Chapter One

Earth date, May 23, 2025:

Major Karen O'Reilly, of the Allied Nations of Earth Space Agency (ANESA), crested a boulder strewn knoll on the Titan moon. She stopped to glance over her shoulder at the hulking remains of the Shimuran flagship, Xaviour. The main body of the ship lay in a deep crater, half buried in sand. Karen averted her gaze and forced the plethora of memories from her mind.

No use.

Vivid, colorful images and the angelic face of her star-sister, Zara, flashed through her brain, niggling, nagging and plaguing her like a ghost come back to haunt her. "I know you're in trouble," Karen muttered under her breath. "Where are you? What has happened?"

"Major, do you need assistance," FAI, the onboard computer from Earth Angel asked.

Karen slapped her hand against the calm pad of her space suit. "No. Everything is a-okay."

"Affirmative, but who were you talking to?"

There were times when she resented the AI's ability to see and hear everything, and this was one of them. Karen smacked the com link again. "Don't disturb me again."

Garbled static blasted through her headset followed by blessed silence.

Setting her sights on the six white grave markers, Karen trudged down the hillside and stopped before six mounds of rock. She cleared away the loose debris and knelt before the first grave. Something mysterious and unexplainable kept drawing her here. Too bad she couldn’t read the runes that identified the Shimuran buried beneath. The only clue she had was the gold pendant hooked over the head stone. It's presence indicated an elevated position within the SSC. He could be Zara's father, or his first officer. She'd never know. Whoever he was, he was certainly in no position to help.

Damn! She was so bloody frustrated. None of her colleagues understood, nor could she even explain the anxiety that had been building in her for months. What happened to Stardust? They should have been back by now.

Karen pressed her hand against the chest plate of her space suit, but the tight ball of fire in the middle of her chest wouldn't go away. "Sir, I'm worried about Zara and David. Stardust hasn't returned, and I fear they are in trouble again."

The lunar winds picked up, and a single whirling-dervish took shape. The dusty orange funnel shimmered, and glistened in the pale sunlight, mesmerizing her natural movement. It picked up speed and headed in her direction. The pain in Karen's chest increased. She gasped for breath and tried to move out of the way, but her feet wouldn't listen.

The swirling sand took on the vague outline of a man. Her ears popped and a painful buzzing filled her head. "You have in your possession something that belongs to me," the ghost of Admiral Sedric Rimon declared. He reached through Karen's spacesuit and grasped the crystal ornament hanging around her neck. "I have come to claim it, and enlist your aid."

A foreign energy invaded Karen's body, creating a tingling sensation that sucked the very energy from her body. Lightheaded and woozy, she backed out of reach but the whirling dervish followed, engulfing her in a malevolent vortex that lifted her off the ground. Karen closed her eyes, and choked back a wave of nausea as her world spun madly around.

"Forgive me," Sedric whispered as he bonded with Karen's life-force.

The deviant wind died down. Karen fell to the ground and quickly returned to her feet, ready to run should the sandman reappear.

He didn't.

An unnatural quiet invaded her psyche, and she looked around in alarm. No sign of the whirling dervish remained except the dust, settling about her feet. It cleared, revealing a space-suited body crumpled over the grave.

Shock, disbelief and fear churned in the pit of her stomach.

Karen held out her hand, and screamed. Her gloves were gone, replaced by ghostly appendages. She looked at the transparent fingers and hands, followed the vague outline of an arm to a barely discernable shoulder where her own should have been. Unable to reconcile what she was seeing, she knelt down to take a closer look at the body lying prostrate at her feet.

Her own sightless, green eyes were staring lifelessly back. She gasped in horror: "No! This can't be happening!"  She slammed her vaporous fist against the com pad. "FAI, come in!"

The computer didn't respond.

"Robert," she fought the panic and tried again, "Keith!"

No matter how hard she tried, Karen couldn't engage the com link. Her hand passed through the suit and the cadaver until her arm sunk elbow deep in the rusty orange rocks. Terror crept into her soul like a cold wind, freezing the hideous image of the sand demon in her mind.

She closed her eyes, counted to ten then opened them again.

A twinkle of gold drew her eye to the alien medallion. It sparkled with an eerie light, demanding her undivided attention. Karen crawled closer and snatched it from the headstone. It came away, feeling cold, solid, and reassuringly real in the palm of her now invisible hand. Unable to accept the reality of her situation, she yelled for help, and cringed at the horrid racket. Her voice sounded like the howl of a banshee forewarning of some impending doom - a warning that came far too late to help. "Oh God, please help. I'm too young to die!"

In answer to her heartfelt plea, Karen's spirit began moving. Not back to her body, but off the ground. She grasped for the nearest bolder but couldn't get a grip. Unable to stop the upward momentum, she floated through Titan's murky environment, and into the star-studded cosmos. She could do naught but watch as her white, space suited body became a tiny white speck that eventually vanished from sight...