The next generation is here, and trouble is in their DNA.

The year was 2586. A few minutes later, it was 2591. Caught up in a time travel snafu, Eric and Jessie Ramsey become fugitives from the people who want answers as to how they did it—and where their loyalties lie in the galactic war that broke out in their absence.

Black Ocean: Passage of Time is a science fantasy series set in the late 26th century. What if Futurama jumped 5 years ahead instead of 1000? What if Doc and Marty lost the car keys? What if Bonnie and Clyde were siblings instead of lovers? Passage of Time jolts the Black Ocean universe forward into new adventures and new perils with a new cast of zany misfits trying to outsmart the galaxy just to get by.

Passage of Time Mission Pack 1: Missions 1-4

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Where do you see yourself in five years? Not a question to ask a wizard.

When Eric Ramsey gets expelled during his final year of college, studying magic, his sister Jessie takes shore leave from Earth Navy to check in on him. Sisterly concern for Eric's future confronts a desperate need to justify his actions. A demonstration of how he'd gotten expelled results in an accident that launches the pair five years into the future.

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PRE-ORDER Passage of Time Mission Pack 2: Missions 5-8 (Available October 22, 2024)

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The only act of piracy that no one seems to mind is preying upon pirates themselves.

A ship and crew with no port to call home still need supplies. And to take those supplies by force makes one the lowest form of life in the Black Ocean: pirates. But avoiding that moral quagmire doesn't put food on the table or fuel in the engines. Hunting other pirates, by contrast, does. And no navy or government will shed a tear.

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Grab the individual missions

Tempus Fugitive: Mission 1

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The next generation is here, and trouble is in their DNA.

Jessie and Eric Ramsey have a family history of crime. Fighting back against heredity, each tried to make their way in the galaxy by respectable means. Jessie joined Earth Navy; Eric went to college for magic. But fate wasn’t having it. Eric was expelled. Jessie went AWOL. Now, due to a magical mishap that wasn’t entirely anyone’s fault (we swear!), they’re stranded 5 years in the future on a Mars that’s no longer friendly territory.

Caught behind enemy lines in a galactic civil war they didn’t know about, the pair need every trick in their respective books to survive on Mars long enough to escape. Along the way, they’ll meet old friends and make new foes, and if they’re very lucky, manage to figure out where they belong in this new galactic order.

And Mars is only the beginning. Time travel is a one-way trip, and the only way to stop is death. And Ramseys don’t die easy.

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Terran Incognito: Mission 2

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Sometimes you want to go where NOBODY knows your name.

Space station Echo Niner remained neutral in the Earth/Mars civil war. For a pair of fugitives on the run from both sides, it sounded like the perfect place to regroup.

But Eric and Jessie Ramsey barely set foot aboard Echo Niner before getting embroiled in local disputes. Rival warlords divide the station into four zones, each under its own version of martial law. Separated by the teeming masses who call the station home, the siblings need to navigate the treacherous social landscape, discover allies, and reunite.

It doesn’t help that their cover gets blown.

Or that Earth Navy blockaded the station.

Or that Eric appears to be the backup plan.

The galaxy has it in for the Ramseys, and even neutral territory offers no solace. With factions clawing and scratching just for the privilege of turning them over for a reward, there’s only one way Eric and Jessie are going to get out of this alive: together.

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Xeno’s Paragon: Mission 3

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He’s the elephant in the room that everyone is talking about.

Jessie and Eric Ramsey finally catch a break. The League of Independent Planets has granted them asylum and allowed them to live on the techno-paradise world of Phabian. Jessie gets a clerical job. Eric ends up working at a factory making magical construction materials. He might even have a girlfriend.

Of course, trouble always finds a Ramsey.

Eric’s inquisitor parole officers locate him despite having no official jurisdiction. Jessie gets recruited into Phabian’s ultra-secret counterintelligence agency, Section 74.

Yet somehow, everything revolves around a newcomer to this part of the galaxy. He’s three meters tall with a personality sized to match. His species evolved from elephants, and lives on the other side of the galaxy. Ambassador of his species, this mighty explorer holds court on Phabian, the toast of the planet, and his even mightier ship waits in orbit, a mystery beyond known technology. He could be a great ally or a deadly enemy if he were to take sides in the Earth/Mars civil war.

That’s why Section 74 wants Jessie to assassinate him.

A good agent would put together a plan, befriend the ambassador, learn his habits, then betray him and frame someone for the job. A Ramsey, on the other hand, will get to know him and realize she likes him better than the assholes who want him dead.

