Black Star Rising

By Lynn Scott

Temporarily defeated the Unholy One and his evil Khepera army retreats to just outside Earths solar system. Conquering Earth and discovering the whereabouts of the long lost secrets he seeks will not be easy. Buried long ago beneath the sands of Egypt lies the written accounts of Thoth the Antiquarian. Thoth discovered secrets of a powerful anci

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book Vine Press
• Release date: Aug 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781955885423

Lynn Scott

Lynn Scott, it has always been her dream to write a great Sci-fi novel. Black Star is her first novel and the first in a trilogy. She loves The Sci-fi genre and finds ancient Egyptian culture fascinating. She also absolutely, adores animals, especially dogs. She is pictured here with her dog Flash.

Book preview

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Contact

Chapter 2 Decisions, Decisions

Chapter 3 Secrets Revealed

Chapter 4 Life Is Just Full of Surprises

Chapter 5 Commence Hostilities

Chapter 6 Secrets Exposed?

Chapter 7 The Truth and Nothing but the Truth

Acknowledgments

Iwould like to acknowledge my publicist, Archie Kent. Thank you for always being there for me. You’re the best.

I want to give a very special thanks to Zach Muelle for doing an absolutely amazing job bringing my original concept illustrations to life.

Chapter 1

Contact

Three Days Ago

U nidentified aircraft, this is your final warning! You are ordered to immediately power down and land, or we will respond with deadly force!

Muerte has been pursuing his prey, an Oneikkian shuttle, through unknown space. Fleeing for their lives, the Oneikkian shuttle entered Earth’s atmosphere, emerging into Egyptian airspace. Muerte soon finds his attack craft surrounded by eighteen unfamiliar aircraft. He has been repeatedly warned to land by the squadron leader. Muerte makes the mistake of ignoring the warnings. Instead, he breaks off his attack on the Oneikkian shuttle and fires on one of the Egyptian jets, destroying it.

The Egyptians’ response is swift and deadly. The remaining squadron of seventeen Egyptian jet fighters opens fire on Muerte. The combined power of their rockets seriously damages Muerte’s attack craft. Losing control, the attack craft plunges straight into the Nile River. A huge geyser erupts as Muerte’s attack craft hits the water, then quickly sinks beneath the waves. Several large Nile crocodiles are sunning themselves along the riverbank. The second the attack craft hits the water, the crocodiles make a mad dash back into the river. They swiftly make their way over to the crash site, closing in for an easy kill. Moments later, the water erupts with bubbles, blood, and a dead body. Out of the bloody froth, Muerte breaks the surface, gasping for air. He shoves aside the body of the crocodile he just killed and swims toward the far riverbank. Tasting blood, the remaining crocodiles start to rip apart the dead one, ignoring Muerte.

Looking back, Muerte watches as Egyptian military ships and helicopters arrive immediately, cordoning off the crash site. Hundreds of soldiers quickly fan out, searching along the riverbanks as the jets continue to circle overhead. Muerte remains mostly submerged, allowing the swift current to carry him farther down river. He stays close to the river bank making sure to stay hidden amongst the tall reeds. Luck is on his side. The soldiers seem to be concentrating their efforts around the banks of the initial crash site. As darkness falls, Muerte is several miles away.

Muerte is a Mydocyx Khepera. The Khepera are a race of half-human, half-insectlike creatures. Currently there are over one hundred thousand Khepera. They are living on an enormous spaceship sitting just outside of Earth’s solar system. The ship belongs to the Khepera’s living god, a creature feared throughout the universe, known as the Unholy One.

The Mydocyx are just one of seven distinct clans of Khepera. Mydocyx are a half-human, half-cockroachlike species. They have the most unstable personalities of all the clans, making them highly unpredictable. Male and female Mydocyx are very similar in appearance. Most stand around five feet nine inches tall. Their face and body are covered with reddish-brown scales. These scales absorb minute amounts of radiation by the light of day. In the dark, their scales glow blue. Mydocyx have black eyes and a circular mouth filled with three rows of triangular-shaped teeth. Four thick, long antennae hang down to their waist. All Mydocyx are carrion-eaters, although they will kill and eat fresh flesh when necessary. Muerte has four long pink jagged scars on his left shoulder. The scars are a reminder of his encounter with his rival, the Unholy One’s ever-faithful servant, Apep.

Apep is a large lizard-like creature standing nine feet tall. She is extremely well armored, being impervious to all known weaponry. Besides her great strength, Apep can spit a highly toxic neurotoxin. Within mere seconds of being absorbed into the skin, the venom takes effect. It causes intense pain, difficulty in breathing, loss of consciousness, violent convulsions, then finally death. Apep has recently taken Muerte’s place as second-in-command-something Muerte intends to change.

