Three Omens: The Hollow Galaxy: Book I

by Jeremy J. Hayes

  Three Omens

  The Hollow Galaxy: Book I

  by

  Jeremy Hayes

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.

  Copyright © 2016 Jeremy Hayes. All rights reserved. Including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the author.

  Contents

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  Epilogue

  The Hollow Galaxy is a vast solar system. Planets are littered with the always growing plague known as the human race. Bandits, gangsters, and criminals threaten peace across the stars.

  Every world has a story. This is the Hollow Galaxy…

  1

  Godric hated taking another life, but then again, he needed to eat.

  He stayed low on the ground with his rifle steady in his hands.

  Sweat streamed down his forehead. He pushed his dark brown hair from his face, taking aim at the small black bird. The bird was a vroc, a four-winged creature, scavenger of the dead. They were easy to lure and tasty meals.

  On Jeden, the planet was not the greatest for farming. The country land was rich, but―for an unknown reason―the least successful spot for agriculture in the North Region of the Hollow Galaxy. Since humans settled on Jeden, no crop thrived.

  Behind the prone young man, a girl, Luna, rested on the ground. “Come on,” she whispered in an impatient tone.

  Beside her was her brother Byrd, who remained silent for Godric. “Quiet,” Byrd whispered.

  Her brother’s remark meant nothing to her. Luna recently turned nineteen, making her the eldest amongst the trio of hunters.

  The two siblings shared similar traits, but Luna’s long braided hair stood out. She wore a loose black jacket and jeans, dark camouflage from head to toe, darker than her soft skin. Her brother’s stern face looked much rougher, along with his uneven beard and buzz cut.

  Ignore her, Godric thought. Focus on the bird. Not the girl.

  For Godric, Luna was often a distraction when they went on hunts. Her appealing personality and gorgeous looks did not make it any easier for him to focus. Plus, her constant teasing of his awful hunting skills didn’t help either. She was a way better shot than he was, and with more experience under her belt, she rarely missed. Whenever the siblings offered him the chance to tag along for a hunt, his nerves got the best of him knowing his skill was nothing further than amateur.

  He leaned in closer to his self-made scope, his sights locked on the black vroc feeding on the bait they planted. The vroc flapped its wings, unaware and careless of the three hunters stalking it.

  “Take it,” Luna whispered under her breath, annoyed with Godric’s habit of taking so long.

  “Quiet,” Byrd whispered again, firing back at her. “Let him focus, Luna.”

  Silence followed with only the slightest breeze swishing through Godric’s ear. He zoned in on the vroc in the open patch on the grassy terrain. The mellow bird remained still atop the baited meat. It spun its head, forcing Godric to gawk at its helpless black eyes.

  Godric’s body froze. Without a chance to rethink, he exhaled and pulled the trigger.

  A thin, short silver energy beam zipped out his rifle's barrel, rushing toward its target with magnificent speed. The energy blast struck the meat underneath the vroc, and the red bait splattered in every direction. The four-winged bird flapped in a frantic rush, flying high in the air.

  Both Luna and Byrd jolted to their feet, rifles in hand, taking aim at the fleeing dinner. They each fired a single shot, sending duel silver streaks in the air, racing toward the bird. One shot met the vroc in the head, sending the poor creature fluttering to the ground. Godric couldn’t tell whose shot made contact, but both appeared on point.

  “That was all me,” Luna said with a wide grin.

  “In your dreams,” Byrd said, scoffing at his sister. “Your shot nearly hit his body. The meat would be ruined thanks to your awful aim.”

  “That’s bull,” she said, shouldering her rifle. “Your shot probably knocked a satellite out of orbit. This is my kill.”

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night, sis'.”

  Byrd turned his attention to Godric with a friendly stare. “Don’t worry about it, Godric. It’s been breezy all morning. I bet it affected your aim.”

  “Well, now we’re short on bait,” Luna said, teasing her friend. Godric shook it off and played along with the sportive ridicule of his awful shot.

  The three teens walked over to the downed bird. Modified rifle blasts didn’t allow the target to bleed, leaving the headless bird sizzling in the grass. Byrd pulled his knapsack off his shoulder, flapping the brown bag open.

  The bird was their first kill of the morning.

  Hunters on Jeden spent entire days until sundown seeking food for the week. Vrocs were the only common animal easy enough to hunt.

  Luna lifted the vroc’s carcass by one wing and guided the headless animal to Byrd’s knapsack. The four wings of the creature remained stiff and ruffled. A grotesque sight, but Godric tried to act tough in front of his friends.

  I wish there was another way to get food. If one day our soil offered us a chance to grow our own meals, I’d stick to veggies for life.

  Luna and Byrd always invited him on their hunting trips. Their family lived in the same territory, out deep in the wild country, away from gangs and crime. But one gang resided in the neighboring territory.

  No gang was worse than the Hazard gang, a backwoods group of men, always robbing and bullying people in the eastern territory. They rarely ever traveled through Godric's homeland, but he still feared the relentless gang.

