Voyages of the White Skull
Book 1
By Jason Alan Jones
Copyright © 2015 by Jason Alan Jones
ISBN: 978-1-329-17275-3
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means: graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author.
Edited by Holly Bohl at:
www.hollybohlproofreading.com
This book is dedicated to my daughter, Gwen Jones, and my stepson, Gabe Yohannan, and Kristen Whiting, the three most important people in my life.
Prologue
WARNING
Please be advised that this document is for official Unified Planetary Government (UPG) eyes only. If you have happened across this government document and are not of Level 5 clearance or above, we strongly advise that you immediately inform your local Unified Police Force Unit for instant recovery of the documents herein. As stated in Solar Law 237, Article 1-30-4915, no unauthorized personnel will be privy to the information in this file.
The contents of this letter were written by council member Bree Young, who is currently still unaccounted for. Please be advised that the views of this document are in the words of council member Bree Young and are not considered the views of the UPG.
Contents of this document are as follows:
Somewhere in the dark, expansive, and cold emptiness of space, a group of seventy thousand settlers travel aboard the starship Horizon, a revolutionary colonial spacecraft. The Horizon was built to explore the far reaches of Earth’s surrounding star systems in search of new planets, which the pilgrims could call home. Five hundred years ago, in the year 2147, and after the destruction of the Vatican Church and the world’s remaining governments, a new system of laws was founded.
The Vatican was brought down for hiding secret religious knowledge after the Pope and his Cardinals were discovered practicing black magic rituals in one of the Vatican’s underground catacombs. The wealth of the Catholic Church was spread throughout the global community, and upon distribution, it was discovered that there was enough riches to feed and provide clothes for the entire population of Earth. The planet had finally become a world with peace and prosperity, or so it seemed; both lasted for only a short number of years. This period would later be recorded in history as the Greater Age of Man.
The newfound peace carried with it the swift decommissioning of all destructive nuclear warheads and other weapons of mass destruction. Abundant funding was made available to the new government, known as the Unified Planetary Government (UPG). This new government consisted of 193 council members, who, in turn, represented each of the 193 independent or recognized countries of the world. Their leader was President Colton, who coldly ruled over Earth and eventually the entire solar system. All military forces of the world were combined into one colossal police and protection force, designated as the Unified Police Force (UPF). In time, the UPG began to develop strange new technologies, which led to the colonization of the Moon, Mars, and Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, which had been found to be terra-formed in the early 2100’s.
Many non-government scientists referred to the new advanced technology as strange and unpredictable due to the fact that it had advanced so quickly and in such short increments of time. After two hundred years, overpopulation gradually became a problem, so fourteen space stations were built in orbit over the span of 100 years. This allowed humanity to span out, past global interaction, freeing up much-needed space on the available moons and planets. The first space station, named Kobia, was constructed near Earth, housing over 1.2 million people.
Another discovery of the age was the ability for humans to travel at sub-light and full-light speeds; however, they were kept confidential by the UPG. Only a few specified government spacecraft were permitted, or privy to, the use of this technology.
In the year 2203, however, the technological advances in travel were leaked, and non-government associated individuals gained the ability to travel to the outer edge of solar system without government knowledge.
Corruption crept back into the government, and only the rich and middle-class citizens were authorized to live on the planets and moons. The lower classes, or poor, were swiftly relocated against their will and forced to live on space stations. This, in turn, enraged many civilians and inspired countless individuals to resort to rebellion and crime. Soon after these devastating events, the strengthening of slavery and human smuggling re-emerged, as well as the amplification of all forms of degeneration. It had become a miserable era of unspeakable darkness, and the people had lost all hope of light. It was a dark time, which sprouted dark souls and even darker ideas.
Piracy resurfaced, along with crazed religious sects who began forcing their religion upon the weak willed. The most notorious religious group called “The Red Cardinals” became a sect filled with fervent and evil torture. After an additional period of years, the original fourteen space stations became completely overpopulated. Following the completion of the last space station, known as the Outer Rim, the UPG informed the public of resource depletion, which would cause the immediate halt of all space station construction. In addition to this, no more moons or planets would be harvested.
The next fifty years produced the development of even stranger technology, called star portals, which allowed humans the ability to travel to different sectors of the Milky Way within mere hours of departure. News of this new technology spread hope like wildfire, and people began to believe it was once again possible to find inhabitable planets. To humanity’s dismay, however, the hope did not last long; no habitable planets were found. The UPG soon reported that the cost to power and maintain the star portals had become too astronomical to fund, causing all-star portals to be immediately closed. Any citizens who had already traveled through the portals were stuck going to their destinations with only themselves as hope for survival, some lost in unknown regions of space.
