Voyages of the White Skull Book 1

by Jason Alan Jones

  Monica was pleased to hear that he could get Crazy Renzo. He was a well-known ace pilot, who did smuggling runs for various benefactors. He was also known for being completely crazy, but excellent in battle. His birth name was Renzo Matsumoto, a Japanese man, in his early thirties, born on the Kobia Space Station. Haseeb had hired him a couple of times in the past. It was pure luck that he was visiting on his station when Monica called him. Monica tried to see how Cinnamon was doing, but she had locked her door, and yelled that she didn’t want to be disturbed. Monica hoped she would be all right, not just because she cared about her, but also because she will need her to fly the Merrick.

  “Here,” Pong said, as she caught up with Monica on her way to see how Jesse was doing. Pong handed Monica her the security key to her room.

  “What the hell were you doing with my key?” Monica yelled.

  “I needed an outfit, and we’re almost the same size. Of course, my boobs are bigger, so I probably fit your outfits a little better, but I appreciate it,”

  Monica’s face turned bright red with rage, “Is there anything else…I can get…you?”

  “No, honey, that’s okay. I’ll let you know. Your boyfriend is waiting for you.” As Pong turned around, she had a smile on her face that stretched from ear to ear. She didn’t know why she loved messing with Monica, but she savored every minute of it.

  Monica, on the other hand, wanted to jettison Pong out of the airlock, but stopped herself, because she had proven herself very useful. Monica had too much on her mind to worry about Pong. She went to the room where Jesse was being looked after. One of Monica’s crew showed Eronica how to use the bone and tissue regenerator, to fix up Jesse’s broken body. When Monica saw him, he was unconscious, but looked like brand new. He didn’t have even a scratch on his body.

  “How is he?” Monica asked Eronica, who was sitting next to him, holding a damp wash cloth.

  “His body is healed, but he is so badly beaten that it has completely worn him out. He is lucky to have survived. Thank you for saving him,” Eronica said with such compassion.

  “Why are you thanking me?” Monica asked with a queer look on her face.

  “Because he is in need of saving.”

  “Is it true your people’s beliefs revolve solely around love?”

  “That is true. We believe that love is the true religion.”

  “Wow. Do you ever have any wars, where you’re from?”

  “No. We don’t believe in hurting each other. The only type of conflict we have ever encountered was the attacks by the Renexobious. With the help of the Rojex, we were able to stop them from raiding our planet,” Eronica explained.

  Monica sat next to her, and asked, “What is your planet like?”

  “Our planet is full of peace and beauty. On my planet, we love to paint art, play music, sing, dance, and read poetry. Everyone is nice to each other, and happy,” Eronica said, with a smile on her face.

  “Sounds delicious.”

  “You are very beautiful, Monica. You would be very popular on my planet. The men would love you and your blonde hair. Everyone on my planet has blue hair,” Eronica said, as she felt Monica’s hair between her fingers.

  “Thank you. You’re very beautiful as well. Matter of fact, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I don’t know how I would handle living on a planet with so much happiness, and so many hot women. I would probably go nuts. Thank you for watching over him,” Monica said, as she held Jesse’s hand. Eronica got butterflies in her when Monica touched Jesse, and her eyes popped wide open. Pong had told Eronica to watch out for Monica. She had told her that she was obsessed with him, and that she was crazy. Pong had also told her that she shouldn’t tell Monica that she was supposed to marry Jesse, because she may kill the both of them.

  Monica stayed with Jesse and Eronica for a while longer, and thanked her again for looking after him, since she had other things she had to do. Eronica was glad when Monica left. She liked her, but didn’t like that she had loved Jesse as well.

  “Oh, Jesse, it is so good to be next to you. I’ve waited for so many years to be with you. I know you don’t know me, but I know you will come to love me. Now, sleep, and rest well, my love,” Eronica said, as she gently kissed his forehead.