Muerte’s clothing and jewelry is typical of what is worn by all Khepera. His clothing consists of a black idnas and a pair of black sandals. (An idnas is gauze-like material that covers their body from waist to ankles.) A black five-pointed star suspended on a silver chain hangs from his neck. Wide silver cuff bracelets decorated with a black star surround his wrists and biceps. The black star is the symbol their living god, the Unholy One, chose to represent himself as supreme god of the universe.

As darkness falls, Muerte’s scales glow blue in the full moon’s light. Knowing that he can clearly be seen, Muerte quickly covers his body and face with thick layers of Nile River mud. His first priority is to get back to the Unholy One’s ship and report everything he has seen. Unfortunately, without his attack craft, Muerte is stranded on Earth with no way to return or contact the ship. Muerte decides he has no choice. He must go back upriver toward the large pyramids he saw. That is the direction the Oneikkian shuttle he was attacking was headed before his attack craft was shot down. Muerte decides his only choice is to find and steal the Oneikkian shuttle. The Oneikkian are a race of half-human, half-animal-like creatures. Their home world, the planet Oneikki, was recently destroyed by the Unholy One and his evil Khepera army.

Present Day

Climbing up a steep embankment, Muerte finds himself on the outskirts of a large city. Most of the dwellings here are small and tightly packed together. He slips quietly in and out of the shadows, trying to remain hidden. Muerte suddenly freezes in his tracks.

Three young Egyptian boys playing with a small brown dog run past him. Muerte’s stomach grumbles loudly, temporarily giving him a new priority. As Muerte readies himself for the attack, the dog suddenly stops chasing after the boys. The dog turns back to face Muerte. Growling and showing her teeth, she lowers her ears back flat against her skull. Muerte looks at the dog confused. This creature and the one that he killed earlier back in the river somewhat resemble Oneikkians. The confusing part is that both of these creatures walk on four legs. Oneikkian stand upright and walk on two legs. Muerte decides to ignore the snarling creature for now and go for easier prey. Rushing out from his hiding place, Muerte grabs the smallest of the boys. Snapping the young boy’s neck, Muerte immediately begins feasting on it, ripping off chunks of bloody flesh. The other two boys cry out in terror and run for their lives.

Suddenly the dog attacks, leaping onto Muerte’s back. She grabs hold of the back of his neck but can’t get a good grip because of his scales. Muerte drops the boy’s body and rolls onto the ground, knocking the dog off. The dog instantly attacks again, this time grabbing Muerte by his left wrist. The surrounding streets are quickly filling with bright lights and shouting voices. Muerte removes his yklis and stabs at the dog. (An yklis is a Khepera weapon. It is a double-edged, serrated metal knife in the shape of a lightning bolt.) The dog is too fast, and he misses. The dog attacks again, this time ripping off one of Muerte’s bracelets. The dog drops the bracelet and readies for another attack. Muerte is ready; this time he won’t miss.

Aisha, Aisha, come here. Where are you, girl? a human male calls out as he enters into the alleyway.

Hearing her name being called, the dog perks up her ears. She takes one last look at Muerte, then picks up her prize and runs off. Muerte is disappointed. He really wanted to kill the annoying little thing. His first thought is to chase after it, but his still rumbling stomach wins out. Instead, Muerte turns back, quickly grabs up and carries off the dead boy. Muerte quickly slips back into the shadows, intending to finish his feast in a more secluded spot.

The dog happily runs back to her master eager to show him what she has. Aisha, my good girl, there you are. What have you got there? he asks her. Reaching her master, the dog sits at his feet and drops her prize on the ground in front of him. He reaches down, picks up the bracelet, and smiles, suddenly realizing what he is holding.

Praise Allah, thank you for this most unexpected gift, he prays, smiling. He pets his dog on the head with one hand while staring at the gold bracelet on his other. Realizing the alleyway is getting crowed, he stuffs the bracelet inside his shirt, picks up his dog, and hurries away. The two surviving boys had run home and told their parents what had happened. A large group of men have quickly gathered together to search for the missing third boy. Seeing all the blood splattered on the ground at their feet, they fear the worst.

*****

Before reaching Earth, the Oneikkians came across a human space station in orbit around Pluto. Space station DeGrassi was under attack by numerous swarms of the Khepera army. Sadly the Oneikkian were only able to save two of the humans that were on board. One was a sixth-grade schoolteacher named Jake Sheppard. The other was a six-year-old child named April Elder. Once the Oneikkian shuttle entered Earth’s atmosphere, Jake recognized where they were. He managed to get word to current Egyptian president, Sharon Hawas. Jake quickly explained their situation. After allowing him to briefly see and talk to Anubis and Bast, President Hawas allowed the shuttle to land safely. Captain Sebek, Anubis, Bast, Sekhet, Troopera, Jake, and April were the first to exit the shuttle. They immediately warned President Hawas about the Unholy One’s plan to attack.

