Space

Blank Space Adventure (Serial Story) — Chapter 5

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 5: Things go thump in the dark

Thump!

Whatever was behind the door, and between us and the main computer, really wanted in.

Thump! Thump! The black goo that had once been part of the fungal lifeform of the Andromeda Syndicate, replied to the thing on the other side of the door.

“What the hell?” whispered T.

“The first two habitats were destroyed but the third one has an atmosphere. I’m going in to look,” the cheerful voice of S burst through the radio earpieces and made us both jump. 

The glass, or more likely transparent aluminium, cracked under the onslaught of the goo. 

“We need to get out of here,” I said. I could feel the malice coming off of the tank.

We headed back to the elevator as the thumping continued. Instead of activating it, T ran to a console on the other side of the room. 

Thump, Crack! The door bent inward and somehow still held. 

“We need to get out of hare,” I repeated.

T nodded and said, “We need to contain whatever is happening here. I don’t want that goo dripping down on our heads. 

He was right and I looked around for anything that would help us. Fire, I thought and my hands moved on their own. I felt heat coursing through my body but before it could release, there was a searing pain in my head.

Thump,Thump,Thump! I couldn’t tell if the sound was my own heartbeat, my brain trying to escape from my ears, or whatever monster was behind that door.

“M! Get up. Please,” barked T. He sounded scared.

I slowly stood up and he placed a gun in my hands. It was an AS plasma rifle that shot a ball of superheated gas. It was a nasty weapon that could sear a hole straight through most armour.

“I’m okay,” I said and took the safety off the weapon.

“You have blood coming out of your nose,” he replied. “I need a few minutes at the terminal. Hold whatever comes out of that glass or door back as long as you can.”

I took a deep breath and took a shooting stance. These weapons didn’t have much kick but they still had enough to land me on my butt if I wasn’t careful. I must have used these weapons before because I was inundated with information about them.

His hands moved faster than I could register. I didn’t know what he was doing but just as the door slammed open, I saw him bleeding from his nose and ears. 

The last thump was cut off by a victorious yowl and metallic crunch as the door broke open. 

Whatever the creatures had been, they were now covered in black sludge. Most likely the same black goo from the tank. They were roughly the size of and shape of grizzly bears but with an elongated head and far too many black teeth. Their flesh rippled, sending shivers of nausea throughout my body.

I shot at the creatures but they barely seemed to notice. The plasma dissipated on their bodies and seemed to do nothing but slow them down a little. 

T whooped and the roof started retracting. Despite the shielding, the sun was blindingly hot. Joining me on the elevator, T activated it and said, “Don’t look at the sun.”

We descended and an iris closed above us. I heard a loud crash, a whooshing sound and then nothing. “What did you do?” I asked.

“I vented the top level,” T replied.

“That was quick thinking,” I said before adding, “I thought you said you couldn’t read anything?”

He turned white and his eyes went large. “I can’t, I couldn’t, I…” he trailed off. “Once I was there I just knew what to press. Like the computer was telling me. Wow. I wish I understood why.”

“Me too,” I said sadly. I really wanted to understand. Not knowing frustrated me in a way that made my whole body ache. “Do you think there’s another computer we can access that will tell us if we can fly this thing away from the sun?”

He shrugged. We arrived on the next floor, and he walked over to a wall and pushed on it. It released a hidden door. Inside was a wall filled with blinking lights. T touched the wall and said, “The station doesn’t have the energy to escape the sun’s gravity. The whole station is on energy saving mode. I—” He fell to the ground and started to convulse.

I hesitated, not knowing what to do. When I finally decided to act, he stopped moving. A loud popping noise followed by a gush of blood from the back of his neck startled me. Something metallic lay on the ground a few metres from him and I crushed it for good measure.

The room was filled with people but I couldn’t see anything like a first aid kit anywhere. I leaned down to T and gently touched his neck. I felt a pull of energy in the back of my mind and I focused on healing him. A blueish light glowed around my fingers and into the wound. I watched as it closed and the skin knit itself back together.

Pain filled my body and instead of fighting it, I let it wash over me. I focused on the cold metal floor and breathing. The pain eventually passed and I checked T for a pulse.

Into the earpiece, I said, “T is hurt but alive. He figured out the ship is low on energy and that the engines are okay. He’s unconscious right now and I don’t want to move him. Can we meet at the second to last level?”

“On our way,” said W. She sounded frustrated. 

“I’ll be right there,” S said in her usual chipper voice. “You’ll never guess what I found.”

Read Chapter 6 (June 2026)

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

Blank Space Adventure (Serial Story) — Chapter 4

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 4: Finding out we’re not alone

The corridor on the other side of the hatch lit up as we walked with some sort of fluorescent light, harsh and bright but illuminating everything. There were small portholes that let us look outside that must have been shielded because we could look at the sun without burning our eyes.

I couldn’t help looking out every one of them. Space is beautiful. It’s the reason I saw the comet coming toward us. “Run!” I screamed.

To everyone’s credit, they listened to me and we ran. We barely managed to close the hatch at the end when the comet destroyed the corridor. It smashed apart like it was made from cardboard.

“Look,” said T and he pointed to the habitat we’d been in. Untethered from the main station, it flew away for a few seconds before the engines I hadn’t noticed before kicked in and it flew away from the sun, and us.

W threw her curly brown hair back and laughed. “Wow. We chose the wrong option.”

