Voyages of the White Skull Book 1

by Jason Alan Jones

  “Oh shit, no more opium for you, man. Sherry, take care of the White Skull for me; he needs some love,” Haseeb said, as he slapped Sherry on the butt. The drugged space pirate looked over at Haseeb, who was laughing loudly. His laugh was distorted and almost demonic in sound. Jesse watched smoke emanate from the Arabian’s mouth like a chimney. Jesse fazed in and out of existence, fighting sleep, as his eyes burned with a deep desire to fade away.

  Sherry helped Jesse to his feet and escorted him to another room. Jesse, at this point, wasn’t concerned with the beautiful woman—he was too far gone and high—and Sherry began to delicately kiss the side of his neck. Jesse found it hard to concentrate on anything. He enjoyed the opium but decided he would try to stay away from it. The White Skull realized, though, that if it was in his grasp, it would be hard to say no. He had seen too many people initiate one drug, which eventually led them to harder drugs, like Saturn Dust, a red powder that was three times more powerful than cocaine. Too much Saturn Dust was known to kill men and women with just one sniff.

  Jesse’s introduction to drugs started when he was in the starship Hell Fire’s medical bay. He was stuck with a knife in his lower back during a raid on a UPG Command Ship. Captain Barakat wanted to kill some of the UPG Council Members who were aboard. He had also wanted to integrate their weapons systems into the Hell Fire. The ship’s physician gave Jesse a bottle of painkillers after his surgery. Jesse instantly fell in love with the drugs and found that no matter how bad things were, if he ingested a few Percocet, it temporarily took away his pain. Then, he found his own connections when the bottle of painkillers ran out. At first, he felt guilty about doing drugs, vowing one day that he would quit before it was too late, but he realized now that it may already be too late.

  Jesse noticed that every painting and statue had become ten times more beautiful, distorted, and important than before. He blankly stared at everything. Jesse felt as if he had reached complete ecstasy, and that if anyone cut off one of his toes, he wouldn’t care. Sherry unbuckled his belt, as he lost his fight over consciousness.

  Five hours later, while in a deep sleep, Jesse dreamed of the beautiful woman with blue hair and blue lips. In the dream, she smiled at him as she advanced toward him. Jesse was amazed by her exotic beauty and said hello to her. When she drew closer to him, her face turned from a smile into a frown, and she slapped him across the face, causing him to wake from his deep sleep. Jesse slowly woke up, noticing that he was completely naked. Jesse turned his head and saw Sherry lying next to him. He rubbed his face, feeling as if he really were slapped.

  “Strong drugs,” Jesse said to himself in a low voice. Sherry was sleeping soundly on her stomach with a white silk sheet covering half of her buttocks. Her body was nicely tanned, and parts of her voluptuous breasts were exposed. “Shit,” he whispered under his breath. Jesse slowly slipped out of the gigantic bed, attempting not to wake her. He saw his clothes lying over the arm of a chair and crept up to them as if he were a ninja. While slipping on his pants, he lost his balance and fell to his hands on the cold marble floor. It made a slapping noise. He looked up to see if Sherry had heard him. She didn’t. Jesse took his clothes and gun belt to Haseeb’s living room. He gets dressed with lightning speed. His mouth was dry, probably from the opium, he thought. The space pirate looked around the palace but couldn’t find Haseeb. Jesse thought Haseeb was probably off somewhere conducting business, so he decided to check on his ship and say hello to Don. Jesse was still feeling quite relaxed and not altogether coherent because of the opium. He strolled around the Blue Neon, and stopped at one of the bars on his way to Don’s Hanger. A large red neon sign rested above the bar.

  “Big Baxter’s must be a new one,” Jesse whispered to himself. Big Baxter’s. As Jesse sat in one of the stools, a tall, skinny man walked over to him as he flipped a white dishtowel over his shoulder.

  “Good day, gent, I’m Baxter, what can I get you?” Baxter asked.

  “Do you have Absinthe?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “All right, line up four shots for me.” Baxter quickly placed four empty shot glasses on the bar, then pulled out a bottle and poured liquor into the shot glasses.