While his fellow Oneikkians were deep in discussions at the presidential palace, Troopera quietly made his escape into the general population. News and photos of the Oneikkian visitors spread like wildfire across the globe. Troopera quickly found comfort and safety with an Egyptian family, who had mistaken him for one of the ancient gods of Egypt returned. Finding that he rather enjoys being worshipped and showered with gifts Troopera has made himself at home, fully taking advantage of his situation.

Troopera is an Oneikkian. He is a half-human, half-batlike creature. He stands five feet ten inches tall with large ears, brown eyes, and a short leathery snout. His face and body are covered with fine brown fur. Longer, thicker dark fur covers his chest, shoulders, forearms, and down his back. Long, straight, black human hair hangs down just below his shoulders. His clothing consists of a white idnahs, a pair of tan-colored sandals, gold bracelets, and a gold communication earring. Troopera has since removed his bracelets and communication earring. He does not want Sebek or the others to find him.

Back on Oneikki, Troopera was a thief. He would often change bracelets to disguise himself. In Oneikkian society, it is customary to wear gold bracelets with various colored stones. The different color and style of the stones denoted your occupation in Oneikkian society. For example, all palace guards wore wide rectangular red stones; farmers would wear thin alternating brown and green stones. Troopera’s favorite was to disguise himself as a priest. In Oneikki, priests would wear a wide gold bracelet with a thin silver line through the center. They were greatly honored for their service to the community. It was customary for the priests to be freely given food, clothing, or anything they needed—a custom Troopera frequently took advantage of.

Right now, Troopera is pretending to be an ancient Egyptian god returned. He has just accepted an invitation from a local merchant, an antique dealer.

Great god Troopera, if you were to grace my humble establishment with your presence, I believe it would greatly increase customers, the merchant explains.

Troopera, being the oh-so-benevolent god that he is, happily agrees—in exchange, of course, for any items that might be of interest to him. The thought of a store full of priceless antiques is just too good for Troopera to pass up. The merchant readily agrees, adding that his establishment is only a few streets away. After consuming a sumptuous breakfast, Troopera is ready to go. Eager to get started, the merchant quickly exits the house followed by Troopera.

Although Troopera had planned to keep his whereabouts secret, his greed quickly took over. Any humans wanting to bring offerings to the mighty god Troopera are gladly welcomed and encouraged to do so. Word of his presence has spread quickly through the local population. Exiting the house, the merchant and Troopera are immediately surrounded by throngs of devoted followers and curious onlookers. They walk the short distance to the shop. The merchant unlocks the door, and he and Troopera step inside. As the merchant locks the door behind them, Troopera quickly scans the antique shop, looking for valuables. He spots a few small gold figurines, but he was hoping for much more.

Come, Troopera, please follow me. I keep the more valuable items locked in a safe in the back room, the merchant says, leading him through to the back.

Yes, always a wise decision, Troopera agrees, finding this bit of news extremely interesting.

The merchant removes a few pieces from the safe that he wishes Troopera to see. He places the objects on an old desk, then takes a few steps back allowing, Troopera to examine them more closely. A sound from the other room catches the merchant’s attention.

Excuse me, Troopera, I will be right back, I know I locked the door behind us. I will just go and be sure. The merchant says as he exits back out into the shop.

Troopera examines the pieces sitting on the desk but finds nothing of interest. He proceeds to examine some of the other items sitting on shelves around the room. An intricately painted wooden box catches his eye. Opening the box, Troopera empties the contents into his palm, a pair of gold earrings and an emerald ring. Troopera quickly pockets the jewelry and returns the now-empty box back onto the shelf. He accidently knocks off what looks like an ordinary clay brick the merchant was using as a book end. The brick smashes on the floor, revealing a secret compartment inside.

Troopera pulls out a small cloth pouch. Emptying the contents into his palm, he finds an odd-looking, clear crystal pyramid. It is tiny, only about two inches tall. Looking closer, he sees it has a small amount of dark-blue liquid inside. He turns the pouch completely upside down and shakes it, hoping something more valuable will fall out. A tiny scrap of ancient papyrus lands softly in the palm of his hand, next to the crystal pyramid. Troopera gives it a quick look finding words written in a language he does not recognize on one side. On the other is a map with more strange writing and pictures. It looks like a representation of a compass and something else, but part of one corner has disintegrated. The papyrus is extremely old and fragile.

