THE AFTERJOY SEQUENCE, BOOK I: CAPTAIN SUNBEAM & THE COMPASS OF RA

PROLOGUE

The sides of the Lovestar shrieked in protest, rusted metal threatening to give way as the starship careened through Deep Space, racing towards the distant red glow of the Scar. In the darkness of the Lovestar’s cockpit, two silver eyes gleamed. Behind the starship trailed a long black thunderhead, crackling with red lightning and choked with platinum dust. Its shifting clouds parted momentarily, revealing immense shadowy claws adorned with rings of white energy. A cacophony of bleating sirens filled the air.

Aboard the Lovestar, the two eyes stared hungrily ahead, and below them, the hooked mouth of Captain Astor Fortunata grimaced in a smile. He was getting closer. Before him lay the border of the Scar — an asteroid belt of glowing red crystal. The formation itself stretched in a ring millions of miles long around a star-studded galaxy, shielding the galaxy’s six precious planets from the infinity of Deep Space, where not a single star shone. 

It was from the blackness of Deep Space that Captain Fortunata came, the Lovestar no more than a tiny red speck propelled forward by the green fire which spewed from its tri-star engines. The bleating sirens grew louder, and above the din, overlapping alien voices chanted and spiraled in a hypnotic chorus.

“Come back to us. Come back to us. Bring us the Amuulon.”

The voices spiraled faster and faster as the black claws of smoke reached for the Lovestar, only to be met again with the vacuum of space.

“COME BACK TO US!” the voices screamed.

The Captain gritted his teeth, staring feverishly ahead towards the shimmering red membrane which formed the outer edge of the Scar. Beyond it, he could make out the green glow of a ship’s beacon. He revved the engines, speaking clearly into his command headset. 

“Star, prepare to Jump.”

“Right away Captain” a robotic voice replied. Three stars on the ship’s dashboard began to glow with a pale orange light. “Jump sequence initiated.”

Behind the Lovestar, the black thunderhead swelled in size, towering thousands of miles high and shooting long tendrils of red lightning at the small starship as it shot towards the field of floating crystal. The alien voices gyrated and screamed as the thunderhead’s claws of shadow continued to probe forward, hoping to ensnare their prey.

But the Lovestar was built for speed. The Captain opened the throttle wide, burning the ship’s Nectar reserves at a furious pace. He reached into his coat pocket, removing the small bronze compass. He stared into its depths, eyes reflecting the golden fire that shone within.

Suddenly, his vision exploded with red light as a force of pure energy blasted him against the side of the Lovestar’s cabin. Black smoke streamed into the cockpit from a large tear in the ship’s starboard wall as the sound of sirens filled the air, drowning out the ship’s alarms. As his vision cleared, the Captain felt an icy fire shoot up his arms as his fingers locked involuntarily around the compass. Tentacles of violet light sped up his arm, racing towards his heart. With his remaining hand he tried desperately to pry the compass free, but it remained locked in his grip, fingers twisted and clenched around the bronze casing. Deafening static sounded over the ship’s intercom as the hypnotic voices burst unrestrained into the cabin, overlapping in an infinite sequence of alien screams.

“BRING US THE AMUULON!” they cried.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Captain saw the three stars on the ship’s dashboard turn green.

“Ready to Jump” spoke the robotic voice.

The clouds of black smoke began to quickly condense, forming a solid, shadowy figure which moved towards the Captain with deadly precision. The many voices emanated from its faceless maw, screaming now in incomprehensible rings of alien speech.

Right arm still immobilized at his side, the Captain lurched drunkenly towards the ship’s center console. His vision blurred violet, then gold as the tentacles of light continued to spread outward from the compass and across his frame, causing his legs and torso to tremble, and flail. Then the being of smoke was upon him, howling like a demonic ghost and scratching at his right arm with spidery claws of black shadow. The sirens echoed through the Lovestar’s cabin as the Captain heaved, struggling in vain to throw the figure off balance. It paid him no heed, intent on removing the compass from his grasp, but the compass remained locked in his grip even as the shadow scored cut after bloody cut on his arm and hand. He screamed in agony as his vision swirled with multi-colored lights. Then he heard the familiar sound of Star’s voice. 

“Ready to Jump, Captain.” 

Flailing with his free hand, the Captain felt the Lovestar’s smooth oaken dashboard, now slick with sweat and blood. Meanwhile, the digits of his right hand began to slowly give way, blood pooling in his palm as the shadow screamed in triumph, prying frantically at the bronze compass still barely held in his grasp. Then his left hand scraped across the three glowing star buttons. His hand felt like a club as he slammed it against the buttons, managing to hit two of them but missing the third.

“Engines two and three armed” spoke the robotic voice.

The shadowy figure whirled around with a shrill scream, cracks of red lightning shooting from its back as it grabbed the Captain’s head — slamming it with inhuman speed against the dashboard. The Captain felt himself losing consciousness. Then his left hand found the third button. He pressed in. The ship jolted forward and there was a flash of red light. Then all was black.

©2019 by Conor Duffy, All Rights Reserved