Voyages of the White Skull Book 1

by Jason Alan Jones

  “Disable the Horizon, and kill the White Skull.”

  “Who do you serve?”

  “You, your highness.”

  She leaned in closer to her new toy and asked, “And, whom do you hate with every circuit in your body?”

  “Jesse Kincaid.” Rojex’s eyes narrowed and glowed bright red as he answered. Silvana laughed, looking forward to watching Jesse die. She didn’t really care about her brother’s death, but she wanted Jesse’s blood for the death of her sweet, innocent sister. She vowed to herself that she would taste his blood, if it were the last thing she would do.

  ***

  Back in the Antares Sector, Jesse held a meeting with all of the pilots who had bravely volunteered for the dangerous mission. Jesse was surprised, because Haseeb was able to recruit eight additional ships, adding to their three, making them have the strength of eleven ships. One by one, all of the ships had gathered, and they docked with Crazy Renzo’s ship, since it was the largest. They met in Renzo’s very large and empty cargo bay. Everyone fell silent, as they waited for the White Skull’s words of inspiration. He jumped on top of a platform, which was raised slightly about the others.

  “I can’t stress enough the importance of what we are about to do! As we speak…there are at least six alien vessels on their way to the take over the Horizon! Seventy thousand people’s lives rest in our unclean hands! Friends, we are nothing more than space smugglers, pirates, and thieves, but today, we are much more than that, for the fate of our species relies on us! Yes, some of us will die, but we must stop them from reaching the Horizon, and beyond that…destroy the alien Renexobious forever! This time, there will not be a reward, because the corrupt UPG is behind it. So, if you choose to go, don’t expect anything in return, other than becoming a legend! I salute you all, and I am honored to die by your side, burning in a blaze of glory! The way a true spacer should go! So, what do you say…LET’S GO KICK SOME ALIEN ASS!” Jesse yelled to the crowd. Everyone cheered.

  “Yeah, baby!” Pong yelled.

  Monica looked on as the pilots gathered around him. She saw something that she hadn’t realized before, something different. She saw that Jesse was a natural leader, and could see that he would become someone great. After the pilots had gone back to their ships, Monica walked up to Jesse. She put her hands on his shoulders, and looked at him with respect. She put a hand behind his head, drawing him in for a gentle kiss. After she kissed him, she didn’t say anything and only smiled. He watched her walk away, and felt different about himself. He didn’t feel guilty, the way he did when he was smuggling illegal goods, or when he used to raid someone’s ship. He felt positive, like he was finally doing something good. That’s it…something good. Jesse had always wanted to help people, and now he has his chance. He touched his lips and felt inspired from Monica’s kiss. He also thought of his Jaime and grew even more motivated. He thought of the way he felt when they kissed, and mentally promised himself that her death would not be in vain, and that Mr. Toad would suffer…slowly.

  As Jesse was on his way to board his ship, Crazy Renzo stopped him at the docking hatch, and he asked, “Nice speech. What are the chances that we will succeed?”

  “A wise man once told me…see the destiny you want to lead…and it will come true. If you imagine, and feel in your heart that we will succeed, then we will,” Jesse told him. Renzo felt his doubts disappear. “Together, my friend, we will win,” Jesse continued, as he patted Renzo’s shoulder. Renzo nodded, and watched as the White Skull entered the Black Ice.

  Renzo went back to his own flight room, and made sure his weapons were at full strength. Renzo was in his early thirties, and slightly shorter than Jesse. His body was tone, and he wore a black tank top and a black bandana on his head, like a pirate from ancient times. Renzo also had long black hair and had a very handsome face. A tattoo of a dragon wrapped around from his right shoulder down to his forearm.

  “Baby, we are going to do this,” Renzo said to his ship. Renzo loved his ship, and often talked to it as if it were a living being. As Jesse took off toward the spatial anomaly, the small band of eleven ships followed closely behind. Once they reached the anomaly, thirteen UPG fighter ships blocked their path in the formation of a diamond. The UPG ships were small in size, with just enough room for one pilot. They were painted shiny silver, giving them a sleek look. Jesse didn’t hesitate, and ordered Monica to follow on his right, with Renzo on his left. They both flew around him, and the three of them attacked the middle of the UPG formation. The enemy fighters came alive, and began to rapidly fire. Within seconds, three UPG fighters were destroyed, as well as one of Jesse’s group. The science station unexpectedly began to fire, taking out another of Jesse’s ships.