We were in a small airlock. When we opened the other hatch we found ourselves in a massive cargo area. It was filled with crates, boxes, even a few small space ships. I didn’t see the rows upon rows of stasis pods until we’d walked half-way to the next spoke that would lead to another habitat. Going to the closest one, I saw it had someone inside.    

“Oh my goodness,” said S as she looked down the row. “That’s easily two thousand people, assuming they are all full, and there aren’t more on the levels above us.” She pointed at a map on the wall that showed there were nine more levels like this one. 

I pointed at the level below us and said, “That’s a docking ring. There could be ships down there that we could use to get out of here.”

A gestured at the small ships near us and asked, “Why not use that?”

With an annoyed sigh, T replied, “Those are short range shuttles. They won’t be able to escape the sun’s gravity.”

“I still think it’s worth a try,” A said with a scowl.

“We can’t leave all these people to fry in the sun!” exclaimed W. “We have to find a way to save them.” 

Nodding, I agreed. “We can’t wake them. They don’t have these suits and would need food, drink, etc. Let’s figure out how to save them first.”

“We need to find out if the station is capable of moving on its own,” T said with authority. With a little bashfulness, he added, “But I can’t read any of this.” He pointed at the map. “We need to find a computer terminal and assess the damage.”

“Maybe we should split up? Some of us go find a computer and others go check for ships?” S suggested.

I was going to argue but the rest of the group agreed. T pointed to me and said, “You can read this stuff. You and I should find a computer.” He gestured at the massive platform that worked like an elevator from the docking ring up to the top cargo bay. “I assume that’s an elevator?”

“I can also read whatever language this is. l’ll check for any ships,” W said. 

A looked grumpy and said, “I’ll go with you.”

When we all looked at S, she bounced in place a little and said, “I’ll check to see if any of the other habitats are still intact. Maybe we could get everyone in one and fly away?”

“I wish we had radios,” I said.

T looked around and went to a crate that was marked for Cygnus 3. He pulled off a board and reached in, taking out a box. He handed each of us an earpiece from the box when he returned.

“How did you know that was there?” I asked incredulously.

Shrugging, T replied, “I just knew they were. I could feel them there.”

“Cool!” exclaimed S and it echoed through the earpiece. “Like how you can tell that the hull is made with carbotanium-aluminide alloy arranged in a honeycomb form.” When everyone gave her a blank look, she added, “Just me then.”

We split up, and as T and I took the elevator up, I could see that not only was each level full but levels five to nine had only stasis pods. That meant there were over fifty-thousand people on board. 

“Why are we the only ones awake?” I asked aloud.

T seemed to think about it and said, “The pod people have regular clothes, which means we were either being used as workers or test subjects. Maybe there were more of us in the habitats?”

“That makes sense, but if this is a slaver ship, where are all the slavers?” My question was answered when we reached level ten. 

The bay was just as large and just as full but instead of cargo or stasis pods there were row upon row of robot suits. They were so tightly packed, I couldn’t count how many. Each of them was connected by a hose to a set of large vats filled with black liquid.

“The Andromeda Syndicate!” I said too loudly. Nothing moved despite my volume.

Looking pale, T said, “They’re intergalactic slavers and black market dealers. A hive mind of fungus that uses robots to interact with other races.”

“The fungus is usually white,” I observed and then added, “I hate how these memories come up only when we’re confronted with them instead of when it would be helpful.”

The black goo churned and sputtered. It looked like it was trying to get to the robots but someone, or something, had turned off the tubes.

“We should get out of here before they activate,” I suggested.

We ran for where the map had said the main computer was and found a door that was splattered with black goo and dried blood. The door handle had icicle-like dried drips of the mixture.

“I really don’t want to touch that,” I said.

Then something big hit the door from the other side.

Read Chapter 5

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

Blank Space Adventure (Serial Story) — Chapter 3

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 3: Learning Secrets on a Mountain 

The car-sized luminescent bats didn’t seem interested in us at all; instead they swooped by us and started grabbing wargs that were hiding in the forest. 

We continued to climb up the mountain, doing our best to not attract attention. By the time we reached the top, the bats had left and the sun was rising again. The top was unnaturally flat, about the size of a hockey rink, and dotted with trees that hummed with electricity.

“That’s not good. No no no, not good at all.” The voice surprised me and it took a moment for me to see the woman who was speaking. She was moving quickly and seemed to be building something out of sticks, vines, and rocks.

“What’s not good?” I asked.

She didn’t even look at me as she answered, “Our rotation is speeding up and the sun is getting closer.” She was short and rotund, with skin that was the colour of cream limestone with dark brown marbling, like she was made of the stone itself. Her hair was granite grey and her eyes were pure gold. She wore the same uniform as we did with an S on it.

“How is that possible? Shouldn’t we be feeling a change in temperature?” W asked, pushing her curly brown hair behind her ears.

“You’re right. Something is wrong. None of this makes sense. Who are all of you?” S asked.

“We have no idea. Do you have any memories of before waking up in this place?” T asked, his voice tense.

Still putting together her device, S replied with, “Nope.”

I was the first to realize what she was building. “Why are you making a trebuchet?”

“I think the sky is fake.”

T scoffed and said, “You’re planning on shooting the sky?”

“Yup!” She put the final touches on the small siege engine.

“At that size, you could get the same distance with a bow,” T replied. 

She shrugged and replied, “I don’t know how to make a bow or shoot it. It was this or a cannon and I can’t find any saltpeter. Stand back.”