  ***

  Silvana slowly followed the Huntington in her customized stealth ship. It was a present from her dear father. It closely resembled Jesse’s Black Ice, but was faster and longer. While the Renex guards, who were assigned to her, flew her ship, Silvana successfully downloaded the technology from Rojex that she needed to give to her father. Earlier, when a Renex guard had told her that someone was planting bombs, she gave the order to take Rojex and load him aboard her ship. She didn’t bother with trying to save Luis; she had been more concerned with saving her own neck. She planned on telling her father that she couldn’t get to him in time. He would be upset, but then she would have more power in the end.

  Silvana toyed with Rojex’s circuitry in his cranial plating. Her father had trained her in many different fields of survival and technology. One of the training courses included how to reprogram the Renexobious servant robots. Although Rojex was now more sophisticated, she was still able to figure out how to reprogram him. Silvana evilly grinned while inputting his new orders and commands. She decided to keep his original personality, but he was now under her control.

  “Oh, Jesse, do I have a surprise for you,” Silvana laughed out loud.

  Chapter 16

  "Only the devil and I know the whereabouts of my treasure, and the one of us who lives the longest should take it all."

  Edward Teach (Blackbeard the pirate)

  With Eronica still sitting by his side, Jesse finds himself in another state of being. He sees himself alone, floating in space. He feels comfortable while floating space, as if he was born there, and space is somehow his mother. Since he had never had one, because she was murdered when he was eight, he likes to think of the vast ocean of space as his home, and that space was taking care of him like a mother would. Eronica knew that he was dreaming, and mentally guided him so he could return to her. She began to sing a serene, yet powerful, melody. As she sang, Jesse left space, and traveled to a strange new planet, her planet. Jesse found himself sitting on a round flat rock, next to a pool of clear blue water. Next to the pool, there was a blue, weeping willow shaped tree. The sun was setting, as a cool breeze rustled through the trees. A sweet scent is in the air as he put his head back. The breeze felt good on his face. He looked beyond the pool, and saw a strange city, with giant mountains in the foreground. The city looked pretty advanced, but had a simple style of architecture. Walking around the city, were beautiful people with blue hair and blue lips. He could hear a beautiful voice singing in the wind, as if an angel from the clouds was serenading him. Then, after a few minutes, the voice began to speak to him, “Come back, Jesse, come back,” the soothing voice echoed in the wind.

  Jesse slowly opened his eyes, and there, before him, there was a strangely, familiar face. It took him a few minutes, but he remembered he had seen her in a dream, and when he was high back at Haseeb’s. It was the woman with blue hair. He still didn’t understand what it meant, but he was too groggy and weak to care.

  “Hello,” Eronica gently said.

  Jesse slowly rose and scooted himself so he could sit against the wall, and asked while rubbing his temples, “What’s going on?”

  “You were hurt badly. Your friend, Monica, brought you aboard her ship. She allowed me to heal your wounds and look over you, while you rested,” Eronica explained.

  “Thank you…who are you? You look familiar,” Jesse said with a strained voice. He was thinking of Jaime. Eronica’s eyes widened when Jesse said that she looked familiar.

  “My name is Eron…” Eronica was interrupted when Monica popped her head in the room. As soon as she noticed that he was up she ran to him.

  “Jesse, how do you feel?” Monica asked, as she hugged and kissed him like
a scared mother.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine, mom,” Jesse said, smiling.

  “Don’t make me ground you,”

  “Thanks, Monica, I really owe you one.”

  She touched her head to his and looked into his eyes, and with a touch of sadness in her voice, said, “I would have died if anything had happened to you…you big jerk.”

  “Monica, I…” Jesse paused. He was at a loss for words.

  “Yes?” Monica waited, and hoped for what he was about to say.

  “I’m sorry for the way I treated you. I was really wrong about you, you know,” Jesse explained. Her heart soared, but she kept her cool.

  “It’s okay, Jesse, I told you I love you and would do anything for you,” Monica said, with her head still touching his.

