When the Colonial Marines set out after their deadliest prey, the Xenomorphs, it’s what Corporal Hicks calls a bug hunt—kill or be killed. Here are fifteen all-new stories of such “close encounters,” written by many of today’s most extraordinary authors. Set during the events of all four Alien™ films, sending the Marines to alien worlds, to derelict space settlements, and into the nests of the universe’s most dangerous monsters, these adventures are guaranteed to send the blood racing— One way or another. CHANCE ENCOUNTER by Paul Kupperberg REAPER by Dan Abnett BROKEN by Rachel Caine RECLAMATION by Yvonne Navarro BLOWBACK by Christopher Golden EXTERMINATORS by Matt Forbeck NO GOOD DEED by Ray Garton ZERO TO HERO by Weston Ochse DARK MOTHER by David Farland EPISODE 22 by Larry Correia DEEP BACKGROUND by Keith R.A. DeCandido EMPTY NEST by Brian Keene DARKNESS FALLS by Heather Graham HUGS TO DIE FOR by Mike Resnick and Marina J. Lostetter DEEP BLACK by Jonathan Maberry DISTRESSED by James A. Moore DANGEROUS PREY by Scott Sigler SPITE by Tim Lebbon

The Crystal Crypt is a work by Philip K. Dick now brought to you in this new edition of the timeless classic.

This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

Veterinarian Andrew Foreman hadn't wanted to go to Mars in the first place. But somebody had to look after Monkley the GenMoP, the genetically modified primate. Foreman had always regarded space travel as a dangerous business, but he had no idea just how dangerous.The invitation to join the secretive Guadel should have been the fulfillment of dreams Va'del didn't even realize he had. When his sponsors are killed in an ambush a short time later, he instead finds his probationary status revoked, and becomes a pawn between various factions inside the Guadel ruling body.Jain's never known any life but that of a Guadel in training. She'd thought herself reconciled to the idea of a loveless marriage for the good of her people, but meeting Va'del changes everything. Their growing attraction flies against hundreds of years of precedent, but as wide-spread attacks threaten their world, the Guadel have no choice but to use even Jain and Va'del in their fight for survival.Publisher's Note: Frozen Prospects is a YA Epic Fantasy book, and is the first novel in the Guadel Chronicles Series which is written so that it can be safely enjoyed by teens and adults alike. Frozen Prospects is followed by Thawed Fortunes.The Guadel Chronicles: All the scope of an epic fantasy combined with the action of a sword and sorcery book!

It is 2011 in an alternate war-torn Victorian-era world. A young girl and her guardian seek the Emperor of the country to ask him to stop the ten year civil war. A war between those who are for, and those who are against new technologies, and between the non-religious versus those that still believe. This short story is a prelude to my upcoming novel The Clockwork Universe.Las Vegas. Devon Pierce lives a life of his own choosing, surviving by his wits and violent actions. For those in desperate need, he is the judge and executioner of last resort - above the law and incorruptible. Cleora Kinney, an exotic dancer, has been wronged and the Afghanistan treasure of her deceased father has been stolen. Only Devon can set things right. But first he must follow the clues found hidden deep in the shadowy underworld of the city of sin.

This prelude to the Treborel Scifi/Fantasy Series introduces Mikel who returns from a journey across the sea to announce his bethrothal only to discover his long time mistress Zannia is with his child. After Mikel refuses to be blackmailed Zannia disappeares into the war torn landscape of Latria determined to make Mikel suffer.This is the first book in the CoM (Cult of Musk) series.In 2194, Mars is colonized. The descendants of 21st century industrialist Elon Musk, founder of Musk City, Mars, form the ruling elite on the Red Planet. The Musk clan is about to face a historical event as one of their own, Lazar Musk Whittaker, a Biomech, embarks on an ambitious undertaking to change the course of human evolution. The war of the species and the fracture within the Musk clan begin when four tombs are discovered encased in an asteroid in a mining facility on Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons. As the Martians soon discover, these tombs contain the bodies of four aliens.In the future, Earth is a multi-humanoid society of Naturalopists (natural humans), Biomechs (biological-mechanical beings), cyborgs (part machine-part human), milbots (military robots), cilbots (civilian robots), and wobots (worker robots).“I liked this novel a lot...The plot of this novel is its strongest element...The author can put together a very strong plot, with plenty of twists and turns, and a good ending. There are some very suspenseful moments, and levels of tension are created which at their best evoke the sensations of a fine horror story. And the author, by and large, appears to have done his/her homework. The novel also has sociological touches which work well, especially its view of futuristic mega-capitalism. The venality, blindness, and excess of Udell Whittaker and his flunkeys is very believable, and adds depth to the story. The manner of day to day life, both in space and on the ‘colonies' of Mars seems well-researched and is often fascinating to the lay reader…” — Writers Guild of Alberta

Ben is back on board the Bonaventure, and the ship is on its way back to base. Meanwhile his new hobbies include surgery, taking watches apart (not necessarily with the owner’s permission) and shrugging. This is the second series of snippet stories about Ben the alien and his life amongst humans.Ben is once more back on board the Bonaventure, and the ship is making its way back to base. Very slowly. The bosses of Min-XR are not so sure they want a powerful alien loose in their city, and it is not long before they are plotting to keep him away from Camp Munro while they decide what exactly to do with him. Ben is still enjoying his life amongst the humans, and has now taken up the new hobbies of surgery, dissecting watches (not necessarily with the owner’s permission) and practising shrugging and modest looks.This is the second series of very short ‘snippet’ stories about Ben and his life on the Bonaventure.

