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Introduction

Allow me to introduce myself; my name is William Henry Watson. I was named after a distant ancestor from early in the Twentieth Century. My friends call me Bill and I hope that by the time you finish reading my story, you will be a friend as well. My personal history is as follows. I was born on 11 March 2410, in Valdosta, Georgia, United States of America. I am about 188 cm tall and weigh about 85 kg. I have reddish-brown hair, blue eyes and what has been described as a medium complexion. Even though I am not muscular by any stretch of the imagination, I do spend time in the weight room on a regular basis and, as a result, I've got a toned body. I don't want to sound conceited, but I have been told by several women that I am more than a little attractive. At the time of the following story, I was 25 years old, a Lt. Commander and a fighter pilot in the Interstellar Terran Navy. My call sign during flights is Nine Lives; this is also one of my nicknames. I'm not exactly certain how I got that nickname unless it's because I seem to get out of scrapes that most people would lose their lives doing. It could also have something to do with the fact that I have always had an affinity for cats and, according to tradition, cats have nine lives. For as long as I can remember, I've always been interested in the military. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that my father was a member of one of the last totally Terrestrial based military units, called the International Air Force. The International Air Force was created at the end of the Third World War. Its purpose, along with that of the International Navy, International Marine Corps, and International Army, was to prevent local hostilities from expanding beyond the borders of the disputants and becoming another world wide war. The reason for this was because World War 3 began as a border dispute between two Asian countries that called in favors from other countries around the world. The war lasted fifteen years and cost a total of one billion lives. The international community decided that such a thing must never happen again. An international treaty shortly after the end of the war created the four international military branches. Their purpose was to surround any countries involved in a border dispute and prevent any other countries from becoming involved. Because of the treaty, the international military had the authority to attack any country that became involved in any dispute and, effectively, prevent them from waging war. Ten years after the creation of the international military, its power was tested when a border dispute threatened to expand into neighboring countries. The International Army surrounded the two countries and, when a third country mobilized it military and ignored the orders of the army to stand down, the International Army and International Air Force attacked the third country destroying its military power. Because of this proof of the International Military's might, the disputing countries settled their differences and, from that moment on, no third party got involved in border disputes. Even though my father's career in the IAF had a lot to do with my decision to become a member of the ITN, the events at the beginning of my tale also had a lot to do with my being a member of the Interstellar Terran Navy. But, I'll get that in due time. My father started training me in the martial arts from the age of three, with training in karate, aikido, judo, and jiu-jitsu. From there, I graduated at age five into more advanced martial arts of sword fighting, including usage of the epee, katana, and the Scottish Claymore sword. I became extremely proficient in the usage of all of these martial arts. I also learned archery and shooting firearms, including pistols, rifles and shotguns. My abilities with the pistol and rifle were second to none and my skeet abilities were amazing. I once recorded 500 birds in a row. My father once told me that the reason he paid for all of my training was because he wanted me to be a member of the United States Olympic teams. When I was fourteen years of age, I won a place on the Olympic team in the three sports in which I was most proficient, fencing, martial arts, and shooting. I won the following medals in order, Gold, Bronze, and Silver. I don't know who was more proud of my accomplishments, me, or my father. I do know that the international community was more than a little surprised that an American could win Gold in fencing since it has always been considered a European sport.

I started pilot training at the age of ten. I started with gliders, then graduated to biplanes, monoplanes, multi-engine propeller planes, and then jets. I loved the freedom that being a pilot gave me. It also helped me to think in three dimensions. An ability that helped me greatly in the near future, although at the time, I just thought about how free it was to be able to leave the crowds behind and soar through the clouds. However, this type of thinking almost cost me my life one day. You'll read about it in its entirety shortly. However, the condensed version is this. I had a desire to set a civilian altitude record and I altered my private jet to make the flight. Shortly after my 16th birthday, I flew my jet to an altitude of over 65 kilometers. I looked up, saw the stars and knew I had achieved my goal. I would have been fine, except that, due to a lack of oxygen, my jet's engines flamed out. There was also not enough air for the controls to bite enough for me to control the jet. Fortunately, I had made alterations to my jet which allowed me to control the roll, pitch and yaw. However, despite these alterations, I was, in essence, at the mercy of the craft and atmosphere. Unfortunately, as many a pilot has learned since the early twentieth century, neither of these is very merciful. Sixty-five kilometers is a long way to fall, so I chose to stay with the jet until I knew it would be safe to bail out, or I could restart the engines, preferably the latter. For those of you who have never experienced the sensation, falling over fifty kilometers in silence is one of the most eerie feelings you can experience, especially when you know that if it wasn't for the alterations you'd be in a nosedive from which recovery would be difficult at best and impossible at worst. I kept my hand on the controls and pulled back hoping against hope that I could keep the nose up enough to prevent my reaching terminal velocity. Finally, at about sixteen kilometers, I tried to restart the engines and was successful. Keeping the nose up allowed air to enter the engines slow enough to allow for a restart and regaining of control. The results were twofold. First of all, I saved my life from certain death. Second of all, my desire to go into space became an all-encompassing desire. An admiral in the Interstellar Terran Navy, Jeremy Yamashita, contacted me shortly after my record attempt. He informed me that the International Aviation Authority had decided to suspend my pilot's license. However, because of the admiral's request, the IAA decided to make it a temporary suspension. The excuse they used was due to the fact that I had set the altitude record and survived. (Many previous attempts had ended in the death of the pilot.) There were two requirements. First, I had to refrain from flying any type of aircraft for the next three months. Second, I had to accept a commission to the Interstellar Terran Naval Academy in Jacksonville, FL. Since I had a desire to go into space, I readily agreed to the second part and didn't have a problem with the first. After graduating from high school in Valdosta, GA, on 6 June 2428, I left to go to the ITNA. I was graduated from there on 1 June 2432. I received my orders for star fighter training at Tonojen Naval Base and was graduated on 9 December 2432. My training being completed sooner than normal due to what happened less than three weeks earlier. Three years after receiving my pilot's wings I was the greatest ace in the ITN with over 70 kills to my credit. Many in the military said that I was single handedly winning the war. I had received commendations from every official in the Terran Interstellar Federation, especially the President of the Federation, Tyrene Koshuvala. The story you are about to read is the story of the first year of the eight Terran years I was missing from Terran Naval service.