  “I know. I do care about you Monica, but…I think we should wait to talk about our future until after we save the Horizon. Listen, Jaime was very special to me, and I would feel really disrespectful if I immediately jumped into another relationship. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I really cared for her. I still can’t believe she’s dead…and Luis, too. So much has happened. So, I’m not saying it won’t happen, but let’s hold off for a bit, and save the universe first. What do you say?”

  She was still happy, because there was hope, and he basically hinted to her that there was a future for them, so she jokingly said, “I understand. I’ll hold off on the wedding plans for now.”

  Eronica, however, looked at both of them with her mouth wide open. They had forgotten she was there, and they caught her expression at the same time.

  “Sorry, Eronica, I am just so happy to see him. Thanks for taking care of him, I really owe you one. Eronica, this is Jesse, and Jesse, this is Eronica,” Monica introduced them.

  “Thanks again, Eronica, for patching me up,” Jesse said.

  “You are welcome,” Eronica said.

  “I’ll have one of my girls show you around. There’s a recreational room on board, and a lounge the girls like to hang out in. If you want, I can even arrange a nicer room for you. Sound good?” Monica asked.

  “All right.” Eronica simply replied. Eronica didn’t want to leave Jesse.

  Monica brought him a new change of clothes. He went behind a curtain, and put on a new black shirt, black pants, and his logger boots. “You know my favorite color,” Jesse joked with Monica.

  She grinned at him. Jesse followed Monica back up to her flight room. As he was walking, he became dizzy and lost his balance. Monica caught him. “Hey, are you okay. Maybe you should lie down for a little longer?” Monica suggested.

  “No, I’m fine; we have a lot to do.”

  “Stubborn as usual.”

  “You know it.” Jesse smiled back. Once they were in the flight room, everyone welcomed Jesse back, and he was introduced to Pong, who he remembered. She told him how they had the same martial arts teacher, and then they talked for a little while. Monica wasn’t too happy seeing Pong talking to Jesse. Monica briefed him on everything that had happened, including Rojex, while he was being tortured. It would take two days for them to pick up both the Black Ice and the Merrick. Jesse was looking forward to being back on his ship, his home, his sanctuary. He felt more comfortable there. Monica informed him that Jaime’s body was being cared for, and that he could set a date for her funeral. He thanked her, and figured he should hold her funeral on the way to the Horizon. He wanted to see her body, but felt that he wasn’t ready. Her tragic death was too hard for him.

  As for Cinnamon, she still secluded herself from the others, Jesse and Monica had been spending a lot of time together. Later in the evening, a number of Monica’s crew was in the lounge, while Jesse and Monica were getting drunk, telling their tales of when they were working together with Luis. Eronica was in the back of the room, looking on, desperately wanting to talk to him. She liked seeing him laugh and having a good time, especially since what he had just gone through. Eronica wanted to tell him of how they are supposed to be together, but decided to wait for the most opportune time. She wasn’t sure how he was going take the news. She definitely wasn’t sure how she was going to explain, that since she was twelve, her gods had shown her who she was supposed to marry, through visions. Which was the same way that all Pulse females were shown their future husbands and soul mates. Pulse people were happily destined to be with one person for the rest of their lives, and were to remain virgins until they were together.

  Eronica knew that since Jesse was from a different species, that they would have different customs, but she hated the fact that he has had a few girlfriends. Since Pulse females were gifted with visions at the age of twelve, Eronica had watched Jesse grow up, and had witnessed all of the hardships he had to face. She had longed to meet him, and wanted to be with him. She had cried when she saw him badly abused by his stepfather, and wanted to be there for him. Eronica had developed a love for him ever since she first saw him in her visions. She didn’t feel threatened by Monica, because it was destiny that they were to be together.

  Two days quickly passed, and they finally reached the Black Ice in its hiding spot. Jesse was still feeling a little weak, so Monica suggested that Eronica go with him. Eronica kept her cool but was crazily overjoyed, especially since Monica wasn’t coming. Don and Tony happily went with him. Jesse followed Monica to where they were keeping the Merrick, which was at one of her hideouts. When they got there, Cinnamon agreed to fly the ship, even though it was extremely painful for her. Pong graciously volunteered to fly with Cinnamon. She felt sorry for her, since she knew how it felt to lose someone close. Pong wanted to get off what she called the Lesbian Love Boat any way. She had to hold herself back a few times from beating the hell out of a couple of women, who tried to put the moves on her.