  “Big Baxter, heh?” Jesse asked, as he looked at the skinny man and tried to figure out what the “Big” in “Big Baxter” stood for. Baxter answered Jesse’s curiosity with a grin. “Ah, I see,” Jesse said, while smiling, and then raised one of his shot glasses to Big Baxter. Jesse quickly downed the four shots of Absinthe and then slapped the bar. He placed some credits on the bar, which was entirely too much.

  “Thank you,” Baxter said to Jesse, “for being so generous.”

  The space pirate loved to over-tip people. Especially people he knew that really need it.

  Jesse ventured through the crowd and approached a security window, which had a large door to the right of it. A green neon sign rested above the door and read, “Don’s Hanger.” The security guard immediately recognized the White Skull and opened the door for him without saying a word. The door sealed behind Jesse. Although Jesse had been to Don’s many times throughout the years, he was still impressed with the size of his hanger. The walls were lined with high-tech computer systems. Dozens of starships of all shapes, sizes, and classes were scattered within the monstrous hanger. Many grease-covered mechanics, wearing dark blue jumpsuits, were working on the different ships.

  To Jesse’s upper left, there was a large office on the second floor, which overlooked the entire hanger bay. Jesse noticed Don yelling down at one of his mechanics. In anger, Don threw a wrench at one of his men. The wrench hit the floor making a loud clanking noise, startling his men. The man he threw it at managed to duck out of the way. Just as Don was about to yell, he saw Jesse. Don squinted through his thick glasses to make sure it was really Jesse he was seeing. Don quickly walked down a metal stairway to greet him. Don, who was a tall, muscular black man, was in his sixties, but was young at heart. He was known for being incredibly strong, but had gray hair and a neatly trimmed beard.

  Don was happy to see his friend. “Jesse, how are you? I’ve been worried about you. The only time I see you is when you get your ship fixed. What, you can’t contact anyone? The only time I hear about you is in the news,” Don said, giving Jesse a solid hug.

  "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I never was good at keeping in touch with people. How have you been, you old space dog?" Jesse asked. Jesse felt guilty for not keeping in touch with him. He always felt close to him, as if he was a second father.

  "Good, really good. You know, I saw Monica a month ago. She was in here looking for you. She's looking pretty damn good," Don said, while laughing.

  “There's nothing wrong with her looks, she's just crazy.” Jesse said, with a smile.

  "Why would you say that? She only tied you up, blew up your ship, and stole your old crew," Don said, still grinning. Don loved to mess with Jesse.

  "I can't believe she's still looking for me. It's been over a year since we broke up. What did she say?" Jesse asked, looking around nervously, afraid she would pop out from one of the ships.

  "Listen, Jesse, she still loves you. I tried talking sense into her, but…no one can reason with her. She asked me where you were and told me to tell everyone that she was looking for you. She's tracking you down like a bloodhound. You’d better be careful."

  "Did she say anything else?”

  Don smiled, "She asked how you were, and if you had another girlfriend."

  "Oh, my God, I don't understand what she's thinking." Jesse looked up to the ceiling, as if he was asking God for help.

  "There's one other thing," Don said, and then paused, "She's announced publicly that you are hers, and that she will kill any woman who goes near the White Skull. She has also hired the Haven sisters to bring you to her."

  "What?" Jesse asked, as he leaned in closer.

  "Monica has hired the Haven sisters to find you and bring you back to her," Don said a little louder, not wanting anyone else
to hear their conversation.

  "What! Is she mad?"

  "Shhhhhh, God only knows who may be watching you in here. There's one other thing."

  "Fuck…what?" Jesse asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.

  "She has tattooed your name on her right shoulder, the White Skull on the back of her neck, and a skull and crossbones one her right forearm, like the one you have," Don said, as he scrunched his lips together, trying to hold back from bursting out laughing. He didn’t like seeing his friend in distress, but thought that Monica's behavior was hilarious.

  "Why does everyone think this is so funny…oh, my God, I knew she was crazy, but not like this. I mean, I do love her; it's just that we don't see things eye-to-eye. She wants to have supreme power and wealth, while I just wanted to explore the universe."