She picked up a large rock, the size of a basketball, and put in the sling of the weapon. Why did I know what basketball was and not where I was from? She shouldn’t have been able to pick it up; I would have assumed T would have trouble with it.

Pulling on the release, the counterweight fell and the whole thing swung. The rock flew into the air and just as it hit the apex of its arc, it hit something invisible and fell straight down.

“It’s a dome,” W said, her mouth open in awe. “Where the hell are we, Everdome?”

“No. That was too close to be one of those domes and it made a noise like metal.” I knew the distance from the ground to the top of a dome in Everdome and knew what Everdome was but not my name or home? That’s when I realized that our memories were selectively wiped to remove anything personal. I knew about Everdome because it wasn’t my place of origin, I knew about basketball and the sound of metal because it wasn’t a hint to who I was. Maybe I could use the lack of knowledge to help paint a picture of myself.

I hadn’t noticed A had left, but he ran toward us through the trees and shouted, “We’re on a space station!”

We followed him through the thick pine-like trees and when we reached a clearing on the other side we were struck by a horrifying site. We were definitely on some sort of space craft. There were four other domes like ours attached with grey metal spokes to a central city of spires that looked like different sized knitting needles tied together by metal wire. The part that sent a cold shiver down my spine was that the closest dome was cracked and parts of the habitat were being sucked out into space. I couldn’t see the other domes well enough to know if they’d met the same fate.

“There aren’t any lights,” A said. “There should be lights in the central spire and at the docking bays.”

T grunted in a concerned way, it almost reminded me of someone, before saying, “The ship must be working on emergency power.”

“Well that explains it, time to panic!” S sat down and I swear she sank a few inches into the stone.

“No panicking yet S. A mentioned docking bays. We need to get to a ship,” W said with the confidence of someone who’s been through a lot of dire situations. 

“That’s all the way across the dome,” A whined, running his hands through his silver hair.

“Then I guess we should get started,” I replied as chipperly as possible.

The trek down the mountain was worse than the trek up. This side was steeper and the sun was setting every hour making it impossible to get used to the light or dark. It also felt like every step weighed different amounts and like I was constantly dizzy.

When we reached the bottom we saw the giant bats swirling around the mountain and hitting into each other. “The artificial gravity is having a hard time dealing with the stations spinning. It’s messing with our balance,“ I said, feeling confident about my deduction.

“Won’t matter in about twenty hours,’ said S. When we all stared at her she sighed and said, “We’re heading toward the sun. Didn’t I mention that earlier?” 

Without speaking, we all moved toward the end of the dome, where the spoke should have an entrance. We reached it quicker than I’d expected considering how far it looked from the mountain and how every few steps we stumbled. 

“Why aren’t I tired?” asked W. “I should be huffing and puffing? Are we in a simulation?”

A replied, “I think it’s the clothes. They are often used by slavers to keep the slaves fed and strong but it takes a toll and can lead to heart attacks or strokes.” He paused with wide eyes and said, “I didn’t know I knew that until you asked.”

That made sense. Something about the whole situation felt familiar and wrong at the same time. It was like having something right on the tip of my tongue.

“We’re on a slaver ship, or station, that’s drifting toward the sun, and no one remembers anything?” T asked, sounding more like he was asking for pushups. 

S nodded and asked, “Is it now time for panic?”

Read Chapter 4

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

Blank Space Adventure (Serial Story) — Chapter 2

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 2: Experiencing Night and Day

“These things shouldn’t exist,” I said to the Wargs.

“The leaves are pink and the moss is orange,” T said with a hint of a smile. He had his makeshift spear pointed at one of the dog-like creatures.

I slowly reached down for a stick, rock, or twig to defend myself with when T made a loud bellowing noise and moved a little toward one of the Wargs. I swear it laughed at him.

The light changed suddenly. It went from daylight to night in a blink and suddenly the forest was alive with clicking and chirps. 

The wargs howled and ran away.

I turned to T and said, “Anything that scares those things is bad news for us.”

“It… It laughed at me,” T said before adding, “How rude.” He put his spear on his shoulder like a baseball player. “You’re right. Let’s find some shelter.”

There was a large hill or small mountain in the distance and we both decided to head that way, hoping that we wouldn’t encounter anything else.

It was surprisingly easy to see despite the sun having set. When I looked up at the moon, I was so shocked by the quantity of stars I stopped walking.

“Why did you stop?” T said and then followed my gaze. He swore in his language and I didn’t blame him. 

The stars should have been like pinpricks in a canopy; instead I was treated to glorious lights that almost merged together. I wished I could remember why this was making me feel so awestruck. Was this stranger than the night sky where I was from? 

“We should keep moving,” I said, feeling very small and very lost.

The hill turned out to be bigger, and farther than we expected. I glanced up every once in a while and noticed the stars were moving. 

“How long have we been walking?” asked T.

I shrugged and said, “I have no idea. Maybe an hour. Why? Do you need a break?”

He laughed and replied, “No, but either the sky’s broken or it’s already dawn.”

“How can the sky be broken?” I asked and shuddered. Something about that sentence scared me and I hated not knowing why.

The sun rose and we heard a scream. Both of us, without hesitation, ran towards the scream. That told me we were both the type of people who wanted to help, or needed to sate our curiosity. 

