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THE RISE OF THE OMARLO CLAN
Rosylan McCallum
Copyright © 2009 by Rosylan McCallum.
| Library of Congress Control Number: | 2008910837 | |
| ISBN: | Hardcover | 978-1-4363-8860-3 |
| Softcover | 978-1-4363-8859-7 | |
| Ebook | 978-1-4500-4670-1 | |
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book was printed in the United States of America.
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to my mother Maybel Hutcherson for her support. And, my sister Sandra Hutcherson for her patience and love.
Contents
Prologue
Centuries of interplanetary warfare resulted in the economic collapse of the nineteen planets comprising the Nissarian star system. Those who were alive cared nothing about the reasons for the start of the ongoing conflict. They only cared about finding ways to continue to survive the war’s devastating results. Generations had grown up accustomed to the constant sounds of war: missiles and bombs exploding, cries of pain from the wounded, cries of hunger and fear emanating from women and children—war’s most vulnerable victims. They knew well to hide from the constant menace of the sluggish steps, which signaled the presence of soldiers or mercenaries trudging through towns and cities. Interplanetary space travel had long since stopped being a common means of moving about. What little there was, the military controlled. Even under those circumstances, travel was sporadic. The problem was hazardous navigation through the debris of derelict ships adrift in space. This space junk was a silent reminder of the untold number of space battles fought and lost.
Then suddenly one day, the war, which had no true victor, was over. The frontline soldiers simply stopped fighting. Supplies such as rations, bullets, and medicine were among the last casualties that had ceased coming. Civilization had come to a brink. There was nothing left to sustain a war. Armies disintegrated, and everyone sought instead to get back home or to what was left of home.
Once again man had come close to the edge of extinction and needed to prove once more if he could be resilient enough to survive. Prior history told of his arrival in the Nissarian star system many eons ago under similar circumstances, that of fleeing war and extinction. He was now presented with another chance to survive and rebuild what had once been a thriving star system.
Those who were able to assume leadership became known as the planet’s house lords and understood that they must start over by first putting aside any and all differences and grievances. To jump-start the recovery process, the partially existing communication satellites were used to send word that a chosen representative from each planet was to attend a conclave on Meteran. This was a planet located in the center of the Nissarian system. The first meeting saw the founding of a governing group called the Coalition of Planets, COP. It was created to be the organization that would oversee state of affairs as they occurred during the period of reconstruction. It was decided by consensus that the highest-ranking house lord would be responsible for his or her planet’s reconstruction needs and, on a rotational basis for a term of five years, would govern as the head of COP.
However, not all of the planets in this star system suffered the same degree of fate. There were two small planets that were located farthest away from the center of the system warfare. They were Lagros and Racine, each located at opposite ends of the star system. They suffered little or no planet wide structural damage. They had no incidences of the sick and the dying abandoned among those who struggled to survive. They were unaffected for the most part as if no war had occurred. Because of their locations, the responsible war antagonists had long since stopped expecting much in the way of help from them.
The result was that over time, they were forgotten. They did, though, contribute their fair share of soldiers to the war effort. Their armies patrolled their space, mainly to ensure protection of their planets. They fought to keep the war away from Lagros and Racine. Those not involved in that process kept the agricultural and the industrial complexes on each planet going. The leaderships’ primary goals were to maintain the security of their planets and to preserve the necessary foresight needed to be ready when peacetime returned to the system. They knew help would be needed. Any who could provide this help would be in a good position to be first to receive untold economic wealth and power.
The first lord to assume COP’s leadership position was Lord Dargret Astral of the House of Astral. He did not want the post but was overwhelmingly voted into it by the other lords. It was known that his planet, Lagros, situated in the outermost region of the Nissarian system, had been most fortunate. They knew that Lagros suffered the least damage to its primary cities and towns. Though suffering from