Free Eternity's End by Jeffrey Carver

files at the public library. I must say, they don't have a lot, either." Harriet fiddled with the compad screen. "Just a summary about the similarity of legend between Impris and the old stories of the Flying Dutchman. Judging from this, you wouldn't think that anyone took it seriously."
    "Even here in its home port? You'd think they'd have more information here than anywhere in the galaxy." Legroeder pulled out a chair to sit, and looked gratefully at Vegas, who had just appeared with a tray bearing a thermal coffee pot and cup.
    "Well, it's been a hundred and twenty-four years since she was lost, during the war. And after the war, a lot of the early records disappeared." Harriet turned the compad around. "Here, take a look."
    Legroeder poured a cup of coffee and stirred in some yellow-tinged cream. He sipped it as he read the entry.
     
Impris . Interstellar passenger liner operating out of Faber Eridani during the years of the War of a Thousand Suns. Impris reportedly disappeared during a routine flight in the final year of the war. No official explanation was ever provided for the ship's loss; however, unofficial and highly controversial reports attributed the loss to surprise hostile actions on the part of the Narseil, theretofore considered allies of the Centrist human worlds. (For a historical overview, see
NARSEIL: PARTNERSHIP WITH CENTRIST WORLDS: BREAKDOWN IN RELATIONS
.)
     
    Legroeder grunted. He hadn't associated the Narseil with Impris . The amphibious Narseil were relatively rare—and not always welcome—guests in human society. But their riggers were among the best in the known galaxy, and the Narseil RiggingInstitute was without peer in the study of rigging science and technology. Legroeder had always suspected that the Narseil could teach the human rigging community a thing or two, if they were given a chance. He didn't know much about the historical relationship of the human and Narseil worlds—history had never been his strong suit—but he couldn't imagine why the Narseil would have destroyed Impris .
    He drank more coffee and read on.
     
Accurate information concerning Impris disappeared, along with a host of other records, during post-war turmoil on Impris 's homeworld of Faber Eridani. She might well have been forgotten by history were it not for the lasting political repercussions against the Narseil, which among other consequences, served to delay continued exploration of deeper space (see also
GALACTIC EXPLORATION: COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS: LOSS OF WILL IN THE POST-WAR ERA
). In addition, curious legends arose in the rigging community during the following decades, referring to Impris as "the Flying Dutchman of the Spacelanes"—a ship and crew doomed to sail the Flux forever, haunted and immortal.
    No objective evidence has ever been found to support these legends. Nevertheless, myth has it that the ship, in the more than one hundred years since her loss, has reappeared on numerous occasions to riggers during routine passages through the Flux. Typical reports have the Ghost Rigger sighted only fleetingly, sometimes transmitting a distress call, but never responding to any attempts at contact. Variations on the legend attribute the loss of other ships to unexplained, deadly encounters with Impris ; but such claims similarly lack substantiation.
    Though the legends are considered meaningless for purposes of rigger navigation, a significant body of folklore has grown up over the years regarding not only Impris but also other ships of similar reputation, notably Devonhol and Totauri . (See
PURPORTED GHOST SHIPS: SPACE
and
FLYING DUTCHMAN LEGEND: LITERATURE AND HOLO: FACT VS FICTION
.)
     
    Legroeder swiveled the compad back to Harriet. "This doesn't help much."
    Harriet shook her head. "I said this was just a beginning, remember?" She buttered a scone from a tray Vegas had set between them. "Have something to eat, and then we'll go down and see what we can find."
    "Go down?" Legroeder asked. "What's the