I was expecting to find someone being attacked but instead we found two people, in the same mustard yellow prison outfits, writhing on the ground. It was the same thing that had happened to us when we’d tried to access some sort of powers, which meant the two were going to be okay.

The first was a beautiful brunette with pale skin and a W on her shirt. She radiated power and my instincts told me that she was dangerous. I didn’t want to startle her even if she couldn’t access her power yet.

The second was a white man with silver hair and an A on his shirt. He felt powerful, but in a completely different way. As he lay on the ground, I saw tiny sparks of electricity shooting from his body.

When the two stopped flopping around, T demanded, “Who are you?”

“I have no clue and I really hate that,” said the woman. 

“I woke up with no memory,” said the man. “I started walking through the forest. I figured I could see better from the top of the mountain. Then I walked into her and we both fell to the ground.”

I offered the woman my hand and she gave me an annoyed glance before saying, “If me touching him caused us to fall to the ground, why would it be different for you?”

Shrugging, I said, “Can’t know if we don’t try.”

She took my hand and the same pain as when T and I had tried to use our powers wracked my body. This time I stayed standing. The pain wasn’t as overwhelming as the first time.

When I opened my eyes the woman was staring at me like I was a puzzle she could put together. “Did you know that it would be easier the second time?”

“No, but knowledge requires repetition.”

She stood up and the four of us sized each other up, trying to find some sort of answers. The woman was the first to speak. “I think A’s idea of going up the mountain for a better view is a good idea.”

“What, just because we all have memory loss and matching outfits, you think we should travel together?” T said.

The woman stood tall and said, “Yes. We’ll live longer together than apart.”

“Dude, she’s got a point,” added A as he dusted the dirt off his pants.

T waited for me and when I nodded, sighed and said, “Sure, why not.”

“Dude! You’re a suspicious little man,” A laughed and followed W, who’d already started walking up the mountain.

“Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean someone isn’t out to get you,” mumbled T as he joined the group. 

I followed behind and was hit with a sense of dread. Something, beyond the weird world and lack of memory, wasn’t right.

The feeling didn’t go away but also didn’t get any stronger. I wondered if I was an anxious person or if I had some sort of magical danger radar.

As we climbed, the light changed again, and W asked, “I feel like we’ve been climbing for hours. Why aren’t I hungry or thirsty?” 

It was a good question, but we didn’t get a chance to think about it before we heard the sound of wings. From above came a cloud of luminescent bats. They quickly got bigger and bigger until it was obvious that they were larger than we were and there were hundreds of them.

Read Chapter 3

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

New Serial Story

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Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

Friday, we debuted my new serial story, Blank Space Adventure. It’s a type of story that I’ve been wanting to tell for a long time but hadn’t found a place for it yet. It’s partially inspired by the beginning of Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny, Dark Matter, and The Hollow.

Waking up in a strange forest with no memories, M needs to find others who are like her. Nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted in this science-fiction/fantasy adventure. Firmly set in the Aetherverse built by Jen and Éric Desmarais, this story will keep you guessing while introducing a new threat.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Hope you like it!

Éric

Blank Space Adventure (Serial Story) — Chapter 1

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 1: Lost in the Jungle

The sun shone through pink leaves. I wondered where I was. Looking at my dark brown hands and hideous mustard yellow shirt and pants, I wondered who I was.

I was wearing no jewelry and had no tattoos that I could see.

There was something strange about the sun. Its light felt filtered. I could feel its warmth on my bare head but it felt muted. Despite that, the temperature was comfortable and the orange moss felt soft under my naked feet.

I felt like I was heading somewhere and I had to do something important, but I couldn’t remember.

A bird made a horrific shriek at a distance and I almost jumped out of my skin.

I felt my face and body, deciding I was definitely human or close enough to pass. That was an interesting thought, and it meant being not human was an option. I was definitely shaped like a woman, from the feel of my face and lack of pain in my joints, I assumed I was somewhere in my late twenties.

“Okay, look around. Figure out where you are, and find a village or town,” I whispered. Somehow saying it aloud made me feel more real. My voice was deep and feminine. 

I was in a forest and seemed to have been walking on a path made of cushiony moss. The forest was painted in hues of pastel pink, blue, and violet. It could have been normal, but something deep inside me said that trees were not meant to be that colour.

If I’d been heading in the direction I was facing, I was going toward something or away from something; either way it made sense to keep moving. 

The sky was white; that was unnerving. “If white is wrong, what colour is right?” I wondered out loud.

A large winged insect flew by me and my skin crawled. It was the size of my fist with a nasty-looking barb on its posterior.

The moss changed to something firmer, maybe some sort of wood. It was definitely something organic but artificially shaped. The bird shrieked again,  sounding closer.

The forest was cleared in a perfect circle around one tree. This tree had a hard bark of royal blue and it was at least twice as tall as the rest of the forest.

As I got closer to the tree, I heard the telltale hum of electricity. I reached out toward the tree, and my hand was batted down forcefully by a large stick.

“Who are you?” demanded a lithe man with golden brown skin and a close-cropped haircut. My mind told me he must be military.

“Good question. I don’t know,” I replied, noticing he’d sharpened the end into a spear. He’d even carved it a little off centre so that the pointy part wasn’t made of the softer core of the branch. 

I wonder what it says about me that I didn’t think to arm myself but could recognize the technique he’d used? 

“Why don’t you know?” the man asked. It was a question but he sounded unsure.

“Probably the same reason you don’t,” I answered and pointed at the tree. “That’s not a regular tree.”

