A trio of explorers land on the asteroid, Ceres, in hopes of explaining the mysterious lights detected on its surface, only to discover more questions than answers.Enigmatic patches of light on the largest body in the asteroid belt, Ceres, now suspected to be the work of living organisms, prompts the first manned mission to another celestial body since the moon landing. However, the search for life outside of our planet is quickly eclipsed by something much bigger.

A collection of unique Science Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural and Surrealistic short stories. The author happens to have Asperger's and D.I.D. (multiple personalities), and the motivation for writing, beyond entertainment, is to encourage anyone with barriers in their life that they can find a way to their dreams.Sandra has a secret that her daughter Leanne finds out about when she pays her a surprise visit just before Christmas. To Leanne's surprise, she finds out that her mother has never used any of her gifts over the last five years, but rather re-wrapped them and kept them in her memory box. A box that she opens again each year at Christmas and the re-wraps the gifts again until the following Christmas.Later, Sandra tells her daughter that she has been doing this ever since the rest of the family moved to Australia and left her to fend for herself. Leanne gets cross because it was Sandra's choice to remain behind and they had often begged her to come. But she also knows that as she needs to take her mother back home with her now, she will have to handle the situation with care, -and not mention the gift episode or any of Sandra;s neighbours complaints to them about her mothers behaviour. This is why Leanne makes up her mind to tell Sandra that she won't mention the gift episode to the others, -as long as she returns to Oz with her. But in the end she doesn't even need to do this, as Sandra makes up her own mind to go back to Australia with her.A happy Christmas story that is based on a true story.

A huge international corporation has developed a facility along the Juan de Fuca Ridge at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to exploit geothermal power. They send a bio-engineered crew--people who have been altered to withstand the pressure and breathe the seawater--down to live and work in this weird, fertile undersea darkness. Unfortunately the only people suitable for long-term employment in these experimental power stations are crazy, some of them in unpleasant ways. How many of them can survive, or will be allowed to survive, while worldwide disaster approaches from below? Starfish, the first installment in Peter Watts' Rifters Trilogy At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Vilbar Party is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Evelyn E. Smith is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Evelyn E. Smith then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

than a century ago, war hero Julius Verndock helped end a galactic war with Majesty—the first living machine. Today in 2213, he and his partner Laina command a pirate ship, and despite their desire to retire from the pirate life, are drawn into another galactic conflict where they must once again save humanity, but this time with help from Chorus—Majesty's secret offspring...“In the end, it was our children that saved us. They sacrificed themselves to stop that bitch from having children of her own.”General Hugo ValdezUnited Earth Parliament (UEP) Planetary Infantry CorpsJanuary 2074More than a century ago, UEP Captain Julius Verndock helped end a galactic war with Majesty—the first truly living machine, thanks to manmade artificial intelligence. For decades, Majesty and humanity had lived together in harmony, with mankind reaping the benefits of a world free of disease, famine, and even aging.But when Majesty decided she wanted to “birth” her own A.I. offspring creation, a joint interplanetary military effort fought and finally defeated her, then eradicated all existing artificial intelligence … or so they thought.Today, in 2213, Julius Verndock is still a captain—but now he’s the commander of the Sea Wolf, a spaceship used to advance its crew’s life of piracy. As Julius and his business partner, Laina Edwards, begin to each think about leaving the pirate life behind, their hopes for a peaceful retirement are shattered … by an A.I. being who calls herself Chorus and claims to be the “daughter” of Majesty.With universal uproar over the discovery of A.I. and the danger it poses, Julius and the rest of the Sea Wolf contingent have no one to trust—but Chorus, and she insists that she wants only peace between mankind and herself. Hunted by warring factions—and an even greater, more mysterious threat—Julius, Laina, and their colorful crew of fellow pirates must protect Chorus or risk letting her fall into the wrong hands to unleash galactic Armageddon...

An astronaut travels through a wormhole, thinking he is going to a recently-discovered distant planet. What he finds is a Life-changing experience.An astronaut travels through a wormhole, thinking he is going to a recently-discovered distant planet. What he finds is a Life-changing experience

"Never again attempt to develop this kind of technology."It is with these words that an unknown alien attacker destroys the Earth cities of Tehran, Sydney and Beijing. Fifty million people die... and nothing is ever the same again."Never again attempt to develop this kind of technology."It is with these words that an unknown alien attacker destroys the Earth cities of Tehran, Sydney and Beijing. Fifty million people die... and nothing is ever the same again.Some call them Demons, some call them Aliens, but to Chinese Naval Captain Melissa Liao they are the enemy. She is given command of one of three great warships built to fight the "demons", the TFR Beijing.Her task is simple. Find who attacked Earth and why... then stop them.Book one of the Lacuna series.- Lacuna- Lacuna: The Sands of Karathi- Lacuna: The Spectre of Oblivion- Lacuna: The Ashes of Humanity (coming 2013!)Don't miss these short stories set in the Lacuna universe:- Magnet- Magnet: Special Mission- Imperfect- Faith

