Overview

Welcome to the year 2861. Centuries of growing secularism have choked off the lifeblood of organized religion, forcing them to adapt or die. Most slipped away to extinction. The Catholic Church though, flush with assets, chose the first path. No longer able to usher mankind into a heaven it largely no longer believes in the Church now seeks to unlock the worlds outside of earth. Once a bastion of faith the Church is now the standard bearer for science, human genetic development, and ethics. Yet, as always, it struggles to find the balance between what is right and what is expedient, and how to combat the corrupting influences of near-absolute power.

Faith, though, is not yet lost. Faced with an unprecedented crises – major habitation outside of earth – the conservative fringes of the world’s major religions find themselves uneasy allies. The Abrahamic faiths – Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and their myriad of off-shoots – all look to the day when the last battle between good and evil rages on earth, and peace reigns supreme as their deity assumes the throne. Yet, how can this happen if mankind is no longer confined to the earth? Small in number, they view the direction of the Church and the colonies on the Moon and Mars as nothing short of heresy. Some stand unyielding in their beliefs. Others resort to violence.

Hundreds of years prior, in 2492, scientists and engineers, entrepreneurs and pioneers, free thinkers all, established mankind’s first colony on Mars. The economy flourished as the solar system began to give up her sizable resources. An economic powerhouse, the Free Thinkers have lived and died for generations in the hostile expanse of space. Living under the continuous threat of terrorism by the religious conservatives and the weight of Catholic expansion they are faced with a desperate gamble – a Black Cross or death.

About Us

This is our concept. Throw in great characters, exquisite writing, and super-detailed (and physically realistic) ships and space combat, and we hope to deliver a ripping tale of adventure, love, loss, faith, the threat of freedom and search for truth. We want to explore the tension between religion and science, faith and free thinking, and where we are today versus where we are headed.

Hi, I’m Brad White. I have been writing for quite awhile now (you can read my blog atwww.sinesatisfaction.com to get a taste) but I have never focused long enough to crank out a fiction novel. I’ve had the basic idea for this book for about a year but lacked the compelling story to make it really sing. That changed when my brother and I were talking about the future of religion. I quickly realized that this was the narrative to bring everything else together!

Much of the inspiration for the characters and ships comes from current naval technology and tactics, especially submarine warfare. With nothing but a whole lot of, well, nothing between ships stealth and defense become critical. Great care is taken in regard to orbital mechanics, space flight, and the physics of projectile and beam weapons. Life aboard the ships is anything but pleasant. The future may be glamorous, but it’s still gritty.

In addition to writing I have a masters degree in engineering (hence the meticulous approach to space ship design and combat physics) and paint when there is nothing better to occupy my time. So, on top of the writing I will be doing all of the illustrations and schematics for the book.

While this book will be able to stand alone it is intended to be the first in a trilogy. If the reception is warm enough my goal is to dodge real work long enough to write the following two as well. The following titles are:

• Dark Trinity
• Final Coming 

Which means I’ll probably be hitting you up for support again. We hope that you get as much out of this story as we have!

We invite you to follow along with our progress at www.blackcrossbooks.com! (Website coming soon)

Thank you and we appreciate your support!

– Brad & Jacob White