Stars Calling

By D.H. Draws

Isolated and depressed after the loss of his wife Nikki, Abe Watsen can barely get out of bed. Once a promising astrophysicist eager to be a part of the manned mission to Mars, Abe Watsen is just a shell of his former self. Concerned for his emotional and mental state, Abe’s father James Watsen entreats Abe to join him in an elaborate scheme to capture Nikki’s murderer. Secrecy and cunning must be used against the elusive criminal mastermind Geheim Teufel, the leader of an underground terror group. To ensure their safety, Abe’s best friend Ori will join them in a plan that will involve luring their nemesis onto a space craft and rocketing them all to the moon. However, once on the lunar surface their planned showdown goes horribly wrong and the group finds themselves on the run from authorities with nowhere to go but farther into space. Can they clear their names and return to Earth or will their only hope be a life sentence on the run in deep space? What will the ending be for the Watsen family?

• Language: English
• Publisher: D.H. Draws
• Release date: Jul 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311856647

D.H. Draws

D.H. Draws lives in Houston, TX, U.S.A. She has a bachelor's of science degree in Molecular Biology and has worked in the graduate program at the University Eye Institute doing clinical research in the Vision Sciences. She also has an interest in the law and has a paralegal certificate.Her interests include science, conservation, international cooperation, law.

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Stars Calling

By D. H. Draws

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2015 D. H. Draws

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form and by any means including by electronic, mechanical (e.g. photocopying, scanning, recording or photography) or by any information storage system without the written permission of the publisher/author, unless used for the purpose of review or promotion of this work to the general public.

Author’s note:

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Although the names of some institutions in this book are real, any events or connections to this story are fictitious.

This book is also available in print at major on-line retailers.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Adrift

Chapter 2: Walking Wonder

Chapter 3: A Network in Peril

Chapter 4: The Mission Begins

Chapter 5: Making Arrangements

Chapter 6: Preparations

Chapter 7: The Ship

Chapter 8: Saying Goodbye

Chapter 9: Mission: Brighter Tomorrow

Chapter 10: Showdown in Space

Chapter 11: What Now?

Chapter 12: Stars Calling

Chapter 13: A New Home

Chapter 14: A Wedding among the Stars

Chapter 15: The Anomaly

Chapter 16: Imagine That

References

Acknowledgement

Other Works by this Author

Chapter 1: Adrift

In a suburban area near the larger city of Houston, Texas, the quiet of the afternoon was shattered by the ear splitting sound of an explosion. An explosive device that was carefully hidden in a beautiful miniature replica of the Lunar Sphere Prison (LSP) that was given to Abraham Watsen upon the completion of the larger, actual Lunar Sphere Prison in which Abe had helped to design and construct [1]. No one had thought that someone would have the malice to install such a device inside a representation of such a wondrous human achievement. Certainly not the political or scientific leaders who ordered such an award for the talented Abe Watsen. Abe, along with his wife Nikki, had conceived of and tirelessly worked to bring the prison to full fruition. Through his efforts, the first permanent lunar structure was built as a test biosphere to house life to plants, birds, fish and humans (e.g. prisoners) on the desolate surface of the moon in preparation for the larger project of such a structure on Mars. The Mars structure would of course house colonists ready to terra form the red planet for eventual colonization by Earthlings. The added benefit of using the lunar structure to house some of humanity’s worst criminals was also the idea of the imaginative Abe Watsen. This idea had been controversial. It was hailed by the scientific community as well as conscientious, law abiding citizens as the best and humane way of allowing those who committed the most heinous crimes worthy of the death penalty, be able to live out their lives unshackled, but away from society. At the same time, it was condemned by the criminals and miscreants it threatened to house as well as by the usual deluded, overly-righteous who seem to demonstrate against anything for the sake of attention. In the end, the benefits far outweighed the costs and protests, and the LSP was a successful and brilliant creation.

Little did Abe know at the time that his crowning achievement would end up making him and his loved ones the targets of destruction by a vengeful and murderous, villain. All he could think about on that fateful day was the launch of his space shuttle that would take him, his best friend Ori and two of the worst criminals to the LSP which was ready to receive its first inmates. If he had known of the nefarious plan on his loved ones, Abe would never have brought the award to his in-laws house to show them. He also would never have left it there despite their requests to keep it for some time to proudly show their friends and neighbors. If he had known, he would never have let his beloved wife be anywhere near to it.

Yes, no one thought to put the statue through an x ray scanner when it arrived from the manufacturer as a special order, or question the curious man that delivered it. This man of diminutive stature and heavily manicured hair that wore thick glasses and avoided direct eye contact, was allowed inside a heavily secure facility without so much as a glance. Was it because he was so good at blending in, or knowing the best way to avoid detection? Wear a hat with the logo of the company you supposedly work for, keep your head down and talk to as few people as you can. No one wondered why this man smiled so broadly and maniacally after he delivered his package and drove off in an unmarked vehicle. Had they, they may have helped to stop the tragic events that unfolded that afternoon.

But that was why this villain was called Gehiem Teufel or secret devil in German. He was a mastermind of causing destruction and escaping detection. Often he would plan an assault, but have his followers of the neo Nazi terrorist group, Hassen alle Menschen, do the dirty work. This time he chose to do it himself, most likely to ensure that it was carried out successfully. Another possible reason was because he figured the authorities did not think he would be so bold as to venture out in broad daylight. Perhaps the most likely possibility is that he wanted the satisfaction of performing the job himself. In any case, it was bold considering Homeland Security, the FBI and local authorities were looking for him.

After the incident, Abe kept replaying in his mind the last conversation he had with the criminal Fuehren zu Zerstoerung, head assassin of the Hassen alle Menschen, at the LSP before he rushed back down to Earth to try and save his loved ones.

If I am to live out the rest of my days alone, then Abraham Watsen, so are you, Fuehren had said maniacally.

He was right. He lost the love of his life, his wife Nikki, in the bomb explosion at his in-laws. Thank goodness their daughter, Oriana, had been safe at his parents’ house instead of with Nikki that day. It was a small miracle. Yet not such a miracle as he later came to find out. His parents had been aware that an attack on their family was in the works yet failed to tell Nikki or him. They had taken steps to keep Oriana safe with them. He was grateful and angry at them at the same time. They didn’t want to worry him during his mission, they said. Yet they failed to keep his Nikki safe. If he had only known, he would have insisted she stay with them. All of them under lock and guard, whatever it took. He was just so desperate and angry now. He barely made it back to earth alive. Thank God for Ori. Such a best friend as there ever was for bringing their shuttle back in safely all by himself.

Could he ever forgive his parents? Could he ever forgive himself? How could he carry on? Especially with the constant dreams that force him to revisit that terrible time over and over again. The moment he lost his heart. He could see the events in his mind night after night. He imagined the anguish Nikki must have felt, especially since she did not die instantly in the blast.

Help Abe, help! Nikki’s voice cried out with fear and anguish amid the smoke and debris.

Nikki? Where are you? I’m coming, hang on. Smoke, so much smoke and dust. I can’t see anything, Abe screamed out in desperation. He is sweating and it’s so unbearably hot. He’s panting and unable to move. He’s belted to a chair in a small enclosure.

I feel dizzy. I can’t breathe, Abe mutters to himself.

Abe wake up! I need your help buddy, please wake up, Ori shouts at him as he desperately pulls at his shoulder.

Ori, Nikki! No! Abe shouts as he bolts upright out of bed, sweat dripping from his face and soaking his undershirt at his armpits and down his chest.

Abe looked around disoriented and frantically for a moment before reality closes in on him again. He is alone in his bedroom. The room is dead quiet. It’s dark even though it is 2 o’clock in the afternoon because he has the curtains pulled over the windows. The additional heavy, light blocking curtain liners prevent any stray bit of light from entering the room. Like Abe’s state of mind, it is in a constant state of darkness. He didn’t know what time it was, or what day it was. What did it matter anyway? His wife was gone. Murdered in a bomb explosion by a degenerate madman that no one could find while he had been up in space thinking he had put the bad guy away. Up until that point, Abe was in high spirits for the future and full of hope for humanity. All he had to do was lock up the man that had shot and terribly injured his father and killed his father’s good friend whom he considered an uncle far away in a lunar prison that he had helped design and build and his family would be safe. The world would see the elegance and simplicity of his plan to help rid the world of its worst criminals and destroying their criminal networks by demonstrating what fate would await them if caught, while simultaneously conducting scientific research on lunar habitation that prevented unnecessary risk to good people (e.g. volunteers).