  Byrd clipped his knapsack closed and moved toward the ledge of the grassy slope. Ahead of them was a steep hill leading to an open patch of land, bordered by a dense forest. “We scared off any other vrocs in the area,” Byrd said, scanning the forest’s edge. “If we head for the trees, maybe we can scout a better spot.”

  “There’s no way we're gonna get enough to eat this week,” Luna said, discouraged. “We spent two hours just finding this one alone.”

  “Patience… more will appear in the afternoon, sis'. This isn’t my first hunt.”

  Luna’s eyebrows arched, and she moved closer to her brother in an effort to intimidate him. “I’ve been on as many hunts as you, Byrd. I know what I’m doing. Each vroc we kill, the others will scatter further and further away. Therefore, time is not on our side, little brother.”

  The two continued to bicker, but Godric paid no attention. Instead, he listened to the wild country. An unnatural sound resonated in the air. Something inhuman… something man-made. “Quiet,” Godric said with his finger in the air. “Do you two hear that?”

  The three fell silent. They listened to their surroundings. A loud mechanical ring came from the plains below them. Byrd confirmed Godric’s fear. “Hazard’s men!” the brother said, frightened. “Get down!”

  Byrd dove to his stomach, hiding in the thick grass. Luna and Godric joined him, making quick haste to become camouflaged with the hillside.

  The Hazards were awful human beings. Godric had
nightmares of the men who raided more than a dozen homes in territories near his. They followed their leader, Providence Hazard, the most feared gangster and arms dealer on Jeden. The terrifying thing wasn’t the gangster’s vicious and vile nature, but his education as a professor at one of the Hollow Galaxy’s top academies. He was no backwoods hick like the rest of his gang. The man was smart and had the ability to influence any man who followed him.

  The trio stayed quiet, listening as the roars of a land ship grew louder. Godric heard his own breath quicken, his fear getting the best of him. A hand patted his back. He whirled his head to Luna, who tried to calm him.

  If the Hazard gang found them, he feared what those monsters would do.

  To the right of them, down the hill in the dense forest, a large ship broke through the trees and out into the open. Sleek and gray, the ship zoomed into the plains. A cargo ship with a flat surface for the pilot and riders to stand. It was a perfect design for transporting supplies, and this ship in particular had many crates stacked on its stern.

  Along with the crates, six men rode atop the rickety vehicle's stern. They shouted obscenities and songs as they sped across the plains. Each held down a crate, which stood taller than any of them.

  Godric watched the vehicle cruise from right to left. It rocked back and forth as though an intoxicated driver was at the helm. It bounced around, swerving across the plains. A loud shriek echoed from the vehicle. The scream developed into a high pitched cackle. At the ship's stern, the driver laughed maniacally and the land ship accelerated onward at great speeds.

  The three teenagers ducked their heads lower into the high grass, not taking any chances of the gang spotting them. After a few seconds, the men were off in the distance, fleeing out of sight.

  “That was close,” Byrd said. He lifted himself off the ground using his rifle as a crutch. “Those morons probably scared off any animals from here to the Grand Lakes.”

  “At least they’re gone,” Godric said, breathing easier. “Come on, we’re burning daylight.”

  “Eager to miss another shot already, huh, Godric?” Luna said, teasing him while hopping to her feet. She dusted herself off, offering a hand to Godric, who remained low to the ground. He ignored her hand and pushed himself up to stand.

  “Not eager,” Godric said. “I want to get a good pull for this week... that's all.”

  “How is your family doing by the way? Hangin’ in there?”

  Of course not, he thought. We have a weeks' worth of food left. They are starving and it is my fault for not taking care of them.

  “Both have been a bit ill as of late,” Godric said, burying his inner honesty. “I think we’ve lacked the proper supplies lately. I don’t really want to get into it.”

  “Then we should get moving,” Luna said, changing her tone into a more positive one. “Like you said, we’re burning daylight.”

  The three made their way down the hillside, stumbling on the steep slope. “Whoa, whoa, stop,” Byrd said, extending his arm out to halt the others. “Look!”

  In the open plains were a dozen broken crates. The Hazard gang dropped a good part of their cargo while racing across the plains. “They must have forgotten to tie down all the cargo. What do you say we check it out, huh?”

  “What if they come back?” Godric asked, scanning the direction where the gang departed.

  “Well then… let’s be quick,” Luna said, marching down the slope faster. Her brother followed with a quick pace. They approached the crates while Godric took one more peek off in the distance. His heart raced faster and he followed the siblings.

  They reached the bottom of the slope. Luna and Byrd examined one smashed crate. Both yanked out handfuls of old dirty clothes from the wooden box. Disappointment spread across their faces and they dropped the anticlimactic cargo to the ground.

  “That was a letdown and a half,” Luna said, kicking the clothes away from her. “I expected something a little more thrilling from the most dangerous gang on Jeden.”

  Byrd lifted the clothes and shoved it back in the crate. “We should get moving,” he said. “There are still a few more hours for us to hunt before sundown, so let’s head north and see if we can spot any nests.”

  Godric adjusted his rifle strap on his shoulder, ready to follow Byrd and Luna. His gaze became distracted by a few more scattered crates across the plain.

