Unrecognizer

© 2013 by Rheo Palaeo. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/19/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-9980-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-9979-1 (e)

Library of Congress Congress Number: 2012923720

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Contents

Prologue: Timeline

Chapter 1: The City of Stro: Zimon’s Stash

Chapter 2: Vimweer!

Chapter 3: On Earth

Chapter 4: Cubes 7 High

Chapter 5: K Double-H

Chapter 6: Blip Thou!

Chapter 7: Black Aim Infinity: Thadrunium Rib Cage

Chapter 8: The Hydrogen Gill Ship: Red Ichthyo 374

Chapter 9: Kody in Stro: The Styx Orbit Official Auction

Chapter 10: Programming Word-Salad

Chapter 11: The Red Shift

Chapter 12: The Blue Dice

Chapter 13: Head of the L-Sector Drug Task Force

Chapter 14: Mind if I?

Chapter 15: Zimon’s Warp Speed Blaster War Ship

Chapter 16: Unrecognizer Trip 1: Lemma

Chapter 17: Interrogation on Ptero

Chapter 18: Testing Mute, eh?

Chapter 19: And Exponentially

Chapter 20: Wormholes

Chapter 21: Unrecognizer Trip 1, Continued

Chapter 22: Alien Radio

Chapter 23: Zimon Was Watching the Static

Chapter 24: Auxiliary Thrusters

Chapter 25: Uglier Up Close

Chapter 26: Opening the Gates

Chapter 27: Unrecognizer Manufacturing

Chapter 28: Very Illegal

Chapter 29: Sub-Psych Escape Plan

Chapter 30: YNOZO

Chapter 31: Thway

Chapter 32: No Holograms

Chapter 33: Another Sound

Chapter 34: Possible Intruder

Chapter 35: Where’s Fhi?

Chapter 36: Dendro

Chapter 37: The Nezyura Research Team

Chapter 38: Psychic Research

Chapter 39: Boarded

Chapter 40: Reyidgo Super Prison

Chapter 41: Meet!

Chapter 42: ⁵th Floor Cell

Chapter 43: Memory

Chapter 44: Thway Facility

Chapter 45: Truss

Chapter 46: Contact: Birth of a Psychic Station

Chapter 47: Demise

Chapter 48: Realm of Ghosts

Chapter 49: Lefka

Chapter 0: Chapter Zero

Chapter 50: Forevy

Chapter 51: One More Chapter

Extra Chapter: In the Psychic Aftermath

About the Author

Prologue

Timeline

—2100s, Ultra Post-Modern Age

Around the same time as the invention of air-powered cars, Earth is finally united under one world government.

Space exploration is a multi-national corporate endeavor, done by mining companies, primarily interested in obtaining resources for use on Earth.

Around 2150, scientists discover a way to make use of natural wormholes to travel to more distant points in space. Mankind, as a result, discovers, for the first time, inhabitable alien planets, and they are within reach.

This heralds the dawning of a new Manifest Destiny, allowing the expansion of human life into space for reasons besides mining.

On Earth, overpopulation is relieved, and the planet continues to thrive as the central headquarters for orchestrating the expansion, through free market organization.

—2200s, the Experimental Phase

In a major scientific breakthrough, humans harness the power of the wormhole, intentionally creating one of their own. It is the historical apex of human innovation. Like the pyramids. Like the slam dunk.

Man-made wormholes allow travel to more livable Earth-like planets than before. Access to these planets allows for everything to be tried. It’s an age of societal experimentation. Non-sentient life sustaining planets turn out to be quite common in outer space, which is perfect for humans.

All forms of economic and governing structure have their fair shot at a planet’s operation. They try communism, anarchy, zeitgeist of course, and varied rural lifestyles. They even try starting fresh without technology on a few planets, running them by feudal systems like those of the middle ages. Everything from space commies to space loan sharks. Man continues his quest to achieve utopia, struggling to define exactly what utopia would mean.

But for all practical purposes, capitalist democracy wins out. An almost anarchic free enterprise dominates the known universe, furthering the development of shipping routes. As a result, piracy also experiences a boom in growth. There are skirmishes and battles for resources. Occasional small wars are waged between competing corporate entities. Inter-dimensional Coke is into everything and everything quite aggressively.

