Bøker av Franz Ludick

The Chief of Police on Earth had finally managed to capture Cankie on trumped-up charges and had him shipped off in a fleet supply freighter, with instructions that he never sets foot on any planet again! Crankie had a hard time in the beginning but managed to overcome the problems he was faced with.When the freighter was attacked and taken over by pirates, Crankie was freed and he met up with the pirate captain, Martin West, who was to become one of his best friends. The pirate ship headed back to the pirate base, Tortuga, where Crankie settled himself after it became known who he really was. He became very popular at the base, especially with a certain lady.Crankie, having become one of the leaders amongst the pirates organised a few raids and finally convinced Martin they should carry out a raid in the Heshny Galaxy. The first raid went off successfully and they managed to hi-jack several ships which they could add to their pirate fleet. Crankie made contact with his old buddy in the Milky Way Galaxy, Alexei, and finally, the two met up again. Together they made plans for Crankie to meet up with his friends from Earth and a grand secret meeting took place, bringing Crankie up to speed on all his business interests and restructuring some of the facets of his organisation. He also managed to bring his super fast and beautiful space ship the Solar Plexus to Tortuga and used it to further his interests there.The Japanese President of Tortuga, Makatura, asked Crankie to arrange assistance for his home planet 'Nga which was under attack by a rogue nation, the Ribaldese, from a neighbouring planet that was determined to destroy "Nga. Crankie planned the whole operation and with the willing participation of the hundreds of pirates with all their fighting ships, they attacked the rogue planet and virtually destroyed it! The pirates, as payment for their participation, pillaged the planet and came away with rich booty.The Police Chief of Earth and the GASS (Galactic Secret Service) determined that Crankie was responsible for the massacre on Ribald. He was named the 'Butcher of Ribald' and a hefty price was placed on his head.While the Chinese were making preparations Crankie and Martin West carried out various daring raids and this ended up in catastrophe, with Martin being killed, blasted to space dust by a heavy cruiser. Crankie took this loss very hard and blamed himself for what happened. His lady friend Eleza tried everything to comfort him and even called in Alexei's help.Crankie tried to hold himself together and arranged several raids. He even made contact with Marood Hubool of the mysterious mystical planet Xanatanka who gave him guidance and support, but it was all to no avail. He planned a daring raid and things suddenly went horribly wrong when his ex-wife Emily betrayed him to the GASS. The whole operation was a complete disaster! Crankie was distraught and fell apart, turning to strong drink and even Eleza and Alexei's help and support couldn't console him for all the deaths he was responsible for.Taking a space capsule Crankie headed off straight to a fleet cruiser and handed himself over, to the amazement of the captain of the cruiser who had dealings with Crankie in the past.Crankie was sentenced to life imprisonment at the high-security penitentiary Hellkatrazz on the planet Walmer from which no prisoner had ever escaped, and the Police Chief of Earth, when he was told about it, went totally off his head, having to be put in a straight jacket while running around madly in circles and repeatedly screaming Crankie's name!The Dark Force which was ever vigilant also took note of the situation and realised that a powerful new enemy was being groomed which would eventually be a real danger to it.

Joe, a notorious gangster and killer in the late 1920's New York, is finally killed in a shoot-out with the cops. He finally ends up in Hell and meets up with some of his gang buddies, some who were killed in previous gun battles, as well as a few of Hell's inmates whom he befriends.Having been allocated work in one of the factories producing clothes for Hell's army, Joe decided this was no place for him and he made up his mind to do whatever possible to get back to Earth. He secretly brought his friends together and they formulated various plans that might get them out of Hell and back to Earth.Gregor, one of the Enforcers of Hell, took a special interest in Joe and his friends and gave them a hard time. Time and again when they embarked on their numerous escape attempts they got caught and punished. During the last attempt they got caught and sentenced to the 'outback' to spend their sentence amongst the stinking sulphur pits, but Joe and his friends overcame their guard (Idi Amin) and managed to get back, only to be brought before the management of Hell and be sentenced harshly.The executives of Hell were in the final stages of planning for the war against God and they couldn't afford anything going wrong. When Joe and his mates started rocking the boat these executives began to get very jittery and the CEO (Hitler) issued instructions that security had to be tightened up to the limit. No rebellious behaviour would be allowed or tolerated!When Joe, who didn't know when to give up, organised a general strike in the many huge factories as well as in the army, all hell broke loose! This was serious business and Joe was finally identified as the ringleader of the conspiracy. He escaped down into the never-ending Dimension Spiral that has many doors leading to all sorts of interesting and sometimes terrifying dimensions. He finally arrived in the dimension of 'nothingness', that had no way out, and after nearly losing his mind he was met by one of the senior security agents of God's dimension, who was waiting for him to arrive.Joe was taken through the magical portal into God's dimension and he marveled at the wonders he saw. Eventually, after being introduced to the top executives and closely questioned he was brought before the archangels who were aware of his efforts to get back to Earth, as well as the mayhem he had caused in Hell. They made Joe an offer he could hardly refuse. After he accepted their proposals they magically transported him back in time to the factory where he was stationed. This caused major confusion in Hell, as the alarms had gone off when the door to Hades had been opened, and it was impossible to explain who had escaped, seeing as no one was missing!Joe had a hard time convincing his friends that what had happened to him was really true, but in the end, they accept it. Joe decides on a plan of revenge against the few evil crooked cops who had taken bribes and then double-crossed them during the time he was still in the gang on Earth, but even that last plan of his misfires, and Joe, together with his friends had to escape. God's agents and top executives plan Joe's escape and with seconds to spare he and his friends enter the machine that takes them back to Earth, where they have contracted to do work for God. Failure to stick to their contract would result in them being sent back to Hell!