Troopera is about to throw the papyrus away but then hesitates. He remembers how much the Unholy One valued the musty, ancient black book he recently found for him. Troopera involuntarily shivers as he remembers all of the unpleasant things that happened to him after that.

Perhaps you could be worth something? Troopera whispers.

Hearing the outside door clearly being open and shut, Troopera quickly stuffs both items back into the pouch, then secures it inside his onimod.

I am very sorry, but I am not open at this time. Please come back another—

Hearing the merchant stop in midsentence instantly sends Troopera on the alert. He moves quickly and silently toward the back door. Suddenly there is a loud commotion as a truck full of Egyptian soldiers pulls up, cutting off his escape. Troopera looks around for another way out. A curtain on the far side of the room looks interesting. Troopera pulls it aside and finds a narrow staircase up to the roof. Having large bat ears comes in handy. Troopera can clearly hear everything that is being said down below.

Yes, the great god Troopera is here. I have a few rare antiquities locked in a safe in the back. I brought him here to look over my merchandise to see if anything looked familiar to him. Also having a living god visit my humble establishment is sure to increase foot traffic and revenue, the merchant explains, smiling as he imagined all the customers he will have after this.

President Hawas and the alien captain Sebek request Troopera’s presence at the presidential palace immediately, one of the soldiers informs him.

Yes, yes, I have heard of the one called Captain Sebek. I have seen his face on the internet. He is their leader. I am sure the great god Troopera would be most honored to be invited to the presidential palace. Come I will take you to him. He is back here, the merchant says, waving his hand for them to follow. He leads a few of the soldiers into the back room.

Troopera knows full well that if Sebek is looking for him, then his official reign as a much beloved ancient Egyptian god is over. Sebek will have him brought back up to the ship and have all of his wonderful treasure confiscated.

Troopera, you have been invited to visit with President Hawas. It is a great honor indeed, Troopera? the merchant calls out, walking into the back followed by soldiers.

Seeing Troopera has given them the slip, the soldiers fan out, searching the rest of the building and the surrounding areas.

Troopera has no intention of going back; he likes being a god. Looking around the rooftop, he searches for a way off. Troopera peeks over the edge of the roof, deciding whether to make the climb down or not. Finding the alleyway clogged with soldiers, he decides definitely not. He can’t go back downstairs so his only other option is to jump across to the next roof. Luckily, all the dwellings in this area are clustered so close together.

Troopera makes the jump to the next rooftop, landing safely. Troopera continues to leap across the rooftops out of sight of the soldiers below. When he is far away enough, Troopera climbs down into an empty alleyway. Smiling to himself that he has successfully eluded the soldiers, Troopera turns only to find he is not alone. Standing in front of him is a stranger. The stranger is completely wrapped in a dingy cream-colored hooded robe so that only his eyes are visible. Looking into those eyes, Troopera involuntarily takes a step back. He is staring at one of the few creatures he had hoped to never ever see again. The stranger removes the cloth from his face and head.

Muerte! Troopera says, startled.

Thief, Muerte replies, smiling.

Their unhappy reunion is interrupted by the shouts of the Egyptian guards sent to search for Troopera.

"HERE, OVER HERE!" Troopera shouts trying to get the guards attention. Anything is better than being alone in this alleyway with Muerte.

Hearing the human guards rapidly approaching, Muerte once again covers his face and slips back into the shadows.

Here, we have him! We have Troopera! shouts one of the soldiers.

Inform President Hawas we are bringing him back to the presidential palace, another soldier shouts back as he walks up to Troopera.

Troopera is quickly surrounded by a dozen guards and led back toward a waiting transport truck. Once inside he is seated and surrounded by guards on all sides, Troopera looks back into the alleyway looking for Muerte, but he seems to have disappeared. Somewhat relieved, Troopera sits back, thinking how he just outsmarted and escaped whatever evil plans Muerte may have had for him. However, now he has to face Sebek. Troopera leans his head back and sighs heavily. He is miserable at the thought of Sebek putting an end to his reign as a much-beloved Egyptian god returned. What’s worse is he knows Sebek will have all the beautiful treasure the humans gave him taken away.

Muerte quietly slipped unseen into an adjoining alleyway. Once again, he stays in the shadows, trying to remain hidden. Something catches his eye, and he stops. Over across the alleyway, one of the picture boxes the humans call a television is showing Oneikkians shaking hands with a human.

So you pathetic Oneikkians still survive. I must find a way to get to my great master and inform him, Muerte says softly to himself.

Suddenly Muerte steps back and hisses at the image now on the screen. It is Ssechud, the now banished former high priestess of his great master, the Unholy One. Ssechud, the Oneikkian Muerte has sworn to kill