  “Shit!” Jesse yelled, slamming his fist on his console. It startled Eronica. Don and Tony sat at his side, as Eronica desperately held on to the ends of her chair. She was petrified, since this was her first space battle.

  “Pong, destroy that science station!” Jesse ordered.

  “Aye, aye, Skull baby!” Pong responded. Pong circled the station, as Cinnamon began to fire. Five enemy ships flew around, and attacked Jesse’s group from the rear.

  “Monica and Renzo, swing around to protect our rear.” Jesse ordered. Monica and Renzo swung their ships around, gracefully crossing each other’s path, as they attacked the enemy. Jesse continued forward, playing chicken with anyone who dared. He fearlessly charged ships straightforward, as the enemy flew out of his path, in fear. As soon as they flew away from him, he took out two ships. The Black Ice rolled and maneuvered with grace and elegance, as Monica and Renzo destroyed two more ships, Jesse’s group lost another pilot. The UPG pilots were more concerned with watching Jesse’s Black Ice than the others, due to its haunting, dark, jagged appearance.

  Pong and Cinnamon had taken heavy fire from the science station, causing the Merrick to smoke. Pong didn’t back off. Jesse’s group managed to take out the last four UPG ships, leaving only the science station. Jesse flew in and circled the station, firing, as he screamed like an Indian, yelling a war cry.

  “Die, you fucking traitors!” Jesse yelled. The other ships flew in as well and joined in the shooting. Within minutes, they caused the science station to burst into a big explosion. One of Jesse’s ships was too close to the station and exploded along with it. The Merrick, which was now on fire, was beyond saving. Pong and Cinnamon strapped on their seat belts, and then Cinnamon pressed the escape button, turning the flight room into one large escape pod. It detached and shot away, as the Merrick exploded into hundreds of pieces. Cinnamon felt her heart break, as part of her sister, and parents, were destroyed forever. The Merrick was a ship that their parents had given them, and which Cinnamon and Heather lived in together for the last few years. Cinnamon cried. Pong felt her pain, but was just happy to be alive.

  Jesse told Crazy Renzo to bring them aboard his ship, since he had the room. Renzo opened his cargo bay door, and maneuvered his ship so that the escape pod rolled in, like the eight ball in the corner pocket. Once Crazy Renzo closed his bay door, he ran down and escorted the ladies to his flight room.

  “I think I’m in love,” Renzo said, as he walked behind Pong.

  “You better knock it off, or you’re going to lose your balls,” Pong calmly suggested.

  “I like it rough,” Renzo joked with her, and Pong rolled her eyes.

  “What’s a matter, my brown sugar?” Renzo sympathetically asked Cinnamon, who was still crying.

  “I’ve lost everything I had when my ship exploded. Now, I don’t even have anything to remind me of my parents, or my sister.”

  “You have your precious memories, honey, and no one can ever take that away from you. It may not mean much, but I’ll be your sister,” Pong sympathetically said, as she put her arm around Cinnamon. Cinnamon was grateful and nodded, but it would take a long time for her to heal.

  Jesse counted his numbers, and saw that there were only six of them left of their original eleven.
He prayed for a miracle. Within minutes, he had lost seven ships, and now they would have to face the aliens who were more advanced. Jesse momentarily had a doubt, but quickly brushed it away. He knew he had to be in complete control for what they were about to accomplish. He called each of his remaining ships, and said whatever he could to raise their spirits. Friends had been lost so quickly, and he wanted to extinguish the others’ doubts before it took them over. Jesse gave them an uplifting speech, which seemed to work. The group of pirates and smugglers met on Crazy Renzo’s ship for a toast to the people they had lost. After a half hour, Jesse sent everyone back to their ships. Jesse wanted to hold Jaime’s funeral, but decided to hold off until after they saved the Horizon.