In the distant future, mankind has developed a way to live forever by switching bodies created via stem cell research. Arlen Burns and his sister Centara dream of a way to escape their home on the Moon colony Atlantis. When they finally get a chance, however, they learn of a terrible "project" conducted by the mysterious Enigma Corporation which threatens to destroy all they hold dear.The year is 2035, and everything Arlen Burns cares about is about to be threatened. It starts when he and his sister Centara buy a ship and leave their home on the Moon colony Atlantis. After several days of overcoming the obstacles space has to offer, Arlen and Centara learn of a consipiracy perpetrated by Arlen's former employer, Enigma Corporation. The fearsome head of Enigma, Eric Sibelius, is a man who makes his living manufacturing and planting false memories into the heads of unsuspecting citizens. When Arlen and Centara's mother disappears, the quest to save their colony becomes personal.

Every human baby is killed beneath the waves--with one exception. The one hundred thousandth is spared.A long time ago, 1 in every 100,000 children born from a human was a mermaid. But now mermaids are the only ones that can survive in this flooded world. Every human child born is killed the moment they take their first breath. However, one in every one-hundred thousand is spared. WATTYS 2015 AWARD WINNERThese children are placed on the mountain-tops, the "islands", that poke up over the sea. The Earth has become warmer, making these islands habitable. The humans that survive through Mother Nature's fury have created Tribes, created rules. One of these rules is to not go near the water, to not touch it. And then there's a girl who lives to be sixteen, who goes and touches the water. Who begins to show symptoms of something half-human. Symptoms of a mermaid.These symptoms have drawn something out from the depths of the woods, from the darkness of the sea... And it's out to get this girl that's growing scales. The One-Hundred in the midst of One-Hundreds. Cressa-la.Gifted and spared. Will she be so lucky again?Part 1 of Book 1 in The One-Hundred Series.

This is the fifth in a series of short stories based in the same world as the book series A Life in After World. Instead of telling the life story of one character, these stories tell the story of one day in the life of a person in After World.She does not have a name. She is programmed to serve one purpose. She is a clone and her purpose is to live an interesting and full life and hope that when the time comes, Mother will select her to merge with so that she can live on forever.But she has been ordered terminated by Mother and now she has no purpose. She must find a way to get away from her people a live a life of her own. With the help of a rogue AI, can she get away?

We're all just created, debated, chewed up, eaten, spit out, and repeated by the machine that runs the world.The moon is falling. The shift is tearing apart the transportation infrastructure, and the population is stricken with "moon sickness" - literal lunacy.Charlotte, Lawton, and Fisk are friends. They met in a writing workshop when the news of the moon's fall was only mentioned on the late-night conspiracy shows. While lunar cults pray for the intense celestial coitus of Luna's impact with Earth, all Fisk wants is Charlotte.MOON SICK is a surreal short story by Aniko Carmean, author of MIXED MEDIA and STOLEN CLIMATEs.

This short story is the prequel to The Magi series of books - it includes a sample of the 1st novel 'The Magi'.When one of the most elusive criminals in the galaxy uses his power and his money to evade arrest, who you gonna call call?Who else but An Kohli, honoured member of the Guild of Bounty Hunters, pin up girl for police forces across the galaxy and scourge of the criminal classes.This short story is the prequel to The Magi series of books - it includes a sample of the 1st novel 'The Magi'.When one of the most elusive criminals in the galaxy uses his power and his money to evade arrest, who you gonna call call?Who else but An Kohli, honoured member of the Guild of Bounty Hunters, pin up girl for police forces across the galaxy and scourge of the criminal classes.But even An Kohli still has to get up close and personal before she can make an arrest, so when Biggar Fro hides out in a maximum security luxury hotel there are challenges to be faced and bodyguards to be overcome, not least of whom is a knee tremblingly good looking Aloisan by the name of Thomaso.

Winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Fantasy Award by the age of 30, China Miéville has also been a World Fantasy Award and Bram Stoker finalist. IThe Scar,/I arguably his most ambitious novel yet, takes us on a bizarre voyage on a vast ship teeming with grotesquely re-engineered prisoners. Among them, biding her time for a peaceful landing, is the brilliant Bellis Coldwine, a linguist whose access to secrets protects her. But on the Swollen Oceans, pirates overrun this vessel of mutants, and Bellis, now doubly captive, confronts a death sentence that others call life

Carl Bok is a citizen of Springworld, the heavy-gravity planet with monstrous and dangerous flora and fauna. Carl is well over two metres tall and weighs-in at 180 kilograms. Now Carl has won a scholarship to Starschool. He'll spend a year on this touring school, visiting sixteen of the colonized planets. This will be the experience of a lifetime. It's tough enough for Carl as the poor scholarship student among the rich kids. His problems get worse when they arrive at Earth. Carl finds himself in urgent need of big money and, since he's a pretty tough guy, becomes a paid fighter. He has to fight dangerous and deadly human and animal opponents. His fellow students, B'oosa, Miko, Alegria and Francisco "Pancho" Bolivar, get caught up in his exploits. And then there are the aliens.