What is Space Dock 13?
Other than my web site you mean?
The name Space Dock 13, like everything else, comes from the Twighlight Manor stories. As I said before, the Twighlight Manor is some what of a base camp for the aliens who live there. The #13 figures in strongly with the Manor’s history. Constuction for the Manor began in 1313, after a space craft was sent off course and crashed on Earth. During it’s construction 13 workers were killed when one of the walls crumbled. The Manor was abandoned and went unfinished. Years later, construction resumed, and it was the first Emporor Swanzen, who officaly made the Manor the space dock of planet Earth. His son Vielder added to the Manor, what would become one of the key elements behind the Manor’s curse…a giant floor clock. The clock sits in the front parlor, and at eight feet tall, it towers forbodingly over all who enter the front doors. The clock was said to fore tell doom, predicting the deaths of those who had at some point set foot in the Manor.
Vielder, was a merciless tyrant, his reign was one of terror. Vielder’s most famous additions to the Manor were two grizly rooms now boarded up…the first was known as “The Head Room”, and as it’s name implies was the room which stored his human head collection. Vielder saw the planet earth as a primative planet, and humans were nothing more to him, than alien animals waiting to be slaughtered and added to his ever growing trophy collection.
A second room added by Vielder, remained undiscovered for nearly 400 years. Upon aquiring the Manor in the late 1800’s, EelKat had every room, every item, every book, and every artifact cataloged. During that time, was discovered a room that EelKat cataloged as “The Wax Museum”. It was quite simply a room filled with what on first sight appeared to very life like waxworks. They were, in actuallity, taxidermed creatures from around the galaxy, many humans and earth animals make up part of the collection as well. Oddly though, while the room and the older figures were put there by Vielder in the 1400’s, EelKat’s scientists claimed that most of the human figures had been added in only the last 100 years, during the 1700-1800’s. And in the 150 years since the room’s discovery, it’s collection has nearly doubled in size. “The Wax Museum” remains one of the Manor’s darkest mysteries…who are the bodies? how do they get there? and who is continueing to expand Vielder’s horrid collection 400 years after his death? Since I’m writing the story, I know the answer to that….shockingly, the story’s darkest villain, is also one of it’s best loved heroes.
So what does any of ths have to do with Space Dock 13? Vielder’s reign of terror was the bloodiest ever seen, though not nearly as horrific as the murder’s comited by the book’s as of yet unidentified vilain…known only as The Lansquin’s most devoted follower: The Red Dragon The people began to call the Twighlight Manor, Space Dock 13, after the death of King Vielder. Vielder’s death marked the end of his reign of terror, and the beginning of a series of murders, marked by their horrific, yet artist, public display, and a madman’s riddles written with the blood of his victims. While Vielder’s murder was not the first, it was the first to include the now trademarked blood riddles. This first riddle told of a lost key, a cursed rhyme, and a 3′O clock chime of death. The words had no known meaning, until the next death that soon followed.
After the mysterious murder of King Vielder, the giant floor clock stopped working properly. Many clockmakers have since been brought in, the clock taken apart, even it’s gears removed in order to stop it from running at all, but nothing has ever stopped it from it’s new funtion. Upon Vielder’s death the clock began running backwards, keeping time as usual, just now in reverse. It no longer chimed on the hour, it makes no sound at all. No one ever winds the clock, and after having it’s gears removed, no one knows how it contiunes to run. Posessed is how it’s explained. Exorcists were brought in, and the clock still kept on running, keeping perfect time, going steadly on, ever backwards.
Than one day, it stopped. A small clattering sound was heard, and the inhabitants in the parlor at the time, figured the gears had finally run down…but it had not, the hands of the clock began to move ahead rapidly until reaching 3 O’clock and for the first time since Vielder’s death, it chimed, 3 simple chimes, than began to run just as normal as any other clock. Normal that is until, when twelve hours later it reached 3′O clock again and chimed thirteen times instead, than went back to running in reverse once again.
The curse of the clock, was thus seen for the first time…for death had stuck yet again, now in time with the thirteenth chime. Since that day, every person who sets foot in the Manor, even for a second, the clock knows the time of their death, and tells all who are in the parlor to hear. If ever you hear the parlor clock chimeing 3″O clock, than keeping time in perfect order, you know that some one somewhere will die twelve hours later when the clock chimes thirteen. And because of the clock’s thirteen chime, came the name Space Dock 13.
, now I have to go through with it… 
anyways, I started about 4 new stories, got past 2 pages each and quite cause they just weren’t “clicking” for me , than I remembered a story I wanted to write years ago, but never did, cause no matter how I tried, I couldn’t write crime fiction… well, I just realized I was going about it all wrong back than, cause it’s not really a crime story, it’s a love story, a romance, set in the midst of crime… ahh-huh! now I have my romance story to write for February…here’s the problem:the “hero” or rather anti-hero, Vwoodell Swanzen, is a crime lord, the leader of a 1920′s gang and owner of a gambling house which is really the front for his “real” opperation: drug-smuggling, moonshine/bootlegging, and gun-runningthe main character, Jasmine Ridley, is a young girl, 16 at the start of the story, but in her early 20′s once the story really gets going; who has runs away from an abusive orphanage with dreams of Hollywood, singing, and being in the movies… on her way to Hollywood she stops off at this gambling house hoping to get a temp job as a singer and ends up staying on there, eventualy becoming the gang-leader’s “girl”.