It seems that this plan was not going to work out. Even though Fuehren, the gunman that had attacked Abe’s father James, was safely locked up in the Lunar Sphere Prison his leader Geheim Teufel was still at large. He was the one that planned and carried out the bombing of Abe’s wife Nikki and her parents. He was also the one that seemingly could not be caught. It was this brazen act of terror and retribution that made Abe hate him and fear him at the same time. If the police and authorities in the U.S. as well as his native Germany couldn’t find him, what hope had he of doing it? Abe couldn’t even hold it together enough on the return flight home from the moon to land his space capsule. How could he go on being a scientist or accomplishing anything at all? Was life just futile for him now?

A true best friend is there for you when you’re up and when you’re down. They’ll help you carry the load when it has become too heavy for you and get you home again. That was Ori Amicitas who was co-piloting the flight with Abe. Not only had he landed them safely in the ocean single handedly, he kept Abe alive for the days it took NASA and the coast guard to find them floating in the middle of the vast Pacific ocean when they disappeared from the radar.

As Abe sat in bed holding his head in his hands trying not to re-live the horrors of that time in his mind, he became aware of the buzzing sound coming from his night stand. It was his cell phone vibrating with a call. Whoever it was, Abe didn’t want to talk to them. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, ever again. He felt not only overwhelming sadness and depression, but an awful feeling of impotence. That nothing he did mattered because Gehiem Teufel was out there plotting and succeeding in his acts of terror and hatred.

Abe picked up the cell phone and glanced at the caller I.D. It was his mother, again. He kept putting her off and ignoring her calls, and she kept calling. He knew if he kept ignoring her, she would come to the house again. The last time she was here, he was very unkind to her. He couldn’t help it. She just wanted to help him feel better, but he wasn’t ready to and he pushed her out of the house with a curt good bye and slammed the door in her face. How could he have done that? She was his mother.

He sighed heavily and glanced again at the clock. He listened to the stillness around him. Perhaps it was time to engage with the world again, at least with his family. He dialed his mother’s number and listened to the ringing trying to think of what he should say. The phone connected and his mother’s voice came on the line.

Hello Abe? Mai Watsen asked tentatively.

Yes mom it’s me. I saw that you called, Abe whispered quietly. His voice was dry and raspy. He hadn’t drunk anything in twelve hours.

I did, she said pausing before going on. How are you son?

Same. Pretty awful, Abe replied. How are you and dad?

We’re getting on all right. We’re worried about you. We haven’t seen you in a while and neither has Ori. Are you eating?

Thank you for caring. Yes I’m eating some, Abe lied.

How are you feeling? Do you want to talk, if not to me to someone?

Not really. They would ask me about how I’m feeling and I would say pretty lousy, just like I am now, so I guess I’d just as well talk to you.

I’m glad you called me back. I know it’s been difficult for you right now Abe, but your father and I are here for you and we don’t want you staying holed up alone anymore. It may lead you to entertain dark thoughts.

You mean like suicidal thoughts?

Exactly like suicidal thoughts.

I’ll admit to you that I’ve had them. How could I not? Not only have I lost the love of my life, but it is my fault that she’s gone. Every night when I close my eyes I revisit that awful event of losing her over and over again. I imagine what she must have gone through and I feel helpless and in utter despair. Everyone tells me that it will get better over time, but it hasn’t. It feels just as fresh and raw as if it had been yesterday, Abe said bitterly.

I understand Abe. I know I would certainly feel that way if it had happened to your father. It doesn’t help that you keep yourself in the dark. You have no sense of time so you continue to live in that moment. It’s been six months though. Maybe it’s time to get out of your isolation and let us start to make things better.

Abe was surprised. He hadn’t realized it had been so long. The days and nights had drifted by and he hardly noticed he was so overwhelmed with grief. He had hardly left the house. He would always order food or his mother would leave some groceries at his door. He rubbed his hand on his cheeks and chin and felt the whiskers of an untidy beard. Physical evidence of the passing of time.

Has it really been that long? Abe asked starting to soften his tone.

Yes son. A lot has happened since then. Oriana has learned some more words and is running everywhere. She asks about you a lot.

Oriana his beautiful daughter that escaped death by being with Abe’s parents when the explosion occurred was asking for him. Abe winced a little at this news. He knew he had essentially abandoned her during this time, but he couldn’t even take care of himself let alone a three year old.

I’m sorry mom. I just can’t take care of her right now. I don’t know if I can even see her. She would remind me too much of Nikki, Abe said woefully.

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