Crankie Williams was born as Clarence Allain, but as a baby his mother called him Crankie because, well, he was a cranky baby, so the name stuck. On his way home from school, Crankie met with Commander Illian who was instructed by the emperor to guide and tutor him through his young life, until he understood he had a higher purpose in the future. During his junior as well as senior school days he got up to all sorts of tricks and became a real thorn in the principal's flesh, so much so that the principal, after Crankie decided to become an entrepreneur and began, with his brother and his friend's help, to go into space and sign contracts with both the Arabs of the planet Murka and the Chinese of the planet Manchuria. The principal eventually met with the Chief of Police to inform him of his suspicions that Crankie was involved in criminal activities.With the help of his brother, Crankie meets up with Alexei who was to become one of his best friends. The two of them plan raids in the Heshny galaxy and hijacked some Heshnian freight ships. When they, unbeknown to them, hijacked a brand new super ship belonging to the powerful Andromedans they were overjoyed, but when they eventually realised what they had done Crankie ordered the new ship to be hidden until they could decide what to do with it. The Andromedans blamed the Milky Way pirates for stealing their ship and this put a huge strain on relations between the two galaxies. There was big trouble in the Milky Way galaxy and the Galactic Council was in uproar, giving the Police Chief as well as GASS (Galactic Security Service) instructions to find the culprits at all cost! Crankie, through a clever scheme, managed to recover the new ship and take it back to the Andromedans, thereby earning the title of Universal Hero!Crankie decided to start a new venture for the business empire he was developing. He restructured his management team and made plans to construct motels all over the Milky Way galaxy. These motels would be called Star Havens and eventually, after they were built and commissioned, they catered not only for weary travellers in pleasure cruises, they also afforded rest and recuperation for the fleet officers and men. The problem came when the pirates also began using the facilities and it was passively agreed by all that Star Havens would also be 'Safe-Havens'. No pirates would attack any passenger of cargo ships they were with at the havens and the fleet would not attack or hunt any pirates until they had a chance to get safely away.Through the influence of the emperor, Crankie met up with Chiefs Running Water and Running Bear of the Lacota Sioux tribe and it was decided to move all those people, who decided for themselves if they wanted to go, to a new mysterious planet called New Maka. Crankie got involved in some shady underworld activities and, although it was hugely successful for a long time, he eventually got caught red-handed and much to the joy of the Police Chief, was locked up. The Police Chief decided to have Crankie shipped out in a fleet supply ship, with strict orders that for the rest of his life he was never to set foot on any planet again.

The Dark Force, after it escaped from its dimension, managed to evade its pursuers and fled through many universes until it holed up in a universe that seemed sparsely populated, its energy depleted. The Emperor, sensing the presence of this evil force sets off in the spirit to find it and evaluate its power, but the long journey through the universe, and clear across the empty divide separating the two universes drained his energy. He finally found the Dark Force and forced it to battle but it overpowered him and he just managed to flee.The Dark Spirit easily conquered and enslaved lower order spirits and built up a powerful army. It spent aeons manipulating the inhabitants of several planets in and around the Milky Way galaxy and convinced them to prepare for war, promising them untold riches and power.The Emperor made it known that the Dark Force was preparing its allies for war, and Crankie with Martin and his guardian set off to find it. Marood Hubool warns him urgently to leave the sector immediately! He couldn't imagine the power of that being!Through spies, the Milky Way Galactic Senate became aware that the Valgonar Galaxy and three of its neighbouring galaxies were preparing for war. The Galactic Senate consulted with the Andromedan and Heshnian galaxies, to form an alliance, and after the war had started, they were under the impression they were winning it until the Valgonarians called in the powerful Changchoos from the Transilvian galaxy! The allies were ready to retreat before that fresh force when suddenly a new ally arrived to save their bacon. The Valgonarians and their allies withdrew to lick their wounds.The Dark Force turns on the pressure and adds more allies to its forces, instructing them to attack once more. This huge combined fleet of warships was playing havoc amongst the allies and they were sure they would be beaten this time. On both sides, thousands of huge battleships were blown to space dust and even Crankie's heavily armed freighters, as well as the combined might of the pirate fleet, made no impression on the enemy.They saw it coming, it was like a space-dust cloud filling the galaxy and it was approaching at a speed they couldn't comprehend. It was the Halconans from the Tabulanè Hoff galaxy in another dimension, coming to their aid.The Valgonarians and their allies were defeated and eventually, due to major upheavals in that sector of the universe, the Dark Force's peers arrived and captured it. They escorted it back to their dimension through the 'Dimension Spiral' and securely lock it up in a raw energy and plasma cell.Crankie, the Emperor, and the Supreme Senators were invited by the Dalmerians, from the neighbouring universe, to join them in their pursuit of the Dark Force, and eventually they discover the Dimension Spiral, but they'd lost track of the enemy.Crankie decided he needed to become more enlightened and withdrew himself completely from the Milky Way, to be tutored by the highly advanced spirits of the next universe, and then also by Marood Hubool of Xanatanka, and this led to unforeseen and unexpected consequences, not only for Crankie, but for the universe as a whole.