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Time and Punishment: Mission 4

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The rules to Hide & Seek just got a whole lot deadlier.

The astral drop took out all the tech on the ship—maybe for good. They’re so far down that rescue seems unlikely. If they had it to do over again, maybe Eric and Jessie would have found some other way to escape their pursuers. But unless Eric figures out reverse time travel, they’re going to have to live with the decision.

Or die with it.

With a gaggle of refugees and a strange, alien vessel, the options for survival seem grim. Jessie assigns search parties to scavenge the vessel for essential supplies. Teams of refugees fan out in pairs. Eric, who both saved and possibly doomed them all, sulks and refrains from using magic and making things even worse.

Things get worse without his help.

Inquisitors from the Convocation manage to get aboard, and none of the crew are ready to defend themselves against magic. All be lost, except an old friend stops by to lend a hand—and a little bit of magic.

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Empty Jesters: Mission 5

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Stealing from pirates: victimless crime, or moral imperative?

Captain Jessie Ramsey has a problem. Her giant ship, the newly renamed Arete, needs more crew to keep up and running than she can currently muster. Also, she can barely feed the ones she's got, since hunting pirates hasn't turned out to be the bonanza of repatriated stolen goods she'd imagined.

Fine. That's two problems.

But she also takes prisoners when pirates surrender, and the destination she negotiated isn't the direction that'll get them resupplied. Oh, and several of her crew are disgruntled, overworked, and burnt out. Plus, there's the matter of the kidnapping victim they rescued one of those pirate raids who is getting suspiciously friendly with the ship's wizard.

Jessie wanted to be captain, and to succeed, she's going to need to learn what it takes to delegate authority, trust in her people, and most importantly... start hiring.

A little smuggling freighter might be able to operate with a small, ragtag crew, but this alien monstrosity Jessie's commanding is going to need a huge ragtag crew.

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PRE-ORDER – Realspace Real Chase: Mission 6 (Available August 13th)

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They can run but they can't hide. Also, they can't run.

A routine resupply stop takes a terrifying turn when the crew of the Arete realize they're unable to access astral space. Now, intelligence services across the galaxy are realizing that the advanced haathee vessel is trapped in realspace and unable to flee. Now, Captain Jessie Ramsey has to play the less enviable role in a game of cat and mouse. Her ship is tough, great in a fight, but there's only so much she can handle at once.

Meanwhile, the crew scrambles to find a way to repair the star-drive. They have limited materials on hand, a damaged example unit that was jury-rigged to begin with, and no one who knows exactly how one is supposed to work. Hunting pirates was supposed to earn them goodwill, but it's hard to recruit when you're being pursued by Martian warships and a band of pirates who desperately want something you stole from them.

All in a day's work for an outlaw starship captain.

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PRE-ORDER – Outlaw World: Mission 7 (Available September 10th)

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It's all fun and games until someone loses a captain.

Desperate for allies, captain Jessie Ramsey enters negotiations with an independent border colony. The planet has food and basic essentials aplenty; the Arete can offer protection in return. However, talks take a turn for the worse when half the ship's delegation is kidnapped—and the other half doesn't notice.

Who leaked their itinerary to the kidnappers? What will become of the negotiations? Who is even qualified to take over command when all the top officers are either captured or actively involved in the rescue?

Chaos and confusion reign. Except for our victims, who have their kidnappers right where they want them.

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PRE-ORDER – Who Let the Dogs In: Mission 8 (Available October 15th)

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What's worse than an 8-ton eating machine loose on your ship? Four of them.

The galaxy's most feared pirate raiders are the megalodogs. Massive, nearly indestructible, and knowing just enough magic that science cannot save defenders. The best way to deal with them? Never to let them board your ship. If you invite them aboard, knowingly or not, you're pretty much screwed.

That's the situation Captain Jessica Ramsey finds herself in. With her wizard brother Eric off on a personal quest halfway across the galaxy, her resources for dealing with the giant canines are limited. But once a special forces operative, always a special forces operative. And while the blasters and grenades she packs might not get the job done, she's got other weapons hidden up her sleeve.

Her crew.

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What’s next?

Black Ocean: Passage of Time returns July 2024 for an all-new batch of missions. Stay tuned for more adventures with Eric and Jessie Ramsey, Grosstet, and the crew of the Arete each month.

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Looking for swag?

Wish you could live in the Black Ocean world? I can't promise you'll win an argument with the universe, but you CAN wear your own wizard hoodie (complete with Convocation medallion), disguise your boring soda or beer with the Earth's Preferred can cooler, or fly the Poet Fleet Jolly Roger.

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