  "What are you saying, that you’re tired of being a pirate? You're a legend, and you're not even in your thirties yet. Jesse listen, I've known you for a long time. I never wanted to see you as a pirate or a smuggler in the first place. You know that. I've always expected you to become someone high up in the military, or make some kind of positive difference in our solar system. Do you remember when we worked together at that restaurant on Earth? You were only fourteen and a security guard, while I worked as the head of maintenance. Remember, we used to talk for hours. You used to tell me how you wanted to help people and make a difference in the solar system, but you have to understand that being a legend isn't something you should take lightly. You can use your name to do something positive. You have the ability to change your life around, it's not too late," Don lectured.

  "What can I do? The UPG has a price on my head. I can't just go into their main headquarters and fill out an application. I don't think they would be too happy with that, especially when I get to the qualification section. What would I put? Pirate and smuggler, and, oh yeah, I've killed a few fucking people," Jesse said, sarcastically.

  "You'll find something better, I can feel it."

  "So anyway, what do you know about the Haven sisters? I've heard they're bounty hunters, but I've also heard that they are a little wet behind the ears," Jesse asked his friend.

  "First off, they are here on the station, and second, that’s their ship over there. Don't worry, though, Haseeb is entertaining them as we speak, and he will continue to do so until you leave the station. They got here early this morning. One of his men tipped him off. As soon as Haseeb found out, he met them at the entrance and welcomed them to his station," Don pointed to a large ship twenty-five feet away. The ship had, "Merrick," printed on the side of its hull. Jesse could tell that it was an older ship, which had the appearance of a hand-me-down.

  “How old is that ship?” Jesse joked with Don.

  “I know, I think it may be older than me,” Don said, as he grinned.

  “I guess you have to start somewhere,” Jesse grinned. Don pointed out to Jesse the stains of rust all over the ship, as both men nodded their heads.

  "I've seen them though, and I have to say that they are pretty hot. They are two light-skinned black girls, and very, very sexy. Heather is the shorter, curvy one, with a nice round butt and a big chest. I heard she's so seductive that she can make a man do almost anything, but has a little bit of a temper. Now, Cinnamon Haven is tall, skinny, and super sexy. Cinnamon has freckles all over her body and face, and I know how much you love freckles. She has long legs, and she reminds me of a model. I heard that she's really sweet. The both of them have recently been claiming a lot of bounties on criminals. You would think with all of that money they would buy a nicer ship. Their ship has to be like, what…fifty years old?"

  "I hope you’re right and they look a whole lot better than that rust bucket," Jesse thought for a second. "I have an idea. Can you get me on their ship?"

  "Yes, what are you planning on doing?" Don grinned, and rubbed his hands together with excitement.

  "I need you to have one of your guys get me two red roses and a blank card. I'm going to leave the girls a little love note."

  "You sly fox; you know that's going to piss them off." Don put his fingers to his mouth and whistled over to one of his mechanics. When the mechanic ran over to him, Don instructed the mechanic to get what Jesse asked for. "Hurry up and make sure you wash the grease off of your hands first."

  "I have a pair of clean gloves that I can put on," said John the mechanic.

  "Excellent, good thinking," Jesse said, as he patted John on the back. John slipped on a pair of thick maintenance gloves, and Jesse gave him a credit chip of two hundred credits.

  "If you hurry up, you can keep the change.” The man got excited and ran out of the garage. "Don’t you pay these men?" Jesse asked, in confusion.

  "Yes, quite well, but John has an unpaid gambling debt. You just helped him a little bit by giving him the change. He's been trying to pay it off for a while. He stopped gambling for his kids when their mother died," Don explained.

  "Fuck, how much does he owe?"

  "A little under a thousand, now."

  "Here, give him this, and make sure he doesn't go back to his old habits, or I will come back and kick his ass." Jesse pulled some credits from his pocket, handing them to Don.

  "But this is two thousand credits."

  "One thousand is for him, and the other thousand is for you," said Jesse.

  "That’s very nice of you, it will help him out a lot. I can't accept the money though. I make plenty of money. Here, take this back." Don tried to hand Jesse back the credits.