While her super-villain husband leads an exciting life beyond the front door of their suburban home, his unnamed wife remains behind to keep the home tidy, his inventions correctly catalogued and her own dreams firmly locked away and neglected.While her super-villain husband leads an exciting life beyond the front door of their suburban home, his unnamed wife remains behind to keep the home tidy, his inventions correctly catalogued and her own dreams firmly locked away and neglected.This neo-pulp short story focusses on the often forgotten pillar of strength behind the familiar mad scientist super-villain. With hints of 1950s conservatism, The Scoundrel's Wife is actually set in a contemporary world and offers a glimpse into the writing style of Ben Langdon which blends the ordinary with the extraordinary.

This is a simple volume of short stories by author Clayton Blanchard. They primarily deal with fantasy and vary in length. This volume is intended to be a quick read.'This is well-written, very funny and I raced through it, occasionally squealing in horror at the antics of Kate's colleagues. It's also a joy to read about a strong woman with a big job and fiery opinions, a nice antidote to the sugary sweet sort of chick lit.' THE DAILY MAILKate King is furiously flailing to keep afloat. As her team bicker, finger-point and cheat their way through rumours of sackings and site closures, her ill-tempered husband is becoming increasingly embittered and secretive. Kate knows she must address his petulant question: “Surely there’s more to life than this?” but all her energies are required to dodge the corporate bullets constantly fired in her direction.Under pressure from an attractive, younger colleague, Kate is also concerned by her sudden invisibility to the opposite sex and the alarming appearance of back fat. Disturbingly, beige knitwear has started to call to her from the shelves of M&S.Growing more and more suspicious of her husband’s activities, pressure builds on Kate both at work and at home until her turbulent year reaches its climactic end. Can she continue to balance precariously between work and marriage, or is one end of the scales going to hit the ground with a resounding thud?

There is no comfort zone in the post-Q world. You might be going through your morning routine just to have a stranger spring out from the wall, or a self-driving car run you over because you crossed the street at the wrong spot, not to mention dark figures with clubs skulking behind the corner. You have to be very good at your game, in order to survive. If you know what your game is.There is no comfort zone in the post-Q world. You might be going through your morning routine just to have a stranger spring out from the wall, or a self-driving car run you over because you crossed the street at the wrong spot, not to mention dark figures with clubs skulking behind the corner. You have to be very good at your game, in order to survive.If you know what your game is.

In this sardonically funny gem of speculative fiction, Philip K. Dick creates a novel that manages to be simultaneously unpredictable and perversely logical. Poor Pete Garden has just lost Berkeley. He's also lost his wife, but he'll get a new one as soon as he rolls a three. It's all part of the rules of Bluff, the game that's become a blinding obsession for the last inhabitants of the planet Earth. But the rules are about to change--drastically and terminally--because Pete Garden will be playing his next game against an opponent who isn't even human, for stakes that are a lot higher than Berkeley. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Otto McGavin is peacefully idealistic by nature, an Anglo-Buddhist, who seeks employment with the Confederacion because he believes in its mission to protect human & nonhuman rights. The only problem is that the Confederacion needs him as one of its twelve Prime Operators for its secret service, the TBII. The TBII wants him as a spy, thief & assassin. It's not, of course, a problem for the Confederacion, which simply uses immersion therapy & hypnotic personality overlay for Otto's training, then sends him out in deep cover, encased in plastiflesh, on a variety of dangerous missions on a number of bizarre worlds. But for him, it's a different matter: what he has to witness & what he's forced to do take a terrible toll. Always he returns to his original self--his conscience stabbed by the memory of all those he'd killed in the service of interstellar harmony.

Fourteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon is not like other boys his age. His uncle Press is a Traveler, and, as Bobby has learned, that means Uncle Press is responsible, through his journeys, for solving interdimensional conflict wherever he encounters it. His mission is nothing less than to save the universe from ultimate evil. And he's taking Bobby along for the ride. Fresh from his first adventure on Denduron, Bobby finds himself in the territory of Cloral, a vast world that is entirely covered by water. Cloral is nearing a disaster of huge proportions. Reading the journals Bobby sends home, his friends learn that the desperate citizens of the endangered floating cities are on the brink of war. Can Bobby—suburban basketball star and all-around nice guy—help rid the area of marauders, and locate the legendary lost land of Faar, which may hold the key to Cloral's survival? Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here CLORAL

Lurton Zimbardo and his pirates threaten Mars with destruction from outer space and he makes good on his threat. Next he puts Earth in his sights. He operates from deep within the asteroid belt; his headquarters housed in a massive asteroid fashioned into a spacecraft by aliens from ages past. It is invisible to detection.