  “Let’s go,” Jesse ordered. Jesse was the first to enter the anomaly, pulling his ship in with an incredible speed. The others followed behind. Their communications would be down until they passed through to the end. Jesse had no idea how long it would take. The anomaly closely resembled the star portals, but it was slightly different. Instead of purple streams of light, it was a very dark swirling blue. It was not inspiring at all, and had a dark, cold look to it, like death was on its way. Jesse, Don, Tony, and Eronica sat in Jesse’s lounge behind the flight room. Jesse had a few shots of Absinthe, as Tony and Don smoked. Eronica watched, while she laid back into Jesse’s large red sectional couch.

  “Eronica, are you all right?” Jesse asked, as he turned to her. Although she looked calm, her heart was racing faster than a rabbit in a trap.

  “Yes, thank you. This is my first confrontation,” Eronica nervously explained.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you. If you want, you can lie down on my bed.”

  “No, that’s okay, I’ll be fine. Just remember what you said.”

  “I promise.” Jesse smiled at her. Jesse remembered how he had also promised Jaime that he wouldn’t let anyone harm her. “Fuck,” Jesse said to himself, in a very low voice. Jesse went behind the bar, took a few painkillers, and snorted some coke, hoping no one had seen him. Eronica could feel his doubts, but she believed in him, and knew he wouldn’t fail, for she knew his future.

  The trip took seemed to be forever. Monica wondered how Jesse was doing, while she was sitting in her command chair. The tension was thick on each ship, not knowing what to expect at the end of the tunnel. Monica’s pilot, Janet was sweating, causing pieces of her beautiful red hair to stick to the sides of her forehead. Natalie, on the other hand, was nervous, but had a lot of combat training, and had also been in a few scrapes with Monica. She had been one of the first of Monica’s crew members. Crazy Renzo wasn’t the least bit scared, as he sat in his flight chair. He didn’t even care if he died. Nothing worried him, since he was…crazy. Pong looked at Renzo, and he immediately smiled, she rolled her eyes again, and looked away. Cinnamon had lent her some clothes, but she wore another of Monica’s dresses, that she had stolen from her. Monica didn’t know that her blue dress was gone, as Pong proudly wore it. She had put it on after she boarded the Merrick with Cinnamon.

  Tony and Don played cards on the flight console, as Jesse momentarily left his lounge. He pulled out his bottle of pills, and blankly stared at them. He wanted three more pills so bad, and felt angry with himself for even thinking about taking them at a time like this. He gripped them tightly, and then threw the bottle with all of his might, they smashed against the wall, and scattered all over the deck by his cargo bay. He turned around, and found Eronica standing behind him. He didn’t say anything, as he passed her, and walked back into his flight room. She could feel the struggle within and was proud of him. She almost cried, but fought it. She knew the internal battle he faced, and everything else he had gone through. She waited a little bit before going back into the flight room, and sat back down. Jesse lowered the lights a little, and put on some music. He played one of his favorite songs, “Rocket Man” by Elton John. The song had always given him a little extra confidence for some strange reason. He leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the flight console. Jesse closed his eyes and interlocked his fingers behind his head.

  The long journey through the spatial anomaly had taken five brutal hours. Don tapped Jesse on the shoulder as they reached the end. Jesse could see an opening in space as he sat up in his chair. He knew they still had to catch up with the Horizon, which was still three days away. Everyone seemed to tense up in their ships, as they too saw the patch of space. The Black Ice was the first ship to exit, then the rest followed. Jesse stood up from his chair, and couldn’t believe his eyes. As his group quickly caught up with him, every single person, on every one of the six ships, simultaneously stared in awe at what was before them, and said, “Oh, my God.”

  Chapter 17

  “Battle is an orgy of disorder.”

  George S. Patton

  The alarms began to sound continuously within the Horizon, causing a panic. The inhabitants looked out of the windows as they watched six strange ships approach. Civilians and crew members yelled and gasped, as they saw the alien ships approach. Once in range, the Renex ships immediately began to fire on the Horizon, shaking its strong hull. A small section of the Horizon was blown away, causing a fire on one of the cargo decks. Twenty workers were cruelly sucked out of the gaping hole in the Horizon’s hull. Dorothy stood over Eric as he soundly slept, against his will. She had drugged him moments before they had made love, and the drug activated as soon as they were finished. Eric Moore was unaware that she had slipped something into his drink. Dorothy called her contact on the Horizon, and waited. Her contact picked up his phone.

  “Yes?” the man asked.