  One crate in particular caught his eye. A thin black lockbox flipped on its side.

  On top of the peculiar case was a vroc.

  “Hey,” Godric whispered to his two friends. They stopped in their tracks, staring at the bird on the box.

  Luna slid her rifle off her shoulder. “You got this,” she whispered to Godric. Byrd removed his rifle too, taking aim at the vroc, but allowing Godric his moment to shine.

  With his rifle’s butt pressed firm against his shoulder, Godric lowered himself to one knee. He peeked through his dirty scope. He saw the curious vroc, something unusual about it.

  The creature was missing a wing. There were no visible wounds on the black vroc, implying it might be a birth defect. Either way, Godric had seen nothing like it before in his life.

  His finger edged toward the trigger. He took a deep breath with his sweaty palms mishandling the rifle. The vroc poked at the black box, curious of the peculiar lock on the front. Focused, Godric stared through his scope where he met the gaze of the disturbing bird. It had mesmerizing maroon eyes. They shimmered in the afternoon sun.

  Godric’s heart dropped to his stomach. The small creature stared at him with a menacing glare. It released a screeching caw, a malicious warning from such a tiny animal. Godric’s hairs stood on his arms. The bird flapped its three wings, taunting him, but not fleeing from the mysterious black box.

  The vroc’s screech echoed across the plains. Godric thought it was getting louder, but since the two siblings weren’t reacting to it, he assumed his nerves were getting the best of him.

  He readjusted his aim at the fearless vroc’s head.

  He didn’t want to kill the creature. It showed no interest in fleeing from the hunters and was content with its fate on the lockbox.

  A hard blink and Godric pulled the trigger.

  The rifle released a thin silver shot, moving fast to its target. His shot met the three-winged vroc’s chest, exploding the bird on impact. Black feathers sprinkled in the air.

  “Oh, come on!” Luna said, angered and disappointed he disintegrated the vroc by missing its head. “Now you killed the poor thing for no reason.”

  Godric’s eyes darted to the ground, embarrassed, on the verge of tears. A hand patted him on the shoulder. Byrd hovered behind him. “Don’t worry about it,” Byrd said, showing obvious pity for his friend. “Perhaps you should sit out the hunt today, yeah? Luna and I can try to catch a share for your family.”

  An unspeakable embarrassment of not being able to bring food home for his family offered no response to Byrd’s kind request. Godric simply nodded his head with nothing to say. The siblings moved away, ready to continue on with the day's hunt.

  Godric rose to his feet, his eyes returning to the lockbox where the vroc sat upon. Defeated, he walked toward the box. He pressed his foot against it and flipped it over.

  His eyes widened.

  The other side of the box had a glass frame, allowing him to view inside it.

  “Get over here,” Godric called out to his friends in shock. He leaned down and tipped the box over to get a better look. Luna and Byrd crept behind him, peering over his shoulder.

  “What is that?” Byrd said, gawking at the odd object inside the lockbox.

  “No way,” Luna said, leaning in closer with enthusiasm.

  Godric grazed his hand over the glass. Inside, a gold chipped rock rested at the center of the box. “It’s Nirvana Gold,” he said, amazed by the discovery.

  “What?” Byrd asked. “Are you sure it’s not just normal gold?”

  “Not a chance,” Luna said, butting in before
Godric could respond. “Look at the shimmer of the gold etches around the rock. Gold is simply gold, but do you see the glow of this rock? It is Nirvana, the rarest mineral. No way someone dug this up on Jeden. It has to be from another world.”

  “This rock has the same value as gold?”

  “Bro', this rock has the value of golden gold… an entire golden mine… maybe a golden planet.”

  “Unreal,” Godric said, wiping the sweat from his head. “This could make our families wealthy for generations. It’d give us an unimaginable fortune.”

  Byrd straightened up and moved ahead of the other two. “Aren’t we forgetting something?” he asked, not giving them time to answer. “This fell off one of Hazard’s cargo ships. We should get out of here now if we want to live. I doubt they will leave behind such a priceless possession and not come back looking for it. If this thing is as valuable as you say, they'd kill us for it.”

  Luna and Godric looked at one another.

  A mix of hope and greed scratched Godric’s mind. This rock could save his family and his friends’ family. One does not find a mythical rock on a random hunt. The reward far outweighed the risk.

  “I say we take it,” Luna said, lifting the lockbox. She held it steady in her hands. “We can make our way out now, go through the forest, and run. Each of us can pitch in for transportation to a market that would take this off our hands. A trader market would give us every bit of wealth this thing is worth.”

  “I have to agree,” Godric said, not having to think twice.

  Byrd rubbed the back of his neck, concerned of the consequences of taking the rock. “This is stealing,” he said, disappointed in his sister. “We are no better than the Hazard gang if we try to pull a fast one on them. What separates us from them?”

  “An insane amount of profit,” Luna said, holding the box out in front of her. “Listen, you were the one who wanted to come down here and check out the crates. Are you in or are you out?”

  Luna shoved the lockbox into Godric's hands. She placed her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer.