Dusk Galactic Paradise

By Jervis T.C.H.

The year is 2348. The Earth can no longer sustain mankind - global warming, overpopulation and depleting natural resources have hit critical levels. To prevent such problems from escalating, NASA and SETI decided to establish a spaceport to expand our civilization across the universe for the continuation of mankind. However, as we take our baby steps out into the cosmos, we realize we are not alone. We are in fact locked in a cosmic war between many intelligent civilizations beyond our wildest imaginations. Will we ever dominate our galaxy, the Milky Way?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: May 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9781482899344

Jervis T.C.H.

Jervis T.C.H. holds a Diploma in Environmental Science from Republic Polytechnic. He currently resides in Singapore. This is his debut novel.

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Copyright © 2014 by Jervis T.C.H.

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4828-9933-7

Softcover 978-1-4828-9932-0

eBook 978-1-4828-9934-4

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CONTENTS

About The Author

Prologue

Ship Of Carnage

Chapter 1

The Cage Of Mankind

Chapter 2

Hexagonal Masterpiece

Chapter 3

Unleashed

Chapter 4

Alien Encounter

Chapter 5

Revelations

Gallery

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

IT ALL BEGAN when I was studying in an elementary school in 1998. One day, my parents brought me to a local bookstore somewhere in the Central Business District (CBD) of Singapore.

After browsing through several books, a book titled The Solar System caught my attention. This is because it has an appealing cover page; it contains an image of one of Voyager 1’s photos—a snapshot of Saturn and several of its moons, with Dione in the foreground. Feeling curious to know more about the planet’s ring system, I picked the book up and began reading the first page. That was the point where my interest and passion in astronomy was sparked.

My parents saw my keen interest in that book, so they bought it for me. From that day on, I became hooked to that book. I kept reading it day after day without fail—to satisfy all my curiosity of the universe. After reading that book, to my surprise, my parents bought more astronomy-related books for me to read. Eventually, my knowledge in astronomy increased over the years.

That passion remained in me till I graduated from my elementary school in 2004. Immediately I was enrolled into high school in 2005, the idea of space exploration and colonization struck my mind during a mathematics lesson on polygons. While my teacher was teaching, the six sided polygon, or more commonly known as the hexagon suddenly came into my mind as the first space cooperation built on Earth facilitating space exploration and colonization.

After knowing so much about astronomy and cosmology, the desire to explore the universe in my own ship has been burning in my heart—to unravel the mysteries and beauties of the universe. Therefore, I also designed a ship of my own—The Hexagon and my ship. I remember the name of my first ship was S29-3000.

From then on, I began to live in another world, an inner world of freedom, space exploration and colonization. As the years pass by, I began designing more creative ideas, gadgets, ships and other stuff to improve my inner world. I remember drawing many creative things during lessons in class.

Somewhere in 2007, the word Hexiron came into my mind. Since it sounds very similar to the word Hexagon, I decided to make it the name of the space cooperation that owns the Hexagon. The Hexagon is a megastructure built in the state of Colorado, USA.

Eventually, I graduated from high school with an O Level certificate, and got myself enrolled into a local polytechnic in 2010. During my first year, I began to sense the urgency to reveal everything that I had created in my inner world to the world which I live in—I decided to share it to the world instead of keeping it to myself. As such, I remember visiting a game company and encouraging them to develop a console game based on my imaginations. However, a few days later, they shifted their attention from me, and called me troll. I felt totally heartbroken—I thought my ideas were not creative enough, and will therefore never be known to the world.

One day, while I was having lunch with my mother, she told me about the story of JK Rowling—about her great success of the Harry Potter novels. Eventually, I was inspired, and decided to begin my first chapter of my novel of Dusk: Galactic Paradise—Chapter 1: The Cage of Mankind.

Inspired by Harry Potter, including many other science fiction movies and console games, my novel now contains plenty of suspense, action and epic scenes - based not only on my imagination of my universe of Dusk, but also my knowledge in astronomy and astrophysics.

PROLOGUE

SHIP OF CARNAGE

DUSK COOPER, THE shaper of the universe sits at one end of a 10 metre long meeting table in a grand meeting room, locked in a conversation with Abel Tyler (the General III of Hexiron) on the other end with several high ranking officers sitting at the sides. Abel stared straight into Dusk’s eyes and joyfully exclaimed: Dusk! It’s an extreme privilege to meet you! I would like to thank you in advance for what you’ve done back on Earth, including your unfailing support to our space cooperation. Well done and big thanks!

Dusk humbly answered: Oh wow, thanks!

You’re welcome! Unlike others, you’ve done exceedingly great things for our space cooperation and deserve to be praised and honored. Well… I guess I’m in debt of your bravery and commitment.

No… don’t say that! This space cooperation is my passion, and I yearn to see our civilization colonizing the entire Milky Way one day.

Alright then… if that is the case, ever thought of becoming the next General III of Hexiron?

Thinking it was too good to be true, Dusk answered with a confused expression: Er… you must be kidding me… right?

"No, I am not kidding you. My time of being the General III of this space cooperation is almost over, and it’s time for me to step down. After looking through all that you’ve done for our space cooperation—the miracles, the struggles, the good and bad times you’ve been through, as well as your sphere of influence, you are in fact more than capable of becoming our next leader, the next General III of Hexiron.

Feeling stunned, Dusk answered: Oh… that’s nice. So… when will the next General III be elected?

20 days later in this room, which is about two weeks from now. The time for you to include yourself as one of the election candidates is now.

Dusk remained silent and continued staring into Abel’s eyes.

Abel continued speaking: Deep in your heart, I know you have the burning desire to become the next leader of our space cooperation. Now is the time for you to make that decision. Trust me, you will never regret this. Here is the contract.

Abel took a contract out from below, and passed it to other end of the table—to Dusk.

Abel continued speaking: In the contract, write your name and member ID in the boxes provided. Don’t forget to read the terms and conditions before agreeing to them. Finally, insert your signature at the bottom. That’s it, nothing more, nothing less.

As Dusk grabs a pen, his hands began to shiver. I can’t believe this! I am gonna be the next General III of Hexiron! This entire space cooperation will be under my control and command! This better not be another dream! exclaimed Dusk in great anxiousness.

In the contract, Dusk quickly wrote his name, member ID and agreed to the terms and conditions. However, as he was about to insert his signature at the bottom, a violent shudder suddenly shook the entire meeting room like never before.

KKLLRRUUNNGG… !

The tremor was so potent that everyone, including those who were seated fell to the ground.

PTTHUNG… Argh! Ouch! Owh! Ah… !

Even a fraction of the ceiling collapsed and there were glass shatters all over the place. During which, everyone were screaming in paralyzing fear: AARRGGHH! Watch out! Argh! What is happening! Whhooaa… !

To prevent injury, Dusk quickly ducked down on his knees and began crawling out of the meeting room. However, the thought of his friends suddenly struck his mind. No, I must not leave my friends behind to die! exclaimed Dusk.

During the catastrophe, Dusk crawled back into the meeting room and shouted: RAVEN! KEEGAN! WHERE ARE YOU!

Immediately, he heard Raven’s cry nearby: DUSK!? IS THAT YOU!? HERE I AM! GIVE ME A HAND!

RAVEN! I’M COMING!

Dusk crawled towards the direction of Raven’s shout and saw her ducking down on her knees. There you are! We have no time to waste. Come on, we need to find Keegan and get outta here! exclaimed Dusk.

Suddenly, they heard someone yelling in excruciating pain nearby: AARGH! HELP ME!

Dusk heard the yell and quickly exclaimed to Raven: That sounds like Keegan, come on!

Dusk grabbed Raven’s hands and quickly began crawling in the direction where Keegan’s shout came from. As soon as Keegan saw Dusk and Raven in the mist, he bellowed loudly: DUSK! RAVEN! I SEE YOU! HERE I AM, HELP ME!

Dusk turned his head and was stunned to see Keegan trapped in a pile of debris. We need to get him outta this mess! exclaimed Dusk to Raven.

I’m with you!

As Dusk was within reach of Keegan, he exclaimed: KEEGAN, STRETCH YOUR RIGHT ARM TOWARDS ME AND YOUR LEFT ARM TOWARDS RAVEN! WE’LL PULL YOU OUT!

Keegan stretched his arms forward. Dusk and Raven grabbed his arms with both hands, and in preparation to pull him out, Dusk shouted: ALRIGHT, ON MY MARK! THREE, TWO, ONE, PULL!

Dusk and Raven pulled Keegan out of the debris with all their might.

AARRGGHH!

Within a matter of seconds, Keegan was finally freed from the heap of debris which has been trapping him. Thanks Dusk and Raven! It’s great to see the both of you in action once more. NOW LET’S GET OUTTA HERE! shouted Keegan.

FOLLOW ME! I’LL LEAD THE WAY OUT! shouted Dusk to the top of his voice.

BUT WHAT ABOUT ABEL TYLER! exclaimed Raven.

Abel Tyler, OH YES! COME ON; LET’S GET HIM OUTTA THIS MESS!

Suddenly, another shudder violently shook the entire meeting room, wrecking havoc.

KKLLRRUUNNGGKLIANGKLERNG… !

Immediately, Dusk, Raven, Keegan, including everyone else in the meeting room lost their balance and fell to the ground once more.

PTTHUNG… Argh! Ouch! Owh! Ah… !

This time, a colossal pile of metal debris gave way and fell from the ceiling directly above Dusk. Raven looked up and quickly shouted: DUSK! LOOK OUT!

Dusk quickly looked up and quickly dodged the metal debris by rolling himself to the side. Fortunately, he dodged just in time as the behemothic heap crashed directly through the ground with an unprecedented amount of force.

PTKHLIANGSHHKLONGSHH… !

Dusk faced Raven and whispered to her in a trembling voice: Thanks, friend. That was close.

Meanwhile, he stood on his feet and was stunned upon the sight of a massive sinkhole right before his very eyes. It appears that that the heap of metal which fell from above had crashed directly through several floors, resulting in the sinkhole measuring 50 metres deep and 10 metres wide. He approached the sinkhole in his attempt to find Abel on the other end. However, after looking for a mere 10 seconds, he was nowhere to be seen. After which, he looked down (into the sinkhole) and immediately exclaimed in overwhelming distress: Abel must have fallen into the sinkhole! No, don’t tell me this is happening!

Keegan placed his left hand on Dusk’s right shoulder and whispered to him: Dusk, what’s done is done… Besides, you still have us! Come on, we need to get outta here before this place is ripped apart. By then, it’s too late!

You’re right; I still have great friends like you and Raven. No point drooling on it anymore. Come on, let’s get outta here now! FOLLOW ME!

Keegan and Raven quickly stood on their feet and followed Dusk as he began running towards the main exit. However, once there, Dusk exclaimed: Oh crap! Even the main exit is covered in debris! Follow me; I know of another way!

Dusk began running towards a danium fortified door nearby. While following Dusk, Raven exclaimed: Dusk! Are you sure that is the right way!?

Take a look around you; is there any other way out!?

Once at the fortified door, Dusk smashed against it violently in his attempt to break it down.

PTHUNG… PTHUNG… PTHUNG… !

After three attempts, Dusk bellowed in annoyance: ARGH! OPEN UP!

Keegan stared straight into Dusk and exclaimed: Dusk! Are you crazy? You are smashing against a DANIUM FORTIFIED DOOR! Do you have any idea how HARD DANIUM IS? Perhaps there is another way!

Dusk stared into Keegan’s eyes and whispered: Wait here.

Dusk ran back into the meeting room while Keegan’s eyes remain fixed on him. At the same time, Raven exclaimed: Dusk! Where are you going!

Raven received no response from Dusk.

Suddenly, Dusk stopped running and exclaimed loudly from a distance: GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR!

Keegan and Raven quickly stepped to the sides of the door, and in the next moment, Dusk began charging forward at full speed. Eventually, he smashed against the door, and to Keegan’s surprise, the doors were completely smashed down.

PCHHHCKIK!

Keegan’s opened his eyes widely and exclaimed: THAT WAS AWESOME!

Dusk turned back, saw his friends in a mesmerized state and exclaimed: What’s wrong! Never seen a danium door being smashed down by someone before? I bet you’ve always thought danium fortified doors are impenetrable, right?

Keegan and Raven nodded their heads.

Meanwhile, Dusk continued exclaiming: Alright, that’s enough, follow me!

Suddenly, another shudder violent shook the entire meeting room. This time, the entire ceiling of the meeting room gave way and collapsed.

CLEEEEZHHIAANGG!

Dusk witnessed the destruction behind his friends and quickly exclaimed: RAVEN! KEEGAN! JUMP IN NOW!

Keegan and Raven quickly jumped through the door towards Dusk. Unfortunately, Raven slipped and fell to the ground. Having a near death experience, Raven screamed in excruciating fear: PULL ME IN!

Dusk quickly stretched his arms forward, grabbed Raven’s arms and pulled her in. Fortunately, she was pulled in on time as everything behind, including the ground collapsed downwards. During the catastrophe, the three ducked down with their eyes closed.

Within a matter of seconds, the deafening sounds of destruction subsided, rendering a complete silence. Dusk slowly opened his eyes and was shocked to see a massive cliff, about 100 metres deep at the foot of the door which he had knocked down previously. Ha! Hey! Keegan, Raven! We’re still alive! Get up! exclaimed Dusk in a sense of great relief.

Raven slowly opened her eyes and whispered: Am I dead?

Dusk answered: Haha, no! and pinched her arm.

Ouch! Hey!

So you’re still alive! Come on, get up! Let’s go!

As Keegan slowly began opening his eyes, he saw the both of his friends staring straight into him. Hey! Stop staring at me, I’m fine okay? exclaimed Keegan in annoyance.

Keegan looked through the door and saw what Dusk saw.

Whhooaa… awed Keegan.

Feeling very fortunate to survive such a devastating catastrophe, he looked into Dusk’s eyes and apologized: I’m… sorry about what I just said to you.

Dusk humbly answered: It’s okay Keegan, people make mistakes. C’mon, we need to get outta here fast otherwise we will lose our opportunity to escape!

Meanwhile, the three stood up and quickly began running up a flight of stairs, which leads all the way to the top.

They did not run down because everything had collapsed to the bottom, hence the only way out is up.

After climbing six floors, Raven exclaimed in exhaustion: Just how many flights of stairs do we need to climb!?

Dusk answered: Just a little more, hang in there. You ok Keegan?

I’m fine… answered Keegan in great exhaustion.

Eventually, they reached the top floor. There, Dusk smashed the emergency exit door open and quickly stepped out. At this point, Dusk realized he was now standing on the rooftop of Telrux Tower, which is the tallest building in the entire artificial habitat (world) he’s currently in.

The artificial world as mentioned above is a colossal man-made world measuring 76.9 kilometres long and 13.6 kilometres wide. Furthermore, this world is rectangular in shape, and resides within a much larger ship known as the Mihawk.

The Mihawk is a nickname given to the Experimental Habitory Ship (EHS) of Hexiron, which measures a staggering 250 kilometres long.

Separating between the vacuum of space and the artificial world is a massive shell made primarily of glass. This shell is known as the Habitory Shell, which covers the entire artificial world from end to end. The highest point of the Habitory Shell rises 3.7 kilometres above the artificial world.

Furthermore, the artificial world residing within the Habitory Shell of the EHS of Hexiron is home to a population of 6,782,209 people, and houses a variety of landscapes, including dense rainforests, grasslands, plains, dry deserts, icy terrains and even urbanized areas known as districts.

Altek is one of the many districts located within the artificial world. Rising 2,530 metres to the tip of its spire, Telrux Tower is a supertall skyscraper located in that district—Altek, as well as the tallest building in the entire artificial world.

Dusk looked out of the Habitory Shell and was stunned to see several Novogian ships flying in the blackness of space. No, don’t tell me this is happening! exclaimed Dusk.

I guess we’re under siege. answered Raven

Meanwhile, the three faced towards the direction where the ship was flying, and was completely mesmerized by what they saw before them.

What they saw turned out to be the colossal and majestic blue ring system of Eartha, and the EHS they’re in is flying directly towards it.

The ring system of Eartha is extremely thick (up to 4 kilometres thick), and consist primarily of ice particles and boulders orbiting the planet at 50 times the speed of a bullet. As compared to the planet Saturn in our Solar System, the ice particles in its ring system only orbits the yellow planet at up to 10 times the speed of a bullet.

Therefore, if the EHS were to crash right through the iconic ring system of Eartha, carnage will rain upon the ship from above—the ice particles and boulders of Eartha’s ring system will penetrate through the Habitory Shell of the EHS and exterminate the entire artificial world beneath, killing all the inhabitants in an instant.

Eartha is a massive Waterworld of HD 172051, which is a Sun-like star, located about 42.7 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. 99.4% of the surface of Eartha is covered in liquid water, while the rest are land.

