankly demented idea to steal from people who were known to brutally and ingeniously creatively slaughter their enemies.

After a little bit of thought, he had asked James if he had any intention to travel to a relatively newly discovered planet, rumored to possess ancient ruins of a former great civilization. At the time James had arched an eyebrow, curious about how could the planet have remained undiscovered for so long. The researcher had simply shrugged, and affirmed that the planet was a wayward planet, that would wander through space unimpeded due to its very small size, until the gravitational forces of a larger planet anchored it for a time.

There had been some tales of this planet, that researchers amongst themselves called the "Wanderer", and it was James's job to investigate the ruins present on the planet's surface and retrieve anything of importance. The researcher added with disinterest that he was free to keep whatever resources he managed to collect during his stay, and that his pay would be completed upon his return. Despite sensing that the researcher seemed to know more about this "Wanderer" planet than he let on, James was already hooked up. After all, how could he deny his Lust to step foot on a new world, one that hasn't been visited yet, at that. And he might get a good reward for it too.

He had sealed the deal with a handshake, refilled his supplies, and set sail towards the Wanderer that very day. Some would say he was being rash, but patience really wasn't James's strong suit.