Wanderer's Escape Read Online Free Page B

Jess finished the mug his eyelids felt heavy and his head started nodding forwards.  Matt took the mug and Jess was asleep again within seconds.
     
    Jess was woken with a start by a rasping snore.  Turning in his seat he saw Matt sprawled behind him – head back, mouth open and snoring loudly.  Jess smiled at the sight, and sounds, feeling tension drain out of him.
    Turning back he started to run his eyes over the displays to check the ship's status.  Then realised he didn't need to.  Closing his eyes he reached out, feeling the status, seeing it in his mind.  The ship was functioning well but in a very low power state.  It had depleted most of its reserves at some point in the past.  Powerful as seemed to Jess, it was only a pale shadow of what it could be.
    Stretching his thoughts out Jess felt the ship respond, felt it mesh perfectly with his mind.  Wiggled the course back and forwards slightly just by thinking about it.  Felt the powerful jump engines as they did something Matt had thought impossible, almost as if they were his legs.  Felt the strong tingling of the shields around himself.  And felt the weaponry come online, aiming felt like moving his arms.  The weapons locked to where he pointed.
    Opening his eyes he pulled himself back with some reluctance.  He was still aware of the ship, of its status, but now he was back in his own body.  A body that was decidedly stiff.  Stretching he pushed himself up, turned and took a couple of steps before freezing.  The web.  It was gone.  He reached up, touched the back of his head.  Hair, skull.  Nothing else.  No stickiness, no holes.  Yet he could still feel the ship in his head.  Closing his eyes he reached out for the ship again, linking with its limited mind.  Called up a view of the cabin and saw himself standing as if in a trance.  With a thought the view changed, was overlaid with temperature and other scans.  Now he could see into his head, could see the silvery threads and nodes that formed an intricate lace netting interwoven with his brain. Linking him to the ship without the need of a physical connection.
    Now he understood.  The web had been a temporary measure, allowing limited linkage and forming the bridge for the permanent connection to be grown.  Jess marvelled at how calmly he was taking this.  He realised it wasn't new to him, that he'd been made aware of all this whilst he slept.  Still – finding it out, facing up to it, was quite a shock.
    With a thought his vision shifted to Matt, studying the old man.  Matt's brain was completely free of the growths in Jess's head.  Whatever was happening was reserved for Jess alone apparently.  Fascinated Jess studied the flows of electricity across Matt's brain as he slept, panicked for what felt like seconds when he realised there was no heartbeat before the ship sent a soothing wave with the knowledge that he was thinking far, far faster than normal.  What felt like long seconds later this was confirmed as the old man's heart gave a lazy beat.
    Jess let his new senses range farther over Matt, found himself drawn to the left lung.  To a fist sized mass that seemed wrong.  Cancerous the ship confirmed through the link.  Likely to be fatal within a few months.
    Jess pulled back into his own head with a start, tears blurring his vision.  He was already fond of the old man.  Did Matt know?  Could he not with such a large lump?  He stumbled past, towards the main cabin.  Both doors opened at his approach, closing quietly behind him.
    The main cabin was pretty much as Matt had described.  Sal was asleep on one of the sofas, a soft grey blanket pulled over her.  The lights were dim, though they started to brighten as Jess walked in.  Without thinking how he did it he dimmed them again – not wanting to wake Sal.  Stomach grumbling he made his way over to the food dispenser.
    It was a large, rectangular, white box positioned against the wall and standing from floor to