Rudy is an out-of-place loner who doesn't have much to live for until a series of strange experiences transport him to another reality…or is it merely a glimpse of what could be?A dark fantasy e-short of 4,500 words.‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ is one of 11 short stories of science fiction, fantasy and horror collected in Transient Tales Volume 1.They evacuated people, in the the early days of the Blight. They sealed off the affected areas and posted guards. They provided protection, issued reassurances. They put their top scientists to work on finding a solution. They don’t do any of that anymore.But even if everyone else is giving up, Olivia’s determined to find a way to survive. To adapt.Because what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Or different, at least.

After losing his wife, daughter, and career, Jack hit rock bottom, before meeting Cindy. Now with a renewed focus in his life, Jack is out to shut down the most powerful organization in the country. He has an arsenal of combat-hardened skills, low self-esteem, more demons than one closet can hold, and a constant push to self destruction. But, will it be enough?Two Delta India Echo is a snap shot of the story of Jack Prince, protagonist of the Red Shift series. After losing his wife, daughter, and career, Jack hit rock bottom, before meeting Cindy. Now with a renewed focus in his life, Jack is out to shut down the most powerful organization in the country. He has an arsenal of combat-hardened skills, low self-esteem, more demons than one closet can hold, and a constant push to self destruction. But, will it be enough?Set around 100 years from now, Two Delta captures a pivotal moment in Jack's life. Although Australia is one of the few countries functioning in the post-economic future, it is not without problems. Extreme global weather changes have destroyed many cities, and forced a rapid and un-monitored development of a new city. Corporations now control the country is a real and open capacity, with exploitation and corruption in every facet of daily life.Check out my other titles to see more of the Red Shift world, and at www.nwwo.co.nz.

We come now to Volume 3 of the ambitions Edgeworks program, in which White Wolf and its Borealis Legends imprint continue to release damned near every book ever written by Harlan Ellison. And this time, in yet another gigantic volume featuring two complete Ellison titles, we combine a major collection of his incomparable, troublemaking, uncompromising, confrontational essays, plus a foreword by award-winning author Robert Crais, with a rare, previously unavailable (except in a $100 very limited edition) publication of Harlan Ellison's Movie, the full-length feature film he created when a producer at 20th Century-Fox said to him, "If we gave you the money, and no interference, what sort of movie would you write?" Well, that producer is not only no longer at 20th, he left the whole entire venue of moviemaking after Harlan Ellison's Movie was seen by the Suits at the studio. There's no use even trying to describe what this film is about, except to confirm the long-standing rumor that it contains a scene in which a 70-foot-tall boll weevil chews and swallows an entire farmhouse and silo on camera. (It's Scene 33C.) What you might want to do, if you have a moment before carrying this swell book to the cash register up front, is to grab the book clerk who filed Edgeworks 3 in with the crappy Star Trek novelizations and all those dumb books with unicorns lifting their legs to pee golden on an elm tree, and say to that clerk, "You really ought to cross-file this lovely volume with Current Affairs or Pop Culture or Essays or Film of Books About Movies." Because if they've got it in a section that employs the letter "s" and "f"--well, that's just the behavior of zombies.

Ever wonder where R2-D2 came from, how he came to be in Naboo, what made him special, why he seemed to have more personality and sense of creativity than any other droid of the same make and model? Witness the adventures of Star Wars' most beloved and iconic droid R2-D2 here in my first fan-fiction novel! Don't forget to RATE and REVIEW! Thank you and May the Force be with you all, always!When the disease spread through the world, people had no choice but to go into hiding. The Colony is hidden deep underground, far away from the vampires—humans that were transformed by the disease. The vampires are hideous, starving, and they will kill any human they come across. Seventeen-year-old Kayla is a Bellator, a warrior that protects The Colony. In order to survive, there are three rules she must follow:Rule #1—Never go out after dark. Rule #2—Always carry a weapon. Rule #3—No matter what, never EVER get bit. But what happens when the rules Kayla has always lived by can no longer apply? The Highers run The Colony and accept nothing less than perfection. One slip up can mean death. Kayla has always worked hard to follow the rules and strive for perfection. But during a moment of weakness, she lets her imperfections show. Her punishment is worse than death. She is chosen for The Gathering and is thrown out into a world full of starving vampires. No one has ever survived The Gathering, at least that’s what Kayla’s been told. But when she runs into a group who insist they were once part of The Gathering, Kayla discovers the Highers have been keeping secrets. Secrets that could lead to a cure

What if you knew the exact date of your death? How would you live your life? Midas Stanley wants to make the most of it.What if you knew the exact date of your death? How would you live your life? In a future that will hopefully never come to pass, people are euthanized on their 66th. One man, Midas Stanley, has two months to make a final impact and say his goodbyes. Midas can still apply for exemption but will he?

This text offers a mix of wit and wisdom of Robert A. Heinlein on subjects ranging from crime and punishment to nuclearm power, from pragmatics of patriotism to post holocaust America; from the nature of courage to the nature of reality.

