Follow Jett Williams on his adventures through the galaxy in this Pulp Sci Fi serial only on Steemit!
**********************************************************************************************Authors note: This pulp serial was inspired by @billsurf and his amazing Sci Fi space opera called Rocketbilly. I set this first pilot in the Rcketbilly universe as a tribute. Who knows where Jett will end up? But for now lets enjoy some fun Rocketbilly style. Here is a link to the installment that inspired me, it is a must read. @billsurf/rocketbilly-serial-space-opera-episode-2 And make sure to upvote his new one also and support quality original content on Steemit. @billsurf/rocketbilly-2315-80-the-great-bootlegger-challenge-of-2315
I'm standin' on a beach, watching waves crash on the shore. The sun’s beating down, I got sweat running down my face like butter pouring off a hot biscuit. There was an attack by some creature and a bunch of bodies warshed up a while back, but that's not why I'm here. Two princesses of the royal family got disappeared and I gotta find out whodunnit. I'm detective Jett Williams, I'm the law in these parts. This is where it all began.
Ophelia 27, 10:33 GST(galactic standard time). My translator was on the fritz. Took me the better part of the mornin' to find a native to translate for me, their talking sounds like a sandworm garglin' marbles. When I found her, it didn't take long to hear about the stranger. They said he came from the sky, he was tall and lean, tanned skinned. Sounded like an Earther. They told me of his superior surfing ability and how he had slain a beast from the ocean and was a great hero or somethin' like that. But then he described his hair as business in the front and a party in the back. I stopped him right there and asked him what direction he came from.
The native man pointed, I turnt and looked. In the far distance, I could see something shining above the tree line, some metal contraption. My translator was named Bintu, She was a fine looking lady, light brown skin, hair hanging back to her knees. She was wearing a Lime green bikini that left just enough to the imagination. A necklace hung low from her neck, I recognized the gem perched between her ample bosoms. It was a darkstar, mined on some planet that was in close orbit around a dying sun. The rumor is it brings good luck. I shot her a wink as I climbed on my hoverbike, Bintu climbed on behind, her firm breasts pressed against my back, her arms grasped tight around me, it felt good. We sped off toward our destination.
After a few hours or so we came to a stop. I grabbed her arm and helped her off. She looked at me with big brown eyes that shimmered like fresh oil on top of the water. A man could drown in eyes like that. I took off my hat and wiped the sweat running down my brow.
We stashed our Hoverbike, and moved on by foot, through the thick dense jungle. We pressed on for quite some time, the further we went the more primitive it became. looked like no one had been here for years. There was occasional stone markers with ancient looking glyphs on em'. Eventually, we came to a clearing. Where the air was sweet like cotton candy, scented with beautiful pink kolo flowers that surrounded us. If I was back on earth, mama would say it was like the garden of Eden. Or she would have if the Empyre hadn’t come and took her for credit default when I was a kid. They sent her to slave in the fiat mines on Reservia, their central bank planet. They shipped me off to my uncle on the Mason colony. Seems like light years since then. I reached out and took Bintus’ soft hand.
I said, "Let's rest here for a spell"
"it not much more far..." she replied
Before she could finish, I pressed my finger to her full soft lips and guided her to a large rock to sit on. I had my suspicions about this stranger and the structure we was headed too. If I was right, I didn't want no surprises when we got there.
It was hotter than a polecat on a fusion plate, I threw off my duster and then I sat down across from this mocha goddess and she proceeded to tell me about her life on Ophelia 27 and how she was an orphan from old earth, raised by a tribe here after her daddy died hangin’ ten on the famous Ophelia surf. Now she was just scrapin’ to get by. She had dreams, she hoped to be a veterinarian someday, whatever that was. I could feel somethin’ electric between us, I think she could too. Then I told her about my life growin' up on planet Mason with my uncle. And how I went to her sister planet Dixon to become a cryptpocop so I could help make the decentralized zone a safer place to trade. I liked doin’ it too, til the Empyre hit the Blockchain…
For some reason I felt like I could tell her anything. So I told her about how I met my wife, her family was Rocketbillys. Mason and Dixon were in a dry system, but I looked the other way. I couldn't arrest her daddy, but her daddy's head was full of Rocketbilly dreams, he was trying to build the biggest still in the galaxy, but one day he burnt through more shine than one them rockets they fly... he blew himself up. Took my wife and half of Mason with him. Then I turned away from Bintu and looked off into the distance, all stoic like.
