The White Falcon

Book 1

Prologue

The collapse of the Intergalactic Alliance in 3200 had plunged all of space into never-ending conflict. Every nation and race had gone to war in an attempt to fill the power vacuum caused when the IGA collapsed. Whole generations had grown up knowing nothing but violence and bloodshed. Then in 3400, the Age of Warfare, as it has come to be known, ended as suddenly as it began. Starting with the ancient sages of the Free World of Boris IV and ending with the violent and warlike Kraxatori, peace was declared and the fighting stopped.

For some nations, such as the Terran Empire, this time of warfare had been a very productive time, with their power and wealth increasing exponentially. For others, however, the age of warfare had been disastrous. The Golnar Federation, for example, had split three ways. The fighting had been over for five years now, and with the peace all had changed. Every nation, from the largest and greatest to the smallest and least significant, was now concerned with rebuilding their war-torn worlds and making the adjustment to peace.

Deep within the borders of the Dieron Federation, the smallest of the three nations formed from the collapse of the Golnar Federation, there is a small planet known as Calos II. Sitting right on the border of an uninhabitable section of space known simply as Dark Space, it is the home planet of a young man by the name of Alex Steddard. Matters of reconstruction and high politics matter little to Alex, who is only concerned with avoiding the national draft. Due to the fact that service within one of the religious orders exempts one from military service, he believes he can achieve this aim by joining the White Falcon Order. The fact that the White Falcons are adherents of a religion known as the True Path means this plan is not without its drawbacks. To Alex this faith is a relic of a bygone era steeped in a superstition no longer needed in these enlightened times; and the Overlord whom they serve is the creation of someone with an over-active imagination. In spite of his personal dislike of this particular belief system, Alex is determined to follow through with his plans, primarily because the alternative is worse. So, in two days, a young boy who has never even seen a spacecraft up close will be embarking on what will become the adventure of a lifetime.

Chapter One

Alex Steddard sat with his back to the golash tree on the large hill overlooking his parent's farm with his lightboard on the ground next to him. He was thinking about the same thing that had occupied his mind for the last month. Tomorrow would be his eighteenth birthday; and in order to get out of being drafted into the military, he had decided to join the religious order known as the White Falcon Order. In two days' time, therefore, he would be leaving Calos II for the first time ever in order to go to the training compound on Portus. In his whole life, he had never been farther from his parent's farm than the village of Heersch which was only twenty miles away. Even with their limited technological access, it was still only a trip of a couple of hours. Now in two days' time, he would be going to the capital city of Calos II over eight hours away. He would then take a starship to the planet of Portus, a trip of at least eight days and four light jumps. To make matters worse, he was going to have to pretend that he actually believed in all this White Falcon rubbish, and probably would have to pull this off for several years.

His parents still believed in the True Path, and the Overlord, but he was an intelligent and enlightened thirty-fifth-century man and didn't need a religious crutch in order to survive. Science had explained how and why Dark Space came into existence. Furthermore, his upper-level professor had explained how all this religious nonsense was really just a cover for bigotry and hatred. Alex was beginning to wonder if it was a mistake to join this Order. After all, in two years his enlistment would be up. Then he could get his own farm and settle down to a nice quiet life somewhere far away from Calos II and Dark Space. But if he was drafted into the military, he would most likely be assigned to some border world garrison that lived in constant fear of being gobbled up by one of their larger, southern neighbors. Or even worse, he would be assigned to a patrolling warship having to hunt down pirates and other renegades. Neither were prospects, he particularly relished.