When the opportunity to come out of retirement and go on one last space mission presents itself, Vincent Lambert jumps at the chance to go down in history as the first belt miner. Unfortunately, dealing with corporate greed one hundred million kilometers away from Earth was not in the mission outline.Delivered on 22 August 2024, Forbes v Baker [2024] WASC 643 represented a turning point in the law as to what it means to be human.The Deceased, David Baker, was born in unusual circumstances and into a difficult life. Cloned by his father, his genetic code mixed with non-human material, the Deceased died leaving a wife, a lover, and a substantial estate.The Wills Act (WA) provides that a person can make a will. It is alleged by the Defendant, the Deceased's wife, that the Deceased was, by virtue of his mixed DNA, not a "person" for the purposes of the Wills Act.This case represents an important milestone in the developing law relating to reproduction, cloning and humanity.

Augie Adams is a rambunctious first grader with a terrifying secret. Leef Undertree is the son of a shipbuilder on the planet Brindlestar. Rachel Katrachian is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. And John Blackthorne is a zombie.What do these people have in common?They are all eager to meet you through the pages of this collection of short stories.Augie Adams is a rambunctious first grader with a terrifying secret. Leef Undertree is the son of a shipbuilder on the planet Brindlestar. Rachel Katrachian is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. And John Blackthorne is a zombie.What do these people have in common?They are all eager to meet you through the pages of this collection of short stories. You will discover Brindlestar, the fascinating world that orbits three suns; the horrors of being an American in Spain during its civil war; a world in which everyone knows the exact day they will die; and a cruise ship porter with the curse of knowing of disasters that he is powerless to prevent. The adventures are varied, sometimes humorous and always thought provoking.This is Glen Robinson’s second collection of short stories.

‘That’s what it all hinged on, what was the Scarecrow really?’ In the Fallout Fields of Deathdefy a towering scarecrow watches over the town. Ray is the son of the strict Marshall who keeps everyone in line and makes sure they are all out of the way for the Scarecrow’s toxic nightly fog. Ray watches as the townsfolk begin to resent their hard life and its enforcer: the Scarecrow.Scared of thunder, lightning and being "flopped" by the humans, Pippi the squirrel wants to return to her mama's warm, cozy nest. Instead, she and her siblings stumble on a better nest...in forbidden human territory. The attic nest is too perfect to resist, and soon she is drawn into a dangerous game of teasing the people. When their teasing goes too far and puts their lives in danger, she is forced to abandon the perfect nest. However, she returns in order to rescue her brother. Instead, she becomes trapped inside. With little food and the humans plotting her demise, Pippi must depend on her wits to survive, proving to herself and the world just how brave a little squirrel can be. Originally published September 2011 Revised March 2014 The Bravest Squirrel Series: 1. The Bravest Squirrel Ever 2. The Bravest Squirrel in the Forest 3. The Bravest Squirrel in School

Episode 10, Nanotroopers.1st Nano rescues Doc Frost and finds Red Hammer in contact with an alien race. The cartel is one step ahead of Quantum Corps. When the nanotroopers try to block this contact, they find themselves transported back in time where an even stranger menace from beyond Earth is re-writing the history of Life itself. Follow Winger and ANAD as they try to stop this latest threat.Episode 10, Nanotroopers. Johnny Winger and 1st Nano have recovered Doc Frost and Mary Duncan from captivity by Red Hammer. But in trying to extract the halo inside Frost’s skull, the nanotroopers inadvertently release a max rate replication on the Table Top base. It’s called a Big Bang and it threatens not only the base but much of the surrounding countryside. Only quick work by Winger and ANAD enable the threat to be contained. Now being debriefed by Quantum Corps intelligence, Frost informs his rescuers that Red Hammer is an even bigger menace than thought before…the cartel is in contact with an offworld intelligence and has access to their archives. This helps explain why the cartel is always one step ahead of Quantum Corps. But there is a way for Frost and Winger to access the same archives…a small sphere brought back from Kurabantu Island. The sphere turns out to be a small quantum entanglement device, which when contacted, entangles and transports its users to other times and places. The nanotroopers form up a small recon detachment to explore this device…and find themselves transported back in time three billion years, to an ancient swamp. It’s Engebbe, Kenya and when they arrive, they encounter a menace even greater than Red Hammer…it’s a strange swarm entity called Configuration Zero, and its re-writing the history of Life right before their eyes. Follow Johnny Winger, ANAD and his nanotroopers as they try to stop this latest threat.