“You’re right, there’s some sort of computer inside it. It seems biological. I didn’t know that was possible. He lowered the spear and gently caressed the tree. “Why do you have a large M on your shirt?”

I looked down and saw he was right: in the center of the shirt was a large M. His shirt had a large T. “I don’t know. How do you know about the computer in the tree?”

The man put both hands on the tree and my vision swam. When it cleared, I could see a swirl of pink energy around him. He reached out and pushed the energy toward the tree.

Pain flared into my head. Electric shocks made my body convulse and I fell to the hard ground.

When it stopped, I saw that the man, who I was thinking of as T, was on the ground as well.

He sat up and grunted. I let my head stop swimming before doing the same.

“What the hell was that?” he asked, but it was a general ask, not a demand to me.

“I think we tried to use some sort of ability and were shocked into submission.”

He looked at me and then at our matching outfits before swearing in what I recognized as Sámi but wasn’t sure of which language exactly it was. I was surprised to realize that I understood him. “We’re prisoners,” he said finally. 

It made complete sense. We had matching outfits that were obviously made for ease of wash not fashion, we had some sort of trigger device that shocked us… But why take our memory? “Where are our jailers?”

He looked angry for a moment, like he thought I was challenging him, but then he looked around nervously. “If they aren’t visible and they let me make a weapon, they must be watching from hidden cameras.”

“Or they are gone for the same reason we can’t remember who we are?”

That idea was frightening. Being stuck in a jail without jailers meant that unless we could escape, we’d eventually run out of food.

Thinking of food, my stomach growled. Nothing around me looked edible and there was nothing in my pocket.

“Where do we get food?” I asked him.

Again I heard the strange bird, much closer this time, and he must have also, because he said, “Where there are animals, there’s game.”

The bird made another horrifying screech, which was echoed by two others behind us. 

Suddenly, we were surrounded by three massive dog-like creatures. My mind supplied ‘Warg’ but that wasn’t possible, because they were fictional. At least that’s what my mind was telling me.

Fictional or not, they were approaching us, and they looked hungrier than I felt.

Read Chapter 2

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

Red Day, Ere the Sun Rises – Characters

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The text, "Red Day, Ere the Sun Rises: A Sun Speaker Story" over a red sun.

Characters | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue

I was told the sheer quantity of characters was a little intimidating. I started to understand as I made this list. Hopefully this will help keep the characters straight.

Hal the Sun Speaker

Hal

Born 825 Post First Earthen Emigration. A prophet called the Sun-Speaker, he gets visions from the god Sol that lives in the sun. He was raised on Venus from the age of ten.

Rose

A doctor who was part of Hal’s crew. She is currently in hiding, raising the future King of Mars with her wife Sofia.

Sofia

Former special forces in the Mars militia, she was dishonorably discharged for saving Hal’s life against orders. The first time she met him, she also beat the crap out of him. She is his former bodyguard.

Gwinevere the Second, High Queen of Venus

As a child, found Hal hiding in the luggage of the royal ship. They dated as teenagers. When he was ex-communicated from the church, she broke all ties.

Princess Lenay

Princess of Venus. She was born with an immune disorder like her mother but both were healed by Hal.

Thomas the sixth, Ruler of Mars

King of Mars being raised in exile on Earth. He was kidnapped as a child by the Venetians.

The Assassin

Suzie (AKA Helena)

Former assassin with the Maidens of Antichthon. Hal helped her uncover the corruption in the organzation and she joined his crew as his new bodyguard. They eventually developed feelings for each other and are now dating.

Samantha

The assassin trainer from the Maidens of the Antichthon. Disgraced, she was tortured and implanted with cybernetics and sent to fight in the arena. Hal healed her and the expelled cybernetics became their own person. Currently both are in charge of the The Mederei Alpha, a former gladiator ship which is now a home for refugees.

Seren Plentyn and the Secret of Hokulua Station

Seren Plentyn

An adventurous twenty-something archeologist and linguist. Member of the Children of the Stars.

Captain Jan Ng

A stern but fair life-long miliary soldier. They are the captain of the MOAS (Mother of all Suns) Warship Ennill.

Annie Musa

Wife of Seren and ace fighter pilot. Annie is sarcastic and loyal. Member of the Children of the Stars.

Mother of All Suns

The last remnants of an ancient civilization downloaded their minds into a great machine. Its power source was a sun and that sun’s consciousness merged with the people.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to my Funeral

Janet

Plutonian who discovered the secret to eternal youth. Despite looking 18, she is a brilliant doctor and scientist.

Adric

Computer and engineering genius. Helped free Callisto from mob rule with his hacking skills. Currently the engineer on Hal’s ship, the Hey Sunny.

Travis

A Mercurian pilot. Hal served as a medic on his ship. To save his life, Hal had to leave him on a pirate ship to be tortured.

Caro

The system’s strongest telepath and precog. Former member of Hal’s crew currently living on Xanthus.

Gladiators in SPACE!

Henrick Al-Mer of the house of Mers

Royal instructor to the kings and queens of Mars.

Aly

Martian-Barsoonian adviser to the King and former leader of his people.

Diamond Stars and the Galactic Heist

Diamond Stars (AKA Garnet)

Former Black-Sun operative who went rogue. Current incarnation of the Robin Hood style character Diamond Stars and captain of the Revenge. Also a recent Sun Speaker of Sol.