  Jesse felt comfortable being back on his ship, as he led the way to the Antares Sector. Cinnamon asked Pong if she would fly for her. Pong didn’t mind, she loved to pilot ships. Since Pong wasn’t doing anything, she did decide to go along and help save the Horizon. Pong figured that maybe she could find a home aboard the ship. She didn’t want to go back to the Mafia life on the Yellow Dragon Space Station. Pong wanted to get away from everyone she ever knew, so that she could start all over, and she heard that the Horizon had the most elegant clothing and shoe stores. She was happy that she still had her jewels with her. When Rojex went aboard the Rose and dragged her out, she was able to grab them. Then, later, when she was helping Monica, she had hid them on her ship. Pong gave Cinnamon a couple of jewels to help cheer her up, but it didn’t help much.

  With the help of the star portals, Jesse’s group was able to cut down their trip to three days. Mr. Toad, and the Renexobious, had a few days lead on them, so Jesse knew that they mustn’t waste time. Jesse picked a secluded spot to meet Haseeb’s men, a good distance from the spatial anomaly. Jesse did a scan of the area, where the UPG had built a mini-science station next to the anomaly. There was a small group of twelve small fighter ships guarding it, who Jesse already knew, was waiting for them. Jesse wished that there was some way to go around them, since they would have to battle the alien ships later on. He needed all of the help he could get.

  ***

  Silvana patiently waited, as she kept a close eye on the Black Ice. She decided that the best time to attack would be after they exited the spatial anomaly. Silvana knew that they were going after her father and the other Renex ships, so she decided she would strike from behind, when they least expected it, and release her robot. The thought of all the destruction that Rojex was about to do excited her. Silvana contacted her father through a private channel.

  “Yes, daughter?” Mr. Toad asked, in his demonic voice.

  “Father, I’m sorry I failed you, but I wasn’t able to get to Luis in time. Rojex had killed a number of our brethren, but we were able to subdue him, and I downloaded his technology. I couldn’t get to Luis because the White Skull’s friends were guarding the chamber and set him free. Unfortunately, they rigged the entire statio
n with explosives, and Luis went with it. I barely escaped myself,” Silvana lied, pretending to be sad.

  “THE SKULL ESCAPED?” Mr. Toad yelled.

  “Yes…father,” Silvana answered, scared. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but when he yelled, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand out.

  “He’s on his way after you, father. But, you mustn’t worry, I reprogrammed Rojex, and we will hit them from behind.”

  “Excellent. Don’t worry about Luis, he was weak anyway. I don’t think he would have joined us,” Mr. Toad said, a little calmer.

  “How are you going to attack the Horizon, father? Their weapons systems are pretty advanced, thanks to you.”

  “Don’t worry about that, child. We have a man on board who will take care of that for us.”

  “The White Skull is waiting near the Antares Sector. I think he is waiting for some more help,”

  “Don’t worry, daughter, it doesn’t matter how much help he gets. He still won’t be able to stop us. We’ll take care of that. Just make sure you follow behind, don’t attack until he attacks us, and then he won’t know what hit him. Make sure you transfer your download directly to my ship. We need it for our army, for soon we will have an empire.” Mr. Toad then cut his communication with his daughter.

  Silvana transferred the download to her father, and then she went over her plans with the rest of her Renex guards. Rojex sat in the back of the flight room, as he checked his guns to make sure they were fully charged. He wasn’t the same Rojex. Although his personality was never considered sweet and warm, it had been slightly altered. He only had one thought on his mind…Jesse. Silvana walked up to Rojex and stood before him, and said, “Rojex.”

  “Yes, your highness?”

  “What are your mission objectives?”