Junker's Moon Scrap, Salvage and Servicing Company had never been attacked before but that didn't mean its base of operations was unprepared. Marshall Brion began the day with no idea that within a few hours he would need all the concentrated expertise of three generations of Brions. Space pirates were inbound to the station. They were something to be feared but also to be repelled at all costs.All over the world, young Muslims are watching closely at the developments that are happening around the area between Iraq and Syria, the activities of ISIS. Many are contemplating on the idea of joining the ISIS and become Jihadis.All over the world, nations are worried about their quality young men and women leaving for ISIS.All over the world, especially in the USA, UK, and India, people are discrediting and discriminating against Muslims and Islam, because of what the terrorists did or do or plan to do in the name of Islam, misusing a holy path that says how to realize humanity, how to live the right way to become eligible to enter heaven.All over the world, forces working against governments and humanity, promise youngsters to become Jihadis to be welcomed at the heavens by 'pure virgins' and be provided with all the comforts.All over the world, everyone is promised the heavens but all are having one hell of an issue - This.The book, 'American Jihadi', is for all those promising youngsters, who are being promised by all and sundry.This book is for all those who want to understand why and how terrorists are created and by whom.This book is for all those governments who must be given the wakeup-call now or never.And, all who love an action-oriented Hollywood movie in a Book form.John Madison, Texan, oil refinery expert, a thoroughbred American, who doesn't have a high opinion of Muslims and Islam, but who does have exotic dreams of Arabian Nights and Belly Dancers, was asked to go relocated to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It all starts well, what with a strange woman as his co-passenger next seat, a woman with a stunning frame no man or woman can resist, a woman who could very much be his femme-fatale.His dreams of an exotic Arabian adventure vanish as his flight lands at Riyadh, and when he finds the atmosphere there hostile. Along with a general bad feeling towards Americans and America, there were rioters forcing the refinery under his care, almost nonfunctional. But being a diehard optimist, and an authority in persuading people to do what he thinks right, he plans on having an understanding with all his coworkers, to establish a harmonious situation that would facilitate a peaceful living and working condition in the desert kingdom, at least in his refinery.He begins his efforts, to understand Muslims and Islam in general, and succeeds, along with the discovery of what is happening around the Middle East cauldron, and how his own country's espionage agency was involved in creating a volatile atmosphere around the world in which terrorists and dictators thrive.He successfully reaches an accord with his coworkers, finally, and bonhomie prevails.But the short-lived harmony gets shattered to pieces with incidents he would never understand.And with his very life on the block, he soon finds out what, why, and how.Along with the true meaning of the words, Muslim, Islam, Jihad and Jihadi.And he becomes the AMERICAN JIHADI.I am American.I know I am the strongest.But am I the greatest?I need more oil for my countryAnd more gas for my car.But to have Arab oil in my handsShould I spill Arab blood in their sands?I know I am the strongest.But am I the greatest?Only he who dares taking responsibility shall Stand up and say I am American.Why the USA government has to be spending more of its taxpayers’ billions on its war on terror instead of on its citizens’ Healthcare and Personal income improvement?It was the USA government’s bullying attitude that sowed the seeds for the terrorists that exist in Afghanistan and other countries today. The war on terror is actually a war that it brought upon itself. According to the Annual US Treasury Report on Spending and Revenue for the years 1999-2012, closer to 3 percent of the total GDP was spent extra on defense, in addition to the allotted defense budget, seemingly on the war on terror. This money could very well be spent on Healthcare, if there’s no war on terror.

In the year 2408, a century after the invention of interstellar portals, seven hundred people scavenge a living in abandoned New York. The respectable citizens have either withdrawn to new settlements in the countryside, or joined the great exodus of humanity to new, unpolluted colony worlds, but eighteen-year-old Blaze is one of the undesirables that neither the citizen settlements nor the new colony worlds will accept. Blaze’s mother died six years ago. She thinks her father is Donnell, the leader of the uneasy alliance between the remnants of the Earth Resistance and the old criminal gangs. It’s less clear what Donnell thinks, since he barely speaks to her. The alliance is crumbling under the strain of its hardest winter ever, when an old enemy tries to use Blaze as a pawn in a power bid. She thinks her life can’t possibly get more difficult, but then an aircraft carrying three off-worlders arrives in New York.

Into the fire! The first Earth Girl prequel novella featuring Jarra. Only the handicapped live on Earth. While everyone else uses interstellar portals to travel between hundreds of colony worlds, 17-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, abandoned by her parents to be raised a ward of Hospital Earth, she lives a regimented life in one of their impersonal residences. Tortured by the knowledge the stars are forever out of her reach, Jarra dreams of learning to fly a plane so she can at least make the skies of Earth her own. She gets her chance to become a qualified pilot, but learning to fly turns out to be far more difficult and dangerous than she imagined, sending her into a literal trial by fire. EARTH AND FIRE is a prequel novella, set in the distant future of the Earth Girl trilogy (Earth Girl, Earth Star, and Earth Flight). Note that the first two chapters of EARTH AND FIRE have appeared as the title story in the EARTH 2788 short story collection. The other fifteen chapters are entirely new.

A variation of Dick’s up from under plot, a man surfaces from his basement to find flying insect-like aliens changing into human semblance and trying to take over the town. He flees and is caught and, in the end, is there any need to ask who the hanging stranger is? It was published in the Dec 1953 issue of Science Fiction Adventures – the only one of Philip K. Dick's stories to ever appear in that magazine.