jason macarthur - backstory

8/18/2019 Jason MacArthur - Backstory

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It was a cold night on Atlantis. The not-quite Earth-like atmosphere didn't quite trap the heat

from the almost Earth-like star. A chill breeze stirred the patrons of the Dying Quasar bar as a man

stepped through the front door. The man wore his old coat open in the front and carried a pistol openly

at his side. e ga!e the room a quick glance" then walked purposely to an open seat at the bar.#E!ening stranger"$ said the barkeep in a too-familiar tone" #%hat'll it be tonight&$

#ame's (ason" friend"$ the man said" #(ust a soda today" not staying long.$

#I see" long !oyage ahead&$ the barkeep asked" beginning to clean some used tankards.#I hope so.$ The man paused a moment. #I left her (ack. I left Neptune's Pride.$

#)h& %hy& *he was your pride and +oy.$

#%ell" I didn't really ha!e a choice. ere"$ (ason said" handing o!er a data stick" #That'll e,plaine!erything. ou're one of the few people in this gala,y I trust" so I know you'll get that to the right

people if the need arises.$ (ason finished his drink and stood. #I probably won't see you again (ack" so

thanks for e!erything.$#eah" sure" no problem.$ As the man turned to lea!e" #ey (ason.$ The man turned" #*afe

tra!els.$

After all the patrons had stumbled out into the cold night" the bartender looked at the data stick

he'd been gi!en earlier. e fingered it idly" thinking about the man who ga!e it to him. He used his real name" he thought. (ack locked the door and went back to his apartment in the back of the bar. *itting

down at his computer" he considered the data stick. epending on the contents" it might be !erydangerous to !iew. (ason needed him though" and (ack didn't think the lad had it in him to put him in

such danger" so he plugged the stick in and opened the dri!e.

The data stick was encrypted and the folders were written in a cypher" but (ack was familiarwith (ason's security" and soon enough had the whole thing open to !iew. The dri!e contained a series

of logs" audio and written" detailing (ason's tra!els and ad!entures. (ack skimmed the files until he

came to one labeled as a summary. /ooking at the file size" he settled down for a long story.

#If you're listening to this" then you're one of the few people I trust. epending on who you are"you might know me by a different name. I'm 0arcus 1radley to some of you" Ale,ander ardigon to

others. *ome of you know me as *te!e 2ichardson" and others know me as 3eter 4arpenter. I'!e gone by dozens of other names" but my real name" and the one I'm using from now on" is (ason 0acArthur.$

#ou already know some of this story" but for conte,t" and for the others listening" I'm telling

the full !ersion. It begins many years ago" in the year 5655. )ur story starts on 0ars" in a small workertown called ew ope. I grew up there" in the shadow of manufactured starships and under the

crushing knowledge that all I had to look forward to in life was an eternity operating a machine in a

smog choked factory. The town was a run down ho!el" nothing worked and the community ranged

from depressed at best to cruel and heartless at worst. %hen they run out of options" desperate peoplewind up there" which happens to include some of the worst humanity has to offer. ew ope is the end

of the line for mankind. (ust when you thought that wasn't bad enough" I didn't e!en ha!e a family tolean on. 0y mother died gi!ing birth to me" and my father was killed in a work accident when I wasonly 7 years old. Alone and orphaned" I was left with what was in the pantry to li!e off of. I wasn't old

enough to work in the factories yet" so I spent my time mar!eling at the star ships as they'd take off.

ou ha!en't seen anything until you'!e felt a new starship engage her engines for the first time. Thenoise is deafening" but the sight is truly awe-inspiring. I think was the sight that kept enough hope ali!e

for me to keep going" but I digress$

#3eriodically" traders and merchants would come to town" often as not due to a wrong turn.

%hen I was fourteen" I saw this as an opportunity. %hile the merchant was negotiating some last


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minute sales" I snuck inside his cara!an with his acquired goods. I didn't care where I went" +ust that it

was somewhere away from here. I was disco!ered by the merchant himself a few days later when her

unloaded the trucks at the starport. is name was (ack %illiams. I'll ne!er forget that day. I was young

and scared" and only knew that I needed to be away from 0ars. I wasn't sure what would happen whenI was disco!ered" but it had to be better than the future that awaited me in ew ope. I half e,pected to

be turned in" half e,pected to be shot on the spot" but (ack did neither. e asked me what I was doing"

and after my e,planation offered to take me with him. I didn8t question him. I would ha!e followedhim into the sun if he'd ha!e asked me to" +ust to get away from 0ars.$

#It turns out (ack had some less than reputable contacts that he worked with. %e headed to the

