Superhero: Blue Knight Episode I, Dark Ship

By Allen Pollens

Chicago Births a Superhero Dedicated to “The Protection of Mankind, Upholding Honor and Justice, and Vanquishing Evil in All Its Forms and Wherever Found.”
Superheroes capture our imaginations. Superheroes inspire a purity of beliefs in positive, self-effacing conduct. Superheroes simplify the distinction between good and bad, even when circumstances are complicated.
Allen Pollens responds to our adoration of the conduct of “knights of old” by recreating its essence in the present day.

In SUPERHERO’s eight episodes, our armored champion is challenged by an art thief (The Artiste), a Marid jinni (Kadar), a volcano goddess (Pele), a Russian Mafia boss (Ivan), a gangster committed to bringing back the glory days of Al Capone (Tony), and criminals from Seattle.
Captured and held prisoner by The Artiste in the initial episode, Blue Knight dwells on how his alternate identity, Roger from Nebraska, came to Chicago to fulfill his destiny. Thus, readers are treated to the Superhero origin story. While each episode stands on its own, Roger/Blue Knight evolves with the new challenge each escapade presents. The relationships he forms with the people at Rosie’s Rooming House become increasingly important, especially the one with Myra.
Created by Merlin, Blue Knight has the appearance of a knight of old as he appears in Roger’s dreams. However, every aspect of the knight’s being and his steed, Black, contribute to his super powers. The excitement of Blue Knight’s exploits as he goes forward according to his vows of conduct is heightened by the unusual and wily opponents that test him. Yet beneath it all, there is still Roger, the human side of Blue Knight, who grows from the simple young man off the farm into a principled adult with strong feelings for the people around him.
Each episode is unique in the story it tells, and what it adds to our understanding of Roger and Blue Knight. However, the ongoing characters evolve with each new story. Readers may finish the eighth episode wanting more. If they do, author Allen Pollens promises sequels with more Blue Knight adventures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Allen Pollens
• Release date: Jan 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310637278

Allen Pollens

"Starfish Chronicles" is my third fiction offering in nine months. It is middle-grade-reader fantasy and follows two adult science fiction books, "Creator, Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Epic, Earth’s Human Behavior Confronted" and "Alternative Lives, To Sleep Perchance to Dream...Another Life." In addition, “Superhero, Chronicles of Blue Knight Adventures,” book length fantasy for young adults, is just days away from publication. "Starfish Chronicles" is currently available in paperback and for Kindle at Amazon.com.My main retirement interests are travel, photography, and writing. My high-tech work life included hardware engineering on the front end, software engineering on the tail end, and 25 years of sales and marketing in between. Future writing projects include adult science fiction, “The Story Teller” (or “Conjurer” ... I have not decided yet). There is much else awaiting my attention: Butterphant stories for younger children; Lorna’s Legacy, adult novel based on true events; Sales – Honing the Craft, non-fiction.I have been telling stories my whole life. My children and grandchildren were ready audiences who assumed I could deliver a new story on demand and generally, I did.

Book preview

Superhero

Blue Knight Episode I,

Dark Ship

Allen Pollens

Copyright © 2013 Allen Pollens

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 9781310637278

Smashwords Edition

DISCLAIMER

SUPERHERO is fantasy fiction and any resemblance to individuals, corporations, and locations are mostly coincidental. Exceptions are places that are presented with a reasonable degree of authenticity to achieve realism.

DEDICATION

I dedicate SUPERHERO to people everywhere who love stories of knights of old and of superheroes. This series combines both.

Allen Pollens

CONTENTS

DISCLAIMER

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

PROLOGUE

Chapter 1 – The Ship

Chapter 2 – Powers

Chapter 3 – Contact

Chapter 4 - Discovery

Chapter 5 – Brazen

Chapter 6 – A Step Ahead

EPILOGUE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

SUPERHERO: Chronicles of Blue Knight Adventures came to be for many reasons. Publishing a book involves a lot of work, even for stories already written. I credit myself for doing that work. One other deserves significant credit … my grandson, Solomon Cohen.

In the preface following, I tell more about how the stories developed, but I want to acknowledge Solomon’s unflagging interest in Blue Knight. It inspired me to write all of the seven episodes. Solomon was my Blue Knight ‘muse.’

PREFACE

I have been telling stories my whole life. My eager audience has often been children … my children and my grandchildren. When they learned about my storytelling ability, they often, ‘on the fly’ while driving somewhere asked for a new story. I did not write them all down. I wish I did.

My best work in creating and telling a story evolved from being able to do it on a computer. The best way for me to tell you why is for me to tell you something about how the Blue Knight stories developed.

I credited my grandson Solomon Cohen under Acknowledgments for inspiring me, but here is how it all came about. I had already written my Starfish Chronicles children’s stories motivated by granddaughter Gabrielle Cohen. In addition to creating the stories, I recorded them. I put a microphone on my computer and read all of the episodes in MP3 files. Then I copied them onto CDs, so Gabrielle and Solomon could listen to the tales as often as they wished. This was the model for the execution of the Blue Knight stories.

One day, Solomon asked me to create a story about a knight of old. Well, there are plenty of those around, and I pondered the challenge. I decided to fashion the modern day existence of a knight, appearing in all respects, like one of old… a superhero with every aspect of his being contributing to his powers. Add a wizard, a code of conduct, and some fascinating adversaries, and there’s a basis for some great storytelling. Solomon’s continuing enjoyment of the stories encouraged me to keep writing and recording them. I stopped after the seventh episode and moved on to another story pursuit.

However, I have for some period of time been aware that these stories are sufficiently independent to be able to stand on their own. I actually took a shot at doing this with the Pele tale. I took it all he way through to the proof stage, but never published it. This time will be different and the Dark Ship episode is the start. If I get a good response from readers, I will create all seven stand alone episodes. The original seven-part, 400 page edition with continue to be available as well.

PROLOGUE

The ‘knight of old’ was alive and well in my reveries. I pictured him, splendid in gleaming armor, holding a sword and shield, and astride a handsome steed. He was, in my mind, the embodiment of goodness, going forth committed to a strict code of conduct. It was too much to believe such a vision could become a reality in the modern day, but oh, how I yearned for it. Maybe it was my longing that made it happen and the reason I became such a large part of it. My knight's remarkable powers surprised me. However,