—2300s, Decentralization/Post-Earth

There is a major shift in thought. The Earth loses its power seat as the main point in the Universe. Other planets become more vital to human life, and being the origin of man is no longer a valid enough reason to value the Earth.

A notable amount of government has expanded throughout space. It is a loosely connected network, run principally by free enterprise. Privately owned self-managing planet-wide organizations, hierarchies ultimately controlled by share-holders, rule the day.

Companies owned by individuals control the mines, space stations, and shipping routes. The lack of central authority allows crime syndicates to take form. They take advantage of the fact that space is too big to monitor, even putting off-the-grid black market space stations in remote locations, where they trade freely, transferring credits in illegal undocumented outer space criminal Wall Streets.

Since the infrastructures of explored space and new human planets now rival the Earth, many of the people feel like there is a void to be filled. Perhaps, the new void is the absence of a shared official government. The entire civilization of man feels like a chaotic playground with no adult supervision. Negative consequences of excessive freedom weigh on the collective mind, but no serious action is taken.

—2400s, the Moral Decline and Universal Government Backlash

There is a Universe-wide sense of depression among the individuals of mankind’s space civilization. They feel insignificant, like they’re running around acting like a bunch of ants. Humanity is experiencing a collective confusion, a pervasive feeling of What do we do now? So, naturally, solutions present themselves. Two main reactions are on the rise.

On one hand, there is a rise in crime. Violence, drug use, piracy, theft, extortion, and all crime in general runs rampant. A large percentage of the population has lost sight of any shared goals. There is a loss of plot on a massive scale. The hedonistic squabble for wealth, power, and the ‘creature comforts’ of excess continues.

On the other hand, many people look to government to fill the void. Many companies have become too huge, leading to their eventual transfer over to public ownership. Also, a new Capitol of civilization emerges, on a planet called Hepta.

Hepta City on Hepta is the largest financial center of man’s universe. It becomes home to the Universal Court System. They orchestrate laws and issue more and more taxes, funding rapid expansions of the military police.

With the government once again centralized, on Hepta, they then set out to increase their authority to its max limits, whatever those limits may be.

The military space police become an overwhelming force almost overnight. With no other direction to take it in, the power elites on Hepta and throughout space begin to threaten personal freedoms like never before, striving for total control. Privacy is invaded. Microchips are put into the brains of all babies born in Hepta hospitals, starting in 2471 Anno Domini.

Ship engineering specifications are strictly standardized by new laws, all communications are kept on computer record, and cameras pop up everywhere, especially on Hepta itself, home of the Universal Court System and the largest government bank ever constructed, the vehemently protected Hepta Finance Universal Bank.

Chapter 1

The City of Stro: Zimon’s Stash

I’m Rheo Palaeo, the narrator, and whatever these characters are about to do, I’ll do my best to portray and not to judge, although it won’t always be easy. Anyway, Stro is a trading station on an Earth-like planet, Theen, whose eco-system is legally protected. The one and only city on the whole planet boasts a major warehouse zone on the edge of the First Shipping Route, where it intersects conveniently with the Second and Third Shipping Routes. It makes for a good place to stock up on supplies or get some much needed rest and relaxation, time off the ship. Trades are also made there, especially arrangements where ships meet to swap cargo with each other, shortening their trips. This traffic provides a safe haven blanket cover for smugglers, fugitives, thieves, mercenaries, and assassins.

Despite the existence of the strict environmental protection standards, the city continues to grow, relatively unchecked. Many rules go unenforced. That fact subconsciously contributes to a contagious and infectious sense of lawlessness. There is a low concentration of police presence in Stro, so crime thrives. Gangs rule the streets, and drug deals abound. Sketchy business flourishes.

Stro, Winter, 2511 Anno Domini:

In the Theen pine tree wilderness, Zimon lands his warp speed custom black-market pirate blaster ship, temporarily stashes a shady load of illegal weapons in a hidden cellar beneath the snow, and then he heads to the city of Stro. He can’t risk taking them to the city and getting caught in possession of products he picked up from the undocumented arms supply. While he could afford to post bail if he got busted for drugs (highly unlikely anyway), even his boss and crime syndicate head honcho Mr. Floyd Zayas couldn’t protect him from facing an illegal weapons charge of this magnitude. These were weapons that could probably be used as linking evidence to successfully and accurately