Epsilon Eridani system" e!en then a home to all kinds of folk who li!e +ust outside the law. %e put into port abo!e Epsilon Eridani III" where (ack officially enlisted me as a cabin boy on his ship. e!er

before or since ha!e I been so e,cited. (ack kept his in!ol!ement with the pirates" scoundrels" and

smugglers to strictly trade" but I wanted more. After a few years" I told (ack I was signing on withanother ship" Neptune's Pride. *he was small but fast9 her crew specialized in hit and run raids and

blockade running. (ack was disappointed" but he knew I couldn't stay on his ship fore!er" and he was

getting close to retirement anyways.$

#Aboard the Pride" I learned a lot. If it in!ol!ed a starship" I was only too eager to help out. Ispent time in engineering" at the weapons console" anything anyone would let me work with. As time

passed" I rose through the ranks until I was promoted to chief of engineering as 4ommander. I was then

third in command" behind the first officer" 4ommander Ale,i *tuko! and 4aptain Tom *kerritt. *tuko!and I were ne!er on good terms. e had been 4ommander *tuko! for a !ery long time" and ne!er

forga!e me for my rapid ascension. There had been bad blood between us for a while" but we kept it to

a minimum out of respect for the 4aptain.$#E!entually howe!er" *kerritt grew old and ready to retire. e took me aside" and told me that

he wanted me to take o!er as captain. I was honored" and not a little surprised. *tuko! had been

*kerritt's second-in-command for years9 it was strange that he'd choose me" his third-in-command. I

accepted of course" I lo!ed Neptune's Pride" and was thrilled to ha!e such a position. :tuko! wasn't pleased" but he said nothing to me then or e!er.$

#I was the captain of the Pride for se!eral years. ;nder my command we raided a number of

systems" Tau 4eti and Alpha 4entauri chief among them. %e aimed primarily military and go!ernmenttargets9 my logic being that they at least could handle the loss. They also were better defended against

us" but my men and I preferred the challenge. a!ing to work so hard for a prize made us feel as if

we'd earned it" which helped sooth some our out guilty consciences. %e didn't take prisoners" but wealso tried to minimize casualties. /eg shots and knockout blows were our pension.$

#3art of the reason for our clean style was to separate oursel!es from some more distasteful

crews. )ne ship in particular" the Siren's Call " consistently competed with us for +obs and marks" butthey were ruthless in their e,ecution" pardon the pun. They didn't take any prisoner's either" but that's

only because they ne!er left any sur!i!ors either. Their captain"


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crews around. %e made it to the core" but *tuko! was waiting for us. e wasn't supposed to be there9

his assignment was to lock down the guard station and pre!ent +ust this kind of thing from happening.$

# ' E!ery rank I'!e attained" I'!e been passed o!er for at least once before. E!ery

assignment has been gi!en to someone else. I'!e been li!ing in the shadow of younger and lesse,perienced men than myself for too long> I deser!e this command> I deser!ed it years ago>' $

# '1ut you were so close> e,t month the other captains and I were going to discuss who should

command some of the new sal!age" and your name was at the top of many of their lists" mine included.

1ut now...' $# 'I don't want a sal!aged ship> I deser!e the Pride> I'!e ser!ed on her for o!er two decades> I

deser!e to command her> ot some looted piece of garbage>' $

# 'Is she worth this&' $#Ale,i considered for a moment. 'es"' he said" walking down the hall towards me. '


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#I awoke on a medical table" by body numb" but my heart aching. I was being tended to by an

elderly doctor. e told me that I'd been out for a few days" and that I was the only man found ali!e on

that station. I was currently under in!estigation for the murder of the crew compliment" and so was

confined to the medical wing. I hadn't killed anyone" but e!en if I could pro!e that" I did launch a raidon the station. It truly was a hopeless situation.$

#I resigned myself to my ine!itable fate" waiting for the day of the trial to begin. %hen it did"

they had some retired na!y officer" 4aptain 1en Abresch" defending me. The man was a pilot" not alawyer" but I already knew what was coming" so it didn't matter. 4aptain Abresch surprised me though.

e had collected !ideo files from the day of the raid and used them to pro!e I killed no one. That still

left the charges of piracy" trespassing" and the like" but after a pri!ate con!ersation with the +udge" thosecharges were dropped. 1en later e,plained that the station was home to a secret research pro+ect and

that they couldn't afford any press at all" so they dropped the charges and were letting me go. )nly the

murder charges were enough to risk public knowledge" and with those no longer rele!ant" I was free togo. I offered 1en my thanks and my sincere apologies that I didn't ha!e anything I could pay him back

with. e then in!ited me to ser!e on his ship" a small pri!ate craft he had recei!ed upon retirement.

There I could 'work off' my debt. I accepted happily" glad to be heading for space again" and thrilled to

be away from that station.$#That's where we are now. I got to keep my equipment because I ha!e 'legal' permits for it all.

jason macarthur - backstory

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