The original seeds for The Hand of Xerophias were sown in late 2001 to early 2002 in the aftermath attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon of September 11, 2001. I began to think about a scenario of a 9/11 style attack in a futuristic/science fiction setting, and all the different races and species of lifeforms that might be affected by the loss of life and damages brought on by such an attack.
I began to formulate the storyline for Xerophias during the spring of 2002. The story was originally set a little 500 years into Earth's future, in about the mid-26th century. Man had gone out and colonized other worlds, making Earth the capital planet of a star nation called the Terran Union as well as forming other star nations. He had also established contact with other civilizations and had begun to settle into the galactic community.
Much of the conflict in THoX centers around a solar system called the Palguras system. One of the planets of that system is Jacqondria, home to an ancient religion called Luhrzahl, centered around a god named "Rigahl." Jacqondria has also been embroiled in centuries of wars with neighboring planets which practice a religion known as Mahrzohn. "Xerophias" is the name of the god worshiped by the Mahrzonite believers. In addition to fighting open wars against these Mahrzohnite worlds, the Jacqondrians have also been victimized by terror attacks by radical Mahrzohnite groups.
As the fight against these Marhrzohnite extremists becomes more desparate, the Jacqondrian government reaches out to the Terran Union and the rest of the interplanetary community for help. As a Jacqondrian ambassador meets with political leaders and diplomats from the galactic community, members of a radical Mahrzohnite group known as "The Hand of Xerophias" strike at the meeting, killing all of the dignitaries present as well as members of the interplanetary news media.
This attack sets Lance Spillman, an operative for Terran Central Intelligence, on a mission which takes him across a series of planets and solar systems as he seeks out the leaders of the Hand of Xerophias and discovers a connection between the organization and the galactic drug cartels of the Phirunas system. The original galactic terror attack scenario I had come up with following 9/11 was never actually used in this particular story, but I filed that idea away in the back of my mind to use for a possible sequel, and I still may yet use it.
The Hand of Xerophias wasn't originally conceived as "Christian science fiction." In fact, I formulated this story and began writing it in 2002 during a prodigal/backsliding season of my life. The language and violence of the story would have been equal to a PG-13 rating. After I recommitted my life to Christ in 2004, I began revisiting the manuscript and removing all of the profanity but keeping the violence pretty much the same, justifying it with the mindset of "you can't write a story about terrorism without violence." Then I began inserting made-up swear words in place of the real ones from the original drafts. I created three words to use: "tsiach" (shee-ahk) to be used in place of the "S-word;" "phreigh" (fryg) as a substitute for the "F-Bomb," used in a non-sexual context; and "vesteich" (ves-tike) for "bastard." I eventually removed these words and went back to a profanity-free approach.
Off and on for several years, I worked on THoX, repeatedly abandoning it and returning to it over and over. I would begin work on other projects that could be more "Christian" or faith-based/inspirational speculative fiction, but my attention has always been drawn back to The Hand of Xerophias. I often pondered the prospect of doing THoX as a Christian story, but was unsure of how to do it. I even tried abandoning it altogether.
But then about three years ago, I felt something stirring me from within. God was prompting me, showing me how to do this. Since then I have been working on THoX as time allows. Most of the basics of the original storyline are still there, but I changed the setting from the 26th century to a universe completely different from our own. The Terran Union was replaced by the Taleuran Union, based among the twin worlds of Taleuras Major and Taleuras Minor.
The Palguras system is still there, as that universe's equivalent to the Middle East. Palguras is the home to the cosmos' three main religions. Mahrzohn is still present in this story, with both peaceful and radical believers. Jacqondria is home to the other two faiths. Luhrzahl represents Judaism, and is the official state religion of Jacqondria. I changed the name of the Luhrzahite God from "Rigahl" to "Y'on-El," an angram for the Hebrew "Elyon." Christianity is represented as "Ashueia," named after Ashu'ey, the Christ figure in the Ashueian faith.
I made some changes to the hero character, starting with his name. Lance Spillman became Josh Nunnmeier, and changed him from a TCI agent from the Terran Union to an anit-terrorism operative with the Jacqondrian Institute for Security and Intelligence. The ISI is Jacqondria's equivalent to the Israeli Mossad. As with Spillman, Josh's crusade against terrorism has a personal dimension. Each had lost a wife to a terrorist attack years earlier, prompting each to abandon a promising military career to fight terrorists as an operative.
With Josh, this decision has created a rift between him and his father, a retired Jacqondrian admiral and a devout Luhrzahlite. The two have barely spoken to each other for about seven years. Early in the story, the elder Nunnmeier reaches out to his son to make amends and heal their relationship. But when the father reveals that he has become a follower of Ashu'ey, the rift between the two actually widens. While Josh himself is not a particularly religious man, he is extremely offended that his father is now an Ashueian. As he finds that other members of his family are now Ashu'ey-followers, Josh feels a sense of betrayal.
Josh finds himself investigating a serious of attacks by Mahrzohnite radicals. But when an attack by the Hand of Xerophias affects the Nunnmeier family, Josh begins his own personal investigation of his father's new faith. But as he studies and weighs the evidence, the younger Nunnmeier must decide for himself if Ashu'ey truly is the "Maigrac," the promised Savior sent by Y'on-El to redeem fallen humanity and save mankind from his sin-debt.
As I move closer to finishing this novel, let me add that I do have some story ideas for possible sequels to The Hand of Xerophias: more subplots than main storylines at this point. Some of these ideas obviously involve further terrorist threats from Mahrzohnite extremists, while some also involve other potential enemies for Jacqondria and for Josh Nunnmeier himself. There are some interesting directions I can take Josh in after THoX, and I look forward to following him on that journey, and I hope you do as well, Dear Reader. The journey begins later this year when The Hand of Xerophias finally sees the light of day!
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