The detailed information of Eartha’s orbital and physical characteristics is as follows:

EARTHA (HD 172051 d)

Orbital characteristics

Apastron (farthest orbital distance from parent star): 130,449,343 km (0.8720 AU)

Periastron (nearest orbital distance from parent star): 129,162,801 km (0.8634 AU)

Semi-major axis: 129,806,072 km (0.8677 AU)

Eccentricity: 0.00495563

Rotational period: 49.7 Earth hours

Orbital period: 341 Earth days

Average orbital speed: 99,657 km/h

Inclination: 16.574° to HD 172051’s equator

Satellites: 5 natural moons (Dunian, Erol, Hesk, Lilon and Furiaf)

Physical characteristics

Equatorial radius: 11,152.6 km

Polar Radius: 11,001.2 km

Mean radius: 11,076.9 km

Mean diameter: 22,153.8 km

Equatorial circumference: 69,598.22 km

Surface area: 1,541,864,943 km²

Mass: 9.701 x 10²⁴ kg

Volume: 5.693 x 10¹² km³

Mean density: 1.704 g/cm³

Surface gravity: 1.62 g (Earth being 1 g)

Escape velocity: 18.760 km/s

Equatorial rotation velocity: 388.991 m/s

Surface temperature: 173.4 K (minimum)

288.1 K (mean)

335.7 K (maximum)

Atmospheric pressure: 104.378 kPa

Atmospheric composition: 75.12 % Nitrogen

22.45 % Oxygen

2.04 % Carbon dioxide

0.31 % Argon

0.08 % Water vapor

Upon the sight of the massive ring system of Eartha, Dusk murmured to himself in awe: Aww… what beautiful rings Eartha have. I can’t believe that the most beautiful things in the universe are usually the most dangerous, while the most boring things in the universe are the approachable ones. Hmm… I wonder what the pilot is up to! Is he trying to kill everyone in here just because we’re under siege!?

I don’t think so; perhaps the Novogians has taken over the ship! answered Raven.

Good point Raven, I guess we need to find out before it’s too late. answered Keegan.

You’re right Keegan; we need to get to the pilot’s cockpit ASAP to find out. But come to think about the size of this ship, don’t you think it’s a little far from here? The main exit out of this artificial world is about 50 kilometres away! answered Dusk.

That’s a long distance Dusk. Perhaps we can use something to get there quickly. Think out of the box guys; don’t expect me to get there on foot! answered Raven.

Meanwhile, a Sabre parked on a helipad nearby caught Dusk’s attention, and he exclaimed: Oh thank goodness, that’s it! There’s a Sabre parked right there, on that helipad! We can use it for our investigation!

The D38-SB or more commonly known as the Sabre is an armored dropship of Hexiron, which is commonly used for the pickup and transportation of personnel, light vehicles and equipments. Furthermore, this dropship can also be equipped with several turrets and modules. Hence, it’s commonly utilized as a support gunship in many planetary battles.

In addition, a sophisticated wing system is also attached at its back, enabling it to fly swiftly like a fighter aircraft. Last but not least, the Sabre can also accommodate up to 32 soldiers and 1 light vehicle. According to measurements and dimensions, the Sabre measures 38.38 metres long, 18.38 metres wide and 4.55 metres tall.

Keegan saw the Sabre on the helipad and exclaimed: Right on Dusk! But it’s not ours.

Dusk exclaimed: You wanna die here? Or get outta here.

Keegan timidly answered: Er… get outta here…

Then do it! Come on!

The three quickly ran towards the Sabre as the building they’re on continued shaking. Once there, they were relieved to see the back entrance of the Sabre opened. As Raven and Keegan was about to enter the dropship, Dusk quickly charged inside, and smashed against the danium fortified door of the cockpit area. Immediately, the fortified door was smashed down.

PCHHHCKIK!

Dusk quickly turned back and exclaimed: Quick! Get in!

After the three were on board, Keegan exclaimed: We’re in, now fly us outta here!

Dusk quickly sat on the pilot’s seat, closed the back entrance, and pushed the engine starter switch. Immediately, the engines began to thunder.

SNEEEEEEE!

Suddenly, another violent shudder shook the building. This time, the entire building began collapsing downwards. Keegan felt the falling sensation, and exclaimed in desperation: Dusk! The building is going down, HURRY UP AND FLY US OUTTA HERE!

Raven exclaimed in fear: DUSK! HURRY!

Filled with anxiety and fear, Dusk quickly switched the flight mode to hover mode, and pushed the throttle to maximum. The engines began to thunder even louder.

SNEEEEEEEEEEEEEAUFGGGG!

Fortunately, by the time Telrux Tower has collapsed to half of its original height, the Sabre which the