Crankie was taken to the penal planet Walmer, to the top security penitentiary Hellcatrazz, where he was sentenced to stay for life. He met with the Director of the penitentiary as well as some important inmates. Crankie began planning on how to make Hellkatrazz and the whole planet Walmer into a thriving and financially viable business, and after meeting with the Galactic Council, he was permitted to put his plans into place. Crankie set out on a daring escapade to make his plans succeed and called in the help of Marood Hubool from the planet Xanatanka. After many devious plans and much wrangling, his plans were put into action. Crankie finally made contact with his friends from Earth, who were managing his businesses during his absence. Together they came up with some weird ideas, and some of those led to battles throughout the Milky Way, and Hesny galaxies. Crankie finally identified the rogues who preyed on space miners and, using his super fast ship, the Solar Plexus, he destroyed the killers in a gruesome way. Crankie made deals with the Pleasure Lords of Barcator, and after many confrontations, he managed to unite the Heshny galaxy. A grand plan by the Valgonarians to invade the Heshny galaxy was uncovered, and a spy nest within the galaxy was eventually destroyed. What Crankie and the whole Galactic Council were unaware of, was that the Dark Force had awoken and was setting its plans into motion, influencing the rebellious galaxies to prepare for full-scale war. The Emperor of the Milky Way became aware of the Dark Force's schemes and he in turn communicated with Crankie. Dark days lay ahead for the united galaxies.

Joe, a notorious gangster and killer in the late 1920's New York, is finally killed in a shoot-out with the cops. He finally ends up in Hell and meets up with some of his gang buddies, some who were killed in previous gun battles, as well as a few of Hell's inmates whom he befriends.Having been allocated work in one of the factories producing clothes for Hell's army, Joe decided this was no place for him and he made up his mind to do whatever possible to get back to Earth. He secretly brought his friends together and they formulated various plans that might get them out of Hell and back to Earth.Gregor, one of the Enforcers of Hell, took a special interest in Joe and his friends and gave them a hard time. Time and again when they embarked on their numerous escape attempts they got caught and punished. During the last attempt they got caught and sentenced to the 'outback' to spend their sentence amongst the stinking sulphur pits, but Joe and his friends overcame their guard (Idi Amin) and managed to get back, only to be brought before the management of Hell and be sentenced harshly.The executives of Hell were in the final stages of planning for the war against God and they couldn't afford anything going wrong. When Joe and his mates started rocking the boat these executives began to get very jittery and the CEO (Hitler) issued instructions that security had to be tightened up to the limit. No rebellious behaviour would be allowed or tolerated!When Joe, who didn't know when to give up, organised a general strike in the many huge factories as well as in the army, all hell broke loose! This was serious business and Joe was finally identified as the ringleader of the conspiracy. He escaped down into the never-ending Dimension Spiral that has many doors leading to all sorts of interesting and sometimes terrifying dimensions. He finally arrived in the dimension of 'nothingness', that had no way out, and after nearly losing his mind he was met by one of the senior security agents of God's dimension, who was waiting for him to arrive.Joe was taken through the magical portal into God's dimension and he marvelled at the wonders he saw. Eventually, after being introduced to the top executives and closely questioned he was brought before the archangels who were aware of his efforts to get back to Earth, as well as the mayhem he had caused in Hell. They made Joe an offer he could hardly refuse. After he accepted their proposals they magically transported him back in time to the factory where he was stationed. This caused major confusion in Hell, as the alarms had gone off when the door to Hades had been opened, and it was impossible to explain who had escaped, seeing as no one was missing!Joe had a hard time convincing his friends that what had happened to him was really true, but in the end, they accept it.