Onyx

Doctor on the Revenge. Boyfriend of Diamond Stars.

Sphene

Younger sister of Onyx. Weapons expert and gunner on the Revenge.

Ghost Ship Robinson

Fry

Ex-soldier and mercenary. Died on the Robinson

Hoff

Ex-soldier and mercenary. Bioscience expert on the Hey Sunny.

Teddy

Former engineer on the Hey Sunny. Died on the Robinson.

The Suns of War

Nessa Muldune

Captain of the ISS Galahad. She’s a Feline Martian who has a strong love for her crew, knowledge, and justice.

Alexandre Crowley

Senior science officer of the ISS Galahad. He’s a Serpant Tyrite who values logic over emotion.

Tanya Brook

Lieutenant weapons officer of the ISS Galahad. She’s a Sapian Martian. She’s tall, muscled, and looks like she’s been in plenty of fights.

Em Frechette

Master Sargent and communications officer of the ISS Galahad. They’re a Sapian Tyrite. 

Peri Anson

Doctor of the ISS Galahad. He’s an older Sapian Martian. His interest lies in his crew and their health above all else.

Bart Shelby

Lieutenant and pilot of the ISS Galahad. He’s Canine Arisian with plenty of years as a fighter pilot.

Arzure Pendreicht (Zuri)

Head Engineer of the ISS Galahad. She’s a young Sapian Martian, the reincarnation of King Arthur, and a Sun Speaker for Sol.

Seren Plentyn and the Secret of Hokulua Station – Chapter 12 – Conclusion

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 4.5 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 12: An Imposible Mission and a Conclusion?

The Techno-Mage ships sat in space like darker versions of themselves. “What are they waiting for?” Jan asked. The ships had arrived almost an hour ago and seemed idle.

“The Techno-Mage had said about a day and it’s only been half that,” suggested Annie.

“Okay. That means we have less than half a day to get us a way out of this. Any thoughts?” The Captain rubbed his bald head as he asked. The man was a decorated stations captain and this was supposed to be his last command. When Hokulua Station was finished inspections, the real captain was going to take over and he was going to retire to a cushy quarters.

Seren raised her hand. The senior crew looked at her father and he shrugged. She started by explaining a little about the repository, “The repository runs like a translation AI for the Mother-of-All-Suns just like Hoku does now for our micro-sun. Hoku proved that they can take over some of the stations systems and that was before they had complete integration with the AI. Now they could take over any system they want.”

“So it can kill us at any time? How can we trust it?” the Doctor asked, sounding incredulous.

Annie laughed loudly enough to stop people murmuring and said, “I can kill you at any time too. Any of us is capable of murder. Why would a micro-sun be more inclined?”

“Yes, but we enslaved it.”

“We can either give up space travel or take the suns at their word that they don’t hold a grudge and won’t kill us,” Seren said before going on, “The only reason that Hoku was able to communicate and take us here was because of a glitch in the AI that let them access it. The changes we’ve made since to help relieve their pain, give them better control, and better communicate are all easy software updates.”

Mr. Plentyn smiled and added, “She’s right. It’s a small update and could easily be applied to other ships. The update would also allow the station’s suns to talk to each other. What my daughter is suggesting is that we upgrade the Techno-Mage ships and let their micro-suns take over.”

The Captain smiled, “We’d have to leave the Techno-Mages to the mercy and justice of the Mother. Great, sounds like a plan. Push the update to them.”

“Well…” Mr. Plentyn started but trailed off.

“We’d have to push it locally,” Seren finished.

“You’re telling me you have the perfect solution but we have to somehow get onto each of those ships to implement it? That’s suicide.” The Captain sat down.

“It can be done by drones but they’d still have to get close.”

Annie stood up, smiling, this caused her brother and her flight group to groan and look worried. “I can get the drones there. The new ship has limited stealth tech. All we would need is a distraction.”

“Can the repository make more of those ships? Or maybe a cruiser?” the Captain asked.

“I’ve already requisitioned a dozen. They’ll be ready within the hour but that’s the best it can do. It only has that design because of Annie’s help.”

Standing up again and looking not at all confident, the Captain said, “You all have until those ships arrive to be ready. Commander, with Annie’s help, prepare a dozen pilots for the new ships and a battleplan that the Techno-Mages won’t expect. Plentyn, get everything ready to deploy. The rest of you, prepare for combat.”

As they were leaving, the Captain stopped Mr. Plentyn and Seren. “The Techno-Mages have a reputation of being all knowing and able to hijack computers. Are you sure they don’t know what’s coming?”

“When we linked up with the repository I had it and Hoku scan for bugs, trojans, and any back doors. We cleared them out before the meeting.”

“So you’re sure?”

“As much as I can be.”

The next hour on the station almost made it feel like it was fully crewed. People were rushing everywhere and getting everything ready. When the ships arrived and it was time to go, Seren brought Annie the drones. 

“You have four drones per ship. Try to space them out…” Seren trailed off looking worried.

“Don’t worry. I’m the best pilot here.” Annie took Seren’s hand and kissed it. “I’ll come back.”

“You’d better.”

The hardest part of the mission was being quiet. Annie missed the radio chatter, but she had to disable her coms both incoming and outgoing in order to avoid detection.

The trip was quiet and space felt bigger than it ever had to her, despite the relative smallness of that solar system. When she arrived at the first ship, she gently dropped her charges. She expected resistance but her stealth tech seemed to be working. The same near boring procedure occurred for the next two ships.

