He couldn't sleep.

He got up from the bed and went to the window. Out across the airfield he could just make out the shape of the Hopper in the coming dawn and decided to go out there and wait. At least he'd feel like he was doing something.

He dressed in "civvies" but wore the long, black coat they'd sent him since it would be chilly out on the field. Everything else he had - everything he owned - was packed in the trunk they'd provided. He put his new badge wallet in an inside pocket, and picked up the remote tether for the trunk. He activated the hover pad on the trunks bottom with it, and set the follow distance at 1 1/2 feet from his side. He hadn't had much practice with it, but he was only going across the field so it couldn't be that bad.

He closed the door behind him, and dropped off the room key and the key for the rented vehicle in the slot by the Manager's door. His expenses were covered.

It took him about 45 minutes to cross the field, but he still had an hour or 2 before they would be boarding. To his surprise, there were 2 people waiting for the Hopper already. They all nodded in greeting, but no one spoke. They were strangers to him.

The sun continued to rise, and he mentally went through his instructions again. Take the Hopper out to the Slug. The Slug would make 3 stops before reaching the debarkation point, then another Hopper would take him to the Great Worm, where he'd signed on for the ride out. 20 years, with an option for the return.

He shook his head to clear it. There's was nothing for him here any more.

A half-hour before departure, a couple of uniformed men rode over from one of the surrounding buildings and set up a table. While one kept busy laying out some tablets the second one - shorter and heavier - set up a comp-screen, checked a chronometer, looked at the lightening sky, then smiled at the first 2 men.

"Welcome. May I see your Infocards, please?"
The two men approached together and handed over their documents. The man in the black coat waited for his turn, trying not to listen. After the two men passed by, it was his turn.

"Welcome. May I see your Infocard, please?" He handed it over.
"I see you're going all the way through, Mr. Rourke. I forgot there was a connection this time. Part of the crew change, are you?"
Rourke nodded.
"Do you have your crew papers?"
He stared at the heavy-set man for a minute not sure of what was meant, then took his new badge out of his pocket and showed it to the man at the desk.
"Ah, one of the Peace Makers is it? No problem then." He stamped Rourke's Infocard and handed it back.
"You're cleared all the way through, Sir. Have a safe trip."
"Are we on time?" Rourke asked.
"Everything is Sys-Go. We have 1 more passenger, but with or without him we go in.." He looked at his chronometer again,"..20 minutes."
Rourke thanked him, and headed towards the Hopper. With a little maneuvering, he got his trunk onto the lift pad and rode it up into the Hopper.

As he entered the main cabin, he noticed that the 2 men who boarded first had chosen adjoining seats at the front. He settled into one on the side, with a window overlooking the field. Just as he got comfortable, he noticed a small man practically dragging a trunk across the field towards the men at the desk.
"The last passenger." He thought.
With only a few minutes to departure, they rushed the late-comer through, even helping him with the trunk so as not to delay the flight. The latecomer entered the cabin and found a seat just minutes before the doors were sealed.

The Hopper left without incident on it's 3 hour jump to the Slug. Once they left the atmosphere, Rourke's new position as a  Peace Maker took effect, and he used his time to do some research.

 His private comlink had been upgraded and now allowed him to access the records of his fellow passengers. He discovered that the first 2 men were recently retired, minor officials in the Assembly who spent their careers dealing with the inner colonies. Now they were going to make a tour of these posts, and finally meet the people they had dealt with for years.

The late-comer was a salesman who traveled the Inner Circuit about once a month or so, usually with only the one sample trunk. Rourke thought it odd that someone who took this trip so often would be late, and was going to shrug it off as not his business.

Then he thought, "It is my business, now." He looked a little further.

The hours went by swiftly.

As they approached the Slug, he used his badge to gain entry to the flight cabin and speak with the pilot.

Docking was handled easily, and the passengers got up to stretch and recover their belongings in preparation for debarking.

The flight crew detained the little salesman.

"What's this all about? I insist on being released. This is outrageous!"
 Rourke walked over, showed his badge, and spoke to the salesman.
"No, sir, it isn't. This Hopper is, technically, still Earth soil. As such, you are being detained here, and will be returned planetside to answer a charge of theft that has been leveled against you. Your trunk has been seized, and will be searched during the return flight."
"Who would charge me with theft? I'm innocent! I'm just a salesman for God's sake!"
""I charged you.... Perhaps you are just a salesman. But the theft of some valuable jewels at the trade show you attended prior to boarding this flight, coupled with your late arrival and seemingly heavy trunk are very suspicious. If I'm mistaken, I apologize, but you and your luggage WILL be searched and you WILL be returned to the planet. "
Rourke turned to leave while the little salesman continued to profess his innocence. He turned at the last minute and wished the salesman a safe flight.

 He had used his Peace Maker status on the flight crew, claiming that it was enforceable since they'd left Earth orbit, then claimed that the Hopper was still Earth proper in order to detain the salesman.

 He hope nobody noticed.

An excerpt from a speech to the Assembly 1,500 years ago:

...until about 3,000 years ago. It was then that a Doctor Thomas Brice, working for the entity then known as NASA, discovered how to create a Worm Hole artificially. These Brice Holes - or Brice Tubes, as they are now called - allow us to travel great distances in a very short period of time.
In one stroke, Dr. Brice not only created the means for mankind to expand out into the stars, but provided the common ground for mankind to finally unite and pool it's resources for a common goal.

Unfortunately, too much time in a Brice Tube would eventually crush the hull of any ship traveling through it due to the dense nature of it's gravity well. This did not stop mankind, however, and we traveled throughout our own Sol System freely, using 3 days as the maximum amount of Tube-time, setting up colonies that prospered and provided additional resources for continued exploration. Reaching out beyond our own system was being done in increments, 3 day jumps that allowed us to establish beacons in empty space as anchors for the next jump. And then...

A research fellow at the Academy, Dr. Kurt Nellis, discovered that if one were to enter a Brice Tube at an angle, going counter-clockwise, and traveling around the inner rim, one could go indefinitely through the Tube without fear of being crushed. To the fictional world of "warp drives" and "hyperspace" we can now add the reality of Brice Tubes and the Nellis Process.

And the Great Age of Expansion began. The short Brice Tubes were still used for local travel, and the Great Tube was established at the edge of our galaxy, pointed outward to...we still don't know because we haven't reached the end. Traveling outward - and onward - this way has been referred to as "Surfing the Tube".

The colonies that have been established to date along the Great Tube Way, and the current Terminus, take 20 Common Years to travel. We have settled in countless places, and met countless other races who have either welcomed us or not, as they chose.Two of the largest vessels ever built travel this route, carrying passengers, workers, materials, and goods back and forth. And still, from each of these established colonies, and, yes, from even the current Terminus itself, we continue to send manned vessels through Brice Tubes in search of new opportunities, new races, new experiences.

We go on...................