Shockingly, several years later, the government gave people the choice of being executed or leaving their homes on the space stations for missions of exploration. This was a step taken by the government to control the population problem and free up room for more “worthy” civilians. Many people did not believe the UPG would carry out something so diabolical, so these citizens stepped out to challenge the government. To the public’s dismay, executions began immediately and were without mercy. Thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians went missing, or were publicly slaughtered. With no other options, many citizens chose to sign up for the missions. A small number of individuals joined with an optimistic point of view. Many desperate people took off beyond the rim of the solar system in search of a place where they could live peacefully without fear.
Two years ago, the UPG confirmed only one star portal’s destination point. The point was located approximately two light years from the planet known as Epsilon Eridani. The UPG believed Epsilon Eridani, or planets further beyond its orbit, could hold the key to humanity’s survival.
The final remaining star portal was opened near the Kobia Space Station, and the Horizon starship has since traveled through at light speed. It was estimated that once the Horizon exited the star portal, it would reach Epsilon Eridani in two years’ time. The Horizon starship’s mission entails it find a habitable planet, and once it does, the UPG would prepare for immediate colonization.
END DOCUMENTATION
Currently, we are waiting for word from the starship Horizon. Unfortunately, there has yet to be any discoveries of significance. This document has been produced as a request from a college student who asked for insigh
t into Earth’s past and the events leading to the construction of the starship Horizon. I have submitted a copy of this document to the head of the UPG council in hopes that I may have approval to send it to the student. I am still awaiting reply…
Chapter 1
"You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star."
Friedrich Nietzsche
In an undocumented region of space, a lone space smuggler sat in his leather command chair with his worn, black, biker boots propped up on his navigational console. He rested his head on the leather part of the flight chair as he impatiently waited for a long-time friend. Staring at the rusting bulkhead of a long-abandoned secret space station in which he was docked, Jesse Kincaid felt an uneasiness pass over him like a flow of warm, fresh blood through his body.
“Luis should be here by now,” he sighed and mumbled to himself, while running his fingers through his short, dark-brown hair. Deep beneath his diaphragm he expelled a groan of disappointment. “He usually likes to be fashionably late, but not by three hours.”
Jesse Kincaid and Luis Cineros have known each other since their days aboard the starship Hell Fire under the command of the pirate Captain Barakat, a descendant of Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard. They were both seventeen when they met. Luis was not out of the proverbial closet yet. Jesse could tell right away that Luis was gay, but this fact didn’t bother him in the slightest. He felt more comfortable around Luis, liked that he could be himself and not have to act a certain way.
They became good friends in a relatively short period of time, and after four years decided to go into business together. They started off by smuggling weapons to the highest bidder, then expanded to distributing drugs to space stations, and slowly branched out to smuggling wanted criminals or government officials. They really didn’t see the difference between the criminals or the government men; in their eyes, both were shit. The two friends took a crack at the assassination game for a while, but it didn’t feel right to them, so they quickly gave it up. As their operations in the black market rose, they began to work for an African man named, Elijah Boateng, who controlled the entire black market. After two years, Jesse and Luis split up, so Jesse purchased a starship of his own and recruited a large crew of pirates. Jesse continued pirating and smuggling as an independent and had many crazy adventures. Luis continued working for Elijah, quickly rose in ranks within the organization, and became an important part of his boss’s empire. Jesse shook the memories of his past out of his head, as he rose to his feet. He decided to recheck all of his ship’s systems, most importantly the weapon systems.
“B.I., do a maintenance check on all systems and recheck for incoming ships,” Jesse ordered his ship’s computer. The ship responded with a low beep. Jesse had shortened the computer’s name from Black Ice to the initials B.I. He felt that by giving his ship’s computer initials that he wouldn’t feel as solitary. A holographic image hovered above the navigation console. The image displayed the space station he was occupying along with the space around it. Jesse scrunched his face in frustration as he pulled out his nickel-plated laser pistols, which were resting on his hips. He made sure each was fully charged. He switched off their safeties and slid them back into their holsters. He cracked and stretched his fingers in preparation.
The eight, ten-milligram Percocet, which he had taken to calm his nerves half an hour ago, was beginning to kick in. He discovered that while taking pills on an empty stomach, they entered his bloodstream quicker. It was even faster if he crushed them and snorted them like cocaine. Jesse, having the system of a rhino, wasn’t worried about the drugs affecting his decision-making abilities or reflexes. He was concerned, however, about the possibility that he had become addicted. This was something he had denied to himself for a few years now.
“Why can’t I feel this fucking good all of the time?” Jesse said to himself, grinning with glazed eyes and dilated pupils. He quickly scratched his chest, which was comparable to a crack addict. It was one of the side effects of taking too many pills at one time. Not to mention washing them down with a couple shots of Grey Goose vodka. It felt so damn good to Jesse to scratch his body when he was high.