On the way to the last, and furthest ship, she wondered if she should have started on the far end. Her thoughts were interrupted by a blast to her aft. A small pirate ship had seen her and now she was being chased by a squadron of fighters. 

She dodged and evaded the ships and thanked the Mother for her shielding. One impressive dodge also had her avoid a direct shot from the last station. Had she not avoided it, she would have been destroyed. The Techno-Mage ships had weapons that could implode a sun; her shield meant nothing to it.

It was starting to look and feel useless. Every time she got close, the station would fire and she’d have to move back. She was about to retreat when the other stations started firing at the last one. They took out all the guns and Annie was able to fly down and drop the drones.

As she flew back towards Hoku she saw hundreds of fighters and escape pods leave the stations. It seemed the Mother-of-All-Suns was feeling merciful and they weren’t shot out of the sky. By the time she made it back to the station the cloud of pirate and Techno-Mage ships had left the system.

Seren was waiting for Annie when she landed. They hugged and both blushed. Jan rolled their eyes at their friends.

The Captain came by and shook Annie’s hand. “With the stations and Hoku no longer blocking coms we reached the council and given them all our information. I think the Techno-Mages are done. The council has also agreed to work with the Mother to make things right.” He smiled and sighed. “Alright. You two get some rest. We’re headed back on our original course. We have a few million crew to pick up.”

Surprisingly, it was Jan who spoke up, “Sir. Are we leaving a team to work with the Mother and the Repository?”

“Yes we are. A small engineering group, some archeologists, and a fighter wing.” The Captain smirked.

All three of them started volunteering at the same time.

Thank you for reading.

If you’d like to read more serial stories please have a look at the previous years versions.

Seren Plentyn and the Secret of Hokulua Station – Chapter 11

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 4.5 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 11: Mothers and Suns

“Pirates? How did they find us?” Jan sounded annoyed. “How do we stop a sun from exploding and defend against pirates?”

There was silence over the private channel. Seren was thinking. The situation did seem dire. With the Techno-mage gone, there was no way of interrogating him to figure out what he’d done. He’d said, “You can die when the sun implodes.” But hadn’t specified which sun. There was the micro-sun that powered Hokulua Station, the Mother-Of-All-Stars in the centre of the planet, and the small yellow sun that planet was orbiting.

“I don’t know, but we need to figure out what sun he meant.” Seren said.

“Any of them imploding would cause enough damage to trigger either a black hole or a chain effect in the other suns,” Mr. Plentyn theorized.

“Yes, but he’d have to use some sort of tech to collapse the yellow sun and that seems unlikely.”

“Right, and if the repository is as sophisticated as you say, it should have defences.”

Jan exclaimed. “So it has to be Hoku.”

“We have to get the repository talking to the station instead of just receiving data. If we can do that then we can hopefully get the station to figure out what the Techno-mage did.” The first enemy fire hit the station as he was explaining.

Jan cursed and explained, “This is a massive fleet. We’re outnumbered fifty to one. The captain says we’re not going to survive this and recommends evacuation.”

The words hung heavy over them and both Seren and her father said the same thing, “What if we get the star-ships to help?” It would still mean being outnumbered ten to one but those were better odds.

They were about to formulate a plan when Jan cheered, “Whatever you two did, it worked. The star-ships and the repository just joined the fight.”

“We didn’t—”

The sound of Annie’s voice flooded to coms, “Woohoo! This is MOAS fighter A, requesting permission to join the fight.”

While Jan and Seren had been teleported to the station and where they’d been thinking of before teleportation, Annie had been thinking of piloting a ship.

Deep in the repository was a fabricator that could create nearly anything. With Annie’s knowledge of fighters and the repository’s impressive fabricating, they’d created a new type of fighter.

“Annie is that you?” Tower command asked.

“Yes big bro it’s me and I’m bringing some friends. You concentrate on defence and we’ll start picking off the bombers and long range gunners.”

The new ship slipped around the pirates, making them look slow and clumsy. The weapons from the repository were its biggest weakness. They were half as effective as those from the pirates and the defending force. The people who became the Mother-of-All-Stars weren’t as vicious as those who’d enslaved her children.

Annie relied on her speed, shields, and gravity ray. The gravity ray worked like her tractor beam on her regular fighter but faster and with bigger objects. She quickly discovered that weapons were not as effective as hurling the enemy’s ships at each other.

Everything was quiet while Seren and her father worked to network Hoku to the repository and the rest of the station worked on repairs and defence.

“I got it!” Mr. Plentyn cried over the sound of alarms.

“Jan, tell the captain that Hoku is running a diagnostic as we speak.” Seren turned from the coms to her Dad. “So do we turn off the AI interface?”

“No. The micro-sun has been interacting with it and the two are working together. It’s like the repository and the MOAS. The AI will interpret and help us understand each other.”

The computerized voice of Hoku said, “Thank you, Mr. Plentyn. You have been quite kind. Diagnostics are complete. I did not find anything in my systems that could create a chain effect big enough to destroy me and mother. Mother has done the same. I’ve also scanned my brother and he has no technology or way of being imploded.”

“Then what has the Techno-mage done?” Seren asked.

“I do not know. However, I have compiled a list of systems that cause me pain and how to alter them to not hurt me.”

Not knowing what else to do, they looked over the list.