I felt her arms embrace me once more, I looked down then suddenly her lips press against mine, I felt a familiar fever overtake me, one I hadn't felt since my wife died. In some strange way she reminded me of her. We fell to the ground and made sweet love well into the next day.
The sun had already gone down as we crept up the side of a large hill overlooking the contraption on the beach, it looked bigger up close, and there were several smaller ones. The sent of sweet mash lingered in the air. I looked at Bintu laying next to me, her body glistening under the light of the two moons.
I whispered, " Bintu, you need to git to the hoverbike and head back to the village, I can take it from here."
She squeezed my hand, and whispered in my ear "No, I stay with Jett."
The word's cut through my heart like a laser knife through a Festivus possum. I peered through my zoom finder, to get a closer view of the scene. It looked like some kind of beach party that turned into a bloodbath. There was dead aliens of all races scattered about, and a conspicuous number of women's purses of all colors and shapes. What in the hell happened here? Then My display registered movement so I magnify. The still was apparently commandeered by a group of Rocketbikers, they were filling their jugs with the sweet nectar.
I pulled Bintu close, "Look darlin' Things are about to get rough and I can't... I won't have you here, you have to go." I insisted. She shook her head, pulling me close. I slowly removed the recall disc from my belt and clasped it to her Bikini top. I told her to bring me my hat which was lying a few feet from us, and as she crawled away I pressed the button on my belt teleporting her back to the beacon on the hoverbike. Sorry darlin.
I picked the Recall up on Ryku 7. when I busted a tech smuggling ring. I never seen anything like it. Sure it was against regulations, but those are Empyre regulations, and since they took jurisdiction there's been nothing but trouble. Besides, regulations don't usually have much to do with justice anyway. A recall was good for about three uses, and I didn't like to trust alien tech. I hoped she made it back and wasn't scattered into atoms. But this wasn't the first time I ran into this bunch of Rocketbikers, I knew they wouldn't hesitate to kill her...or worse.
I counted six heat signatures, not the best odds but I knew if I was gonna find them twins I was gonna have to bust some heads and this looked like as good a place as any to start. As I reached for my pack, I noticed something flicker on the ground, it was Bintu's necklace. A darkstar, I kissed it and fastened it around my neck. I was gonna need all the luck I could get.
From my pack, I grabbed three flashpops and some extra charge clips for my blasters, strapped on my wrist rockets and energy bola, and generally prepared for business. I radioed my partner Cal and told him my intentions. He was in high orbit monitoring planetary transmissions, I wish he was here, but there was some trouble between the Empyre and the Ophelians a ways back so we couldn’t land the ship. They only agreed to let me investigate cause they want their princesses back. They don't like the Empyre, Can't say as I blame em'.
Well, no backup, no recall, outnumbered six to one, time to roll the dice, Jett. I climbed down the side of the hill just above the bikers, I stuck close to the shadows. Surprise was my only advantage. I took cover behind a withered trunk of a large tree. The smell of alcohol burned my nose. That was some high octane shine, I knew that these bikers didn't build it. This was Rocketbilly work right here. Bikers were mostly scavengers. It was a big operation, I knew the six chumps stumblin' around couldn't keep it going like this. Turns out two of the heat signatures were a couple native girls, They had their hands tied up behind em'. Could this be the princesses? Didn't matter, not like I was gonna leave em to their tender mercies either way.
Regulations say I should ask them to surrender, but suicide never really appealed to me. Besides regulations ain’t always justice. So I slid down my shades and roll two of the flash pops out into the clearing. BOOM! A blinding flash cut the darkness. I leap out from behind the tree and roll, springing back to my feet pulling my blasters, I blew holes through two of the blinded bikers right off. The other two started running toward a nearby cliff side, I threw my bola and wrapped it around the tall one's legs and he fell shocked unconscious. The other kept a runnin' and a yellin' " Help! Help!!" Who the hell was he yellin' to? Reckoned I'd find out soon enough. Wasting no time I run over to the girls and cut em loose "go on git!" I hollered, and they went running off into the jungle.
No sooner do I start over to the unconscious biker laying tits up on the beach. Then I see a mess of hoverbikes a screamin' at me, right through the side of the cliff. It was a damn hologram! Musta' been hiding in there the whole time. I let fire a couple wrist rockets and watched two of em burst into flames. Next thing I know nets flying at me from all directions. They scoop me and drag me around for a while givin' me a free tour of the beach. Then they put the boots to me, I heard someone say "Don't kill him" I looked up to see who said it, It wasn't a biker...he was wearin' fancy duds, had an Empyre patch on his arm...that's when my lights went out...To be continued.