He decided to take the pills when Luis hadn’t arrived on time, uncertain as to whether or not he would have to shoot his long-time friend in the head. In the business of smuggling and piracy, you never really knew who your friends were. It was a trade of so many uncertainties; a friend today may be an enemy tomorrow, especially when power, credits, cargo, and women, respectively, are involved. With power, you could rule, conquer, and eventually retire. With enough credits, you could buy power. With cargo, you could gain credits. Women were always plentiful, of course, that is if your friend didn’t try to seduce her. Jesse’s thoughts were interrupted when he felt a low vibration in the deck’s metallic plating of his vessel. He immediately looked at the holograph of the space station but did not see anything approaching. Nothing was there. Knowing his ship’s systems were working properly, he suddenly realized what was happening.
“That dick, he’s using stealth technology!” Jesse spoke to himself. A stealth system for a spaceship is extremely rare and very expensive. Jesse was jealous. Jesse continued to stare at the hologram, even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see anything. Having spent half of his life flying starships, he instantly recognized by the shift in the vibrations he felt through his vessel that an invisible ship was pulling up to the adjacent dock seventy-five feet away, a rare skill. Looking out a porthole of his ship, he watched as a massive hole expanded then contracted through the red force field of the station. The vibrations come to a stop. Jesse quickly opened a cabinet behind his flight chair. He reached in, and pulled out a small black device no larger than his index finger. He slid it into his left pocket and walked over to the side hatch of his ship. Jesse slapped a large red button, which opened the hatch, and it shot up as if it were terrified.
He jumped down to the unpolished metal deck, and dust clouded around his boots from his solid landing. The smell of old, rusted metal almost caused him to sneeze. He looked back at his ship with contentment and slowly folded his arms. He was proud of his ship. It quickly adopted the name “Black Ice” when he purchased it because of its onyx black exterior, which shone like dark ice in the night. It was shaped like a large space rock, with a spiky forward and a bulky aft. A wing sloped down on each side with an additional winged spike sticking up on an angle above the right wing. He always thought it was an ingenious design. He only wished that it was his own idea. His mind quickly switched to his laser pistols, which were ready to be drawn out in action. He was a true believer in “Shoot first, ask questions later, if they are still alive.” This was one theory that had kept him alive for a long time. He also lived by the theory “Trust no-one.” Of course, these credos are common sense to any pirate, and they worked well for him in the past.
To Jesse’s amazement, Luis’ ship began to materialize into existence with a rippling effect, as if a stone had been thrown at it. Where there once was empty space, Jesse observed a monstrous starship. Without realizing it, Jesse had unfolded his arms in wonder. Not much could surprise him anymore, but this was truly an exception.
“This must be Luis’ new ship,” he said to himself with jealousy. He had heard that Elijah, the largest black market import and export lord in the known solar system, had recently promoted Luis. To Jesse’s discontent, the starship before him was much larger than Luis’ last ship, not to mention five times larger than his own. In the future, he decided to get a larger ship with a crew like he used to have, but he had yet to find a ship or crew that had caught his eye. The Black Ice was too precious to him to give up. He also wanted to find a crew he could trust and rely upon, unlike his last crew. A good crew was hard to come by in his profession, but Jesse wasn’t in too much of a rush. He loved his ship and didn’t mind the loneliness of space. As a matter of fact, he preferred it over many things.
Luis’ ship was blood red with the n
ame “The Rose,” imbedded in black on the side of its hull. The name was typical of Luis. To the ordinary eye, the ship was a little morbid, which was part of the intimidation aspect of being a smuggler or pirate. Intimidation, and scaring the hell out of people, was a key tactic that was utilized in the line of work they were in. A large hatch located in the lower middle section of the colossal starship slowly rose. “It must be his cargo hold,” Jesse mumbled to himself. Jesse rested his hands on his pistols and slightly cocked his head to the side as he waited for his friend’s entrance. The hatch depressurized, sounding as if someone had let out a blood-curdling scream. A silver ramp smoothly unfolded to the deck as Luis and four of his muscular bodyguards’ stepped out of the ship to meet Jesse. Jesse met them halfway, strategically placing himself between the two ships. He wasn’t going to take any chances. “Verdad, que mi barco es el mejor? Isn’t my ship the best?” Luis asked Jesse in Spanish first, knowing it would piss him off.
“Not bad, but not nearly as sleek or as fast as the Black Ice. Luis, I see you’re moving up in the world…Elijah?” He asked, already knowing the answer.
“How many times must I tell you? My name is pronounced Loooeeesss,” he said flamboyantly, with a thick Spanish accent.
“I can’t say it like you, I’m not Spanish. I don’t have the accent or a lisp,” Jesse explained with a grin. Luis shook his head.
“Jesse... que pasa? You’ve gained weight. You used to be in such good shape and so handsome. What are you wearing? I see you still love black…black pants, black shirt, and boots. You need some color, my friend. I could help you, you know, a little color could spice...up...your life! And what’s with the goatee? You look like El Diablo!” Luis smiled as he gave his old friend a hug.
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