Backstory

My name’s Drake Corwin. But you’ve probably never heard of him and that’s not why you picked up this book. “Memento” was a moniker I was saddled with in piloting school, on account of liking to collect a trophy from any and all of my conquests. But apparently three syllables was too long for some of the numbskulls I’ve had to work with, so now I’m just Mento. This is the story of my life.

Like I said, my given name is Drake, and I’m the black sheep of the Corwin family. You’ve never heard of the Corwins? I suppose that’s fair, but on The Station they’re a pretty big deal. That’s right, The Station. A completely man-made structure that circles around the planet Ovis in wildspace. Alright if you don’t know what wildspace is you probably aren’t the target market for this book. The Station and the world Ovis are in the Eventide system. Does it have an actual name? Probably, but everyone just calls it The Station. It was designed by my Great-Grandfather Robram Corwin, like I said, the Corwins are kind of a big deal on The Station. My father is some generic merchant named Valen Wyrick, I’m part of the Corwins on my mother’s side. Octavia Corwin is a force to be reckoned with. She’s the current political authority on The Station and the unquestioned head of the family, despite not being the eldest. It’s a decent enough family I suppose, I have 4 older siblings, 2 brothers and 2 sisters, and 1 younger sister. My baby sister is my hand’s down favorite of them all. I’m not really like either of my parents, like I said… black sheep. If I take after anyone, it's Great-Aunt Raeyan.

I was a problem child from day one to hear my mother tell it. Running with the wrong crowd, getting into fights, pulling petty crimes. Normal kid stuff if you ask me. Hoping to instill some discipline and respectability, mom backchanneled and got me enrolled in piloting school. I stuck with it for a while, flying is certainly fun but I just felt restless, so one day I just left. I wandered down to the docks and stowed away aboard the first ship I came across, The Blind Delivery. That was quite the fateful and pivotal moment let me tell you.

When I was discovered by the crew less than a day after leaving, I thought they’d be pissed and maybe even jettison me out in to space. Instead, Captain Hojek Fizlift laughed. He found the whole situation hilarious and I took a liking to the man immediately. Turns out I hadn’t snuck on to some simple trading vessel. Captain Hojek was a smuggler with a reputation for never asking questions. Smuggling was much more satisfying than I ever expected it to be. The thrill of the risk of getting caught was intoxicating.

I served with Captain Hojek for a few decades and we’d had a really good run when he told me he wanted out. One final big job that would pay enough for him to disappear and live out his remaining years relaxing on some tropical beach. Sounds hideous to me but it’s what he wanted, which is why it pisses me off so much that he’ll never get it. It was on that big job when I awoke suddenly to the ship alarms blaring and explosions. I struggled to make sense of it, our course had us well away from any trading lanes, there shouldn’t have been another ship anywhere nearby. Still groggy, I stumbled out of my room to figure out what was going on and emerged in to madness. There were strange bald purple skinned creatures with tentacles hanging from their chins everywhere. I saw one of the crew get seized from behind as those tentacles slowly crept over to envelop his head and face before he collapsed lifeless to the ground. I admit I just stood there slack-jawed for a moment before someone grabbed me roughly by the arm and started dragging me away. It was Captain Hojek, who was muttering something about avoiding monsters his whole career and then on his last job… I couldn’t quite make it out. He dragged me down to the cargo bay, stuffed me in a capsule and jettisoned me out in to the astral sea before I even knew what was happening. I watched helpless as the capsule hurtled away from the ship. The ship, what was more a home than even the family compound on The Station had ever been, was destroyed. I’m not sure how long I traveled alone through the sea, time is funny there. I was eventually found and picked up by a passing trading vessel that gave me a lift to civilization.

I was rudderless for a time after that. I couldn’t go back to smuggling, not with how Captain Hojek went out. So, I decided to go legit. I mean, Freelance Bounty Hunting and Mercenary work is legit right? Not having a ship severely limited my options, but I managed to ingratiate myself with and join a collective known as Finy’s Fangs, eponymously named for Finy Whitebluff who founded the group. I took to the work with gusto, it offered much the same thrill as smuggling had but coupled with an air of legitimacy that let me be seen and celebrated in public.

Most of the jobs I took weren’t anything really noteworthy. There was one job however that proved to be far more difficult than I anticipated. In fact, if not for the help of that old-timer Gazzok I never would have found my target. That’s a story for another time though.

Freelancing isn’t always glamorous. Take this latest mission I’ve been given; they’re dropping me off on some backwater planet to “investigate rumors of interstellar technology.” It’s going to be completely miserable and boring, I’m sure.

Oh, I should probably mention the girl, she’s important. I don’t know her name; just her face and the fact that I’m going to marry her. I met her in a bar and asked her to dance, and while enjoying ourselves on the dance floor I blinked and she was gone. So was my coin purse. I never felt a thing, absolutely flawless technique. I instantly knew she was the one for me.