  "Fine, you old bastard, give it to John instead. I'm sure he can use the money for his kids. Tell him to buy something nice for them," said Jesse. He also told Don to wait until after he had left to give the mechanic the money.

  Ten minutes later, John came back with the card and roses. He was panting from sprinting through the space station.

  "Thanks, John, you can keep the change," Jesse said. John's face lit up, "Thank you, I'm in your debt, White Skull," said John.

  "You don't owe me a thing." The mechanic happily nodded and went back to work. "Do you have a pen, grandpa?" Jesse asked Don.

  "Yes, here. You’re lucky I don’t kick your white ass all over my hanger," Don smiled, as he handed him a pen from his pocket. Jesse took it and followed Don to the Haven Sister's ship. It took a couple of minutes, but Don was able to bypass the security code to their rusty ship. Jesse hopped in as Don kept an eye out for him. Jesse read an old plaque, which was riveted into the hull.

  “Tarbard Class A, fucking hell. The Tarbard ships should be in the museum with the International Space Station. These ships were retired over fifty years ago. The only good thing about these ships are the weapons system,” Jesse commented as he giggled. Next to the plaque it showed a small diagram of the ships’ Metro Cannons. He had heard that they were extremely powerful cannons, and very hard to get a hold of nowadays. Jesse made his way to their flight room, which wasn’t too hard to find. It was on the second level in the front. The whole ship smelled like incense and perfume, which he didn't mind, but that wouldn't fly on his ship. The flight room was pretty small, with just enough room for two or three people. Jesse sat in one of the flight chairs, taking a second to look around the flight console. Just above the flight window, there were a couple of digital images. One digital image, Jesse guessed, was of them with their parents. The four of them had their arms around each other, smiling. They looked to Jesse as if they were a happy family. He takes notice of the sisters. He takes a long, hard look so that he would recognize them if they approached him. Jesse agreed with Don, both women were very sexy. Heather, who had the nice round butt, was bending over in one of the digital images, smiling as she shows it off. To Jesse's surprise, there was a digital image of Monica with the two sisters. He hadn't seen Monica in a while, and for a brief moment, missed her. Jesse thought that she looked really good in the digital image. He also missed her hot body. He shook the image of her out of his mind and tried to concentrate on the Haven sisters’ digital image
s.

  Jesse was glad to see what they looked like, so that way they couldn't sneak up on him. He wasn’t sure how they were planning on catching him with such an old ship. The Black Ice was far superior to their ship. He thought that maybe they were planning on seducing him instead. Or, maybe they were just going to find him and shoot him down. Jesse began to write the ladies a letter.

  Cinnamon and Heather,

  I hear you are looking for me. Unfortunately, I have business to attend to elsewhere. Your beauty has become legend, and now that I have seen your digital images, and now know what you look like, I am forced to agree. You ladies are very breathtaking. I look forward to meeting you both in the future; maybe we can get together some time for a drink. Give Monica my regards.

  The White Skull

  Jesse smiled as he placed the card and roses in the middle of their flight console. He took one last look at their digital images before leaving. Jesse jumped out of the ship and had Don seal it back up.

  "You are right, they are hot. They have a couple of digital images in their flight room. The note should throw them off a bit. I told them to say hello to Monica for me. She's going to be so pissed off, I love it," Jesse said deviously. Don laughed.

  "One of my mechanics just finished the work on your ship. I took the liberty of adding a little more kick to the gun turrets on your ship. I greased them up and filled up your rocket launchers with a full complement of rockets. Haseeb said that everything is on the house, but, you should know that by now," Don explained. "He also says he left you a few presents in your ship. He didn't tell me what they were."

  "Awesome, thanks, Don, and thank Haseeb for me."

  "You should probably get going now, who knows how close Monica may be if the Haven sisters are here," Don advised his friend.

  "Good idea. Hopefully I will see you soon. Take care of yourself, you old bastard."

  "You too, you little shit," Don said, as he shook Jesse's hand. Jesse patted Don on the back, then jogged to his ship and used his wristwatch to open the hatch. After climbing into the Black Ice, Jesse went directly to his flight room to power up the engines.