Most in the ‘verse are running from something—some fear the blight, some the silence, and some the ghosts of the Old World. Many are lonely, drifting helplessly with no hope in sight. Ergo is simply moving toward a signal. Perhaps it is a faint signal in a noisy system, but hope is what drives Ergo.
Equipped with little more than a weathered jumpsuit, a pair of thick spectacles, and an enough curiosity to fill the Soldarverse, Ergo and the space traveller, Timmal, navigate the complex multicultural currents of a system of 200 planets. He is a seeker of stories and bringer of hope to people that have been discarded by the great powers, and a persistent believer in the power of a shared meal and a quiet room.
Excerpt from Ergo in Space by Esperanzo T. C. Vance:
Book man, Alert! Status yellow imminent!
Startled, Ergo Bookman dropped his trowel and looked up from his flower bed. A sharp pain pierced his left eye. He wiped the rich, dark soil from his hands as he looked around, holding his head. He scanned the yard and the lane outside his front gate, but saw no one there.
“What was that?” he pondered, his hand instinctively reaching to soothe the ache behind his eye. Reflecting on the peculiar encounter, he noted that the voice hadn’t manifested audibly but rather reverberated as a silent echo within his thoughts. Gradually, the discomfort in his eye began to fade away.
“Don’t lose your grip on reality, Bookman,” he chuckled, remembering the message.
What was that about ‘status yellow’? It’s quite peculiar, he thought, pondering the mysterious phrase.
E. T. C. Vance 