  “It’s me,” Dorothy said.

  “Are you ready? How is our friend?”

  “How are we going to do this?”

  “I’ll be right down. Now that our associates are attacking, we’ll have to walk the captain down and act as though we are helping him to the power core. Will we be able to guide and walk him down, with the drugs you gave given him?”

  “Yes, it won’t be easy, but he’ll respond to my voice. He’ll think he’s dreaming.”

  “All right, just give me a few…” he was cut off by the Horizon’s PA system.

  “All Command Staff, report immediately to the Command Room, I repeat, all Command Staff report immediately to the Command Room,” a female’s voice stated over the PA system.

  “Oh shit, I have to go or they’ll suspect me. You’ll have to do it by yourself, and I’ll catch up with you in a little while,” the man explained.

  “I can’t take him by myself; I need you in your uniform. No one will believe I’m helping him to a secured area. That’s the only way we’ll make it down to the power core,” Dorothy said, in a panic.

  “Listen! You know what you have to do. Don’t forget that you are under my orders as well. You’re going to have to cut out his eye.”

  “I can’t!”

  “You must, or the mission will fail! Do it, or I will kill you myself…instead of the agency. Do I make myself clear?” the man threatened.

  “Yes, sir. Hurry up,” Dorothy said, in a sad voice. The man hung up the phone and straightened up his UPG uniform. He left his quarters and quickly made it to the Command Room. When he walked in, he saluted Admiral Scanlon.

  “Lieutenant Commander Holland! Take your station!” Admiral Scanlon ordered.

  “Aye, aye, sir!” Lieutenant Commander Holland replied as he took his seat. He immediately began to scan the surrounding area, which was one of his many duties.

  “Where the hell is Captain Moore?” Admiral Scanlon yelled at Commander Jain.

  “I don’t know, sir, I haven’t seen him since yesterday afternoon after our cricket game.”

  “Go find him, and bring his ass back here!” Admiral Scanlon ordered.

  “Yes, sir.” Commander Jain left the Command Room in search of his friend, and hoped that he wasn’t passed out drunk somewhere. Nilay figured that if he was drunk, and didn’t report for duty, then h
e could receive a court martial for dereliction of duty, due to the circumstances that the Horizon was currently under.

  Dorothy took out a syringe from a hidden compartment in her bag. She pulled out a drug bottle as well, and used the syringe to extract the liquid. As she released a little bit of liquid from the syringe, tears began to stream down her face. She watched as her tears hit the base of the syringe. Without a second thought, she stuck the needle in Eric’s neck, putting him into a temporary coma. She covered his face the best she could with a sheet, so she wouldn’t have to look at his handsome face. Dorothy gently kissed Eric’s forehead, took out a scalpel from her purse’s hidden compartment, and began to carefully cut into his left eye. She separated his eye completely, and put it in a washcloth. Since Dorothy had done far worse in her career, she held herself back from vomiting. Through all of her stress, she momentarily forgot Eric’s command code. She stopped, took a deep breath…then remembered.

  “That was close,” Dorothy said to herself.

  Blood began to trickle down the side of Eric’s head. She wiped away the blood and felt sorry for him. Even though she knew the fate of the Horizon, and it inhabitants, she decided to wet a washcloth and stuff it into his eye. She knew he would die anyway, and she wasn’t really sure why she did it, except that maybe it was just instinct. Dorothy picked up Eric’s phone, and called Dr. Petrouski’s extension in the hospital. She had met him through Eric one night when they were at one the bars on the Horizon. It wasn’t a pleasant meeting, since the doctor and Captain Moore exchanged insults, but she didn’t know who else to call. The doctor quickly picked up his phone.

  “Yes?” the doctor answered in an anxious voice. He wondered who would be calling him during a ship-wide emergency.

  “Captain Moore is in need of medical attention. Go to his room immediately, Doctor, he’s dying,” Dorothy explained.

  “Who is this?” Dr. Petrouski asked. It took him a second, but he recognized the voice. “Dorothy, is that you?” She didn’t answer, and slowly hung the phone up. “Hello! Hello!” The doctor knew there was other emergencies throughout the ship, but grabbed his medical bag and headed to Eric’s apartment. Dorothy, meanwhile, was on her way to the engine room.