The battle outside the station was quickly ending. The Pirates were taking heavy casualties and the Hoku fighters weren’t. Annie’s tactics made her a target, but the advanced shield made her almost invulnerable. Even with that, the ship would need some serious repairs.

The Hoku pilots cheered as the remaining pirate fighters retreated and the entire fleet moved away.

“Why aren’t they leaving the system?” Annie asked as she held patrol while the other ships returned to the station.

Her answer came quickly when four massive cruisers appeared in the system between the pirates and the station. These cruisers looked like the standard stations, if they’d been built for war instead of exploration.

The pirate flag on the side of the ships was quickly replaced by the Techno-Mage flag.

“They didn’t have some sort of bomb of self destruct! They’re just planning on blowing us up the old fashioned way.”

Read Conclusion

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Seren Plentyn and the Secret of Hokulua Station – Chapter 10

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 4.5 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 10: Trapped, Escaped, and Pirates (again) 

“And now, so must you!” Annie mimicked. “That’s overdramatic and a little clichéd.” She’d met the Technomancer a few times before. He’d always come off as a nerdy goof. That wasn’t the air he was projecting today though. 

“Don’t mock me child.” The man looked frustrated.

“So… what’s your plan? Are you going to rip us apart atom by atom?” Seren seemed annoyed and more curious than frightened.

“No. Absolutely not. I will turn off this section of the repository and you can die when the sun implodes. It’ll be a little over a day.” With those words he stepped back and the door closed. Annie ran for the door but couldn’t get out. The lights and computer terminal went dark.

The only light was from their headlamps and portable computers. 

“So what are you two planning?” Jan asked. When Seren and Annie didn’t say anything Jan scoffed and said, “I’ve known both of you since we were kids. There’s no way you sat through that without thinking of a plan.”

“Well…” Seren said. “Maybe if we can connect with another part of the repository with our computers we can reroute power.”

“I was going to use the battery in my computer to try and power the door,” Annie replied.

“Great, both of you get to work and I’ll take a nap,” Jan said, stretching out on the floor.

It was a few hours before Jan heard a pair of curses. Neither method had worked. 

Seren said, “There’s some sort of interference, every time I think I’ve connected, something cuts me off.”

Annie said, “I can power the door but it’s locked somehow and I can’t power it and disable the lock.”

“What if we asked for help?” Jan’s question seemed to surprise the other two. They swung their heads around to stare at them.

“Um… Who are we going to ask?” Annie questioned. 

“Isn’t there anyway to ask the repository or Hoku?”

It looked like Annie was going to argue but then she just smiled and said, “Yes. That’s brilliant. You’re brilliant. All we have to do is connect to the repository not the systems.”

“Wouldn’t the Technomancer have thought of that?” asked Annie skeptically.

“That arrogant gas planet wouldn’t think of talking to the repository like it was a person. He still refers to her as an it like the Mother-of-All-Stars was only some sort of computer instead of the spirit of an entire civilization.” Jan started calmly but as they spoke, they became angrier at the thoughtlessness of the Technomancers and their ancestors. 

“Okay let’s give it a try,” Seren tapped away at her computer. After what felt like too long a time the same black screen with green text appeared on Seren’s computer.

“Hello again. Why have you disabled terminal 13?”

“We didn’t. The technomancer did.”

“Designation not recognized.” 

Seren looked around and wondered how to explain that they were not the same. “There were four of us in this room. Now there are three. The other isn’t our friend, he wants to destroy the mother-of-stars.”

“That is illogical. Can you stop him?”

The three friends looked at each other and shrugged. “I don’t know, but we have to try.”

It must have been the right answer, the doors opened and the floor showed arrows. Jan smilled and said, “Lets follow. Seren, can you keep the link on your computer?”

“I think so. Why?” 

As they ran following the arrows, Jan said, “If the Technomancers learned everything from the repository than we, and your Dad, are going to need to study quickly to beat him.”

Laughing, Annie said, “And you say we’re the ones that always have a plan.”

The arrows didn’t lead them back to the transportation room they’d been in. Instead it brought them to a larger but almost identical room. Again, nothing was in the room but a raised circular platform and that’s where the arrows ended.

Shrugging, the three of them stood on the platform and waited. The first time they teleported there was no sound or feeling but this time there was a bright flash of light and a slight feeling of nausea. 

When Seren’s eyes adjusted she was in her father’s lab. Her father was looking at her like she’d just appeared out of thin air, which she had. “Matter teleportation is supposed to be impossible. How, where…” he trailed off as he pulled her in for a hug. 

“It’s a lot to explain. We need to stop the Technomancer from destroying the planet and the station.” She shoved the computer at him and started to explain. When she was done she looked around and said, “Where are the others?”

“You’re the only one that teleported here.”

Just as she was reaching for her communicator, Jan’s voice came over the intercom, “Seren and Annie, are you there?”

“I’m here but I don’t know where Annie went. I’ve filled my Dad in on what’s happening.” She saw that her Dad was already talking with the repository.

“Great. I’m with the Captain. Apparently teleporting into his office was enough to convince him. Whatever the Technomancer did, his ship is already gone. The captain has no idea what he did.”

Mr. Plentyn interrupted with, “I’m trying to get a more direct link between us, the station’s sun, and the repository. I think the station’s sun is like a toddler and if I can get the repository to help it, it can run a diagnostic.”

The alarms went off and another voice came over the intercom, “Pirates have been spotted. All pilots to fighters, everyone else to your stations.”

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