They were forced to work as slave laborers on the Bug's mother ship where they formed a unique partnership. Each partner has unique talents that complement the others. This creates a synergy where the partnership is stronger than the sum of its members. They form a friendship with another kidnapped being on the mother ship who teaches them to fly the ancient space ship the 'Galactic Antiquarian'. The Bugs found the 'Galactic Antiquarian' floating in space and have spent years trying to get it open to learn its secrets. The trio learns how to open parts of the ship and escape from the mother ship on the Galactic Antiquarian with a minimum of fuel, air, water and food. They must use their unique talents to unlock more of the secrets of the ancient space ship so they can restock these essential supplies while avoiding recapture by the Bugs and their allies. The Bugs want the ancient space ship back badly and are pulling no punches to get it back. Are the secrets of the ancient ship enough to help them to restock and avoid capture? How will the Alcantaran ghosts fit into the puzzle? Will the secrets or the ghosts help them find their three home planets somewhere in the midst of the trillion galaxies in the universe? Alien Abduction is the first book in the series "The Alcantarans".

    They realize this was not another earthquake, but a Nuclear Attack. David knew they would have to work together to escape from the rubble, then shelter for 14 days to survive the fallout. If, as he feared, their parents were dead, then they should trek east,hopefully staying together.They would have to adapt, improvise, and overcome. They rescued a 4 year old orphan and realized how much they had learned from their parents. They became the Nuclear War Club. David had been the starting quarterback on his football team in Alabama.He had just transferred to this California High School as a Senior, when his Dad was reassigned to an Air Force Base. David organized the human chain to escape from the rubble. The clock was ticking, they would have to find, or make, a shelter from the fallout within 30 minutes or die from the radiation. David looked over the other 6 detention survivors and was disappointed at this soft, pampered, self centered, dysfunctional group. But you go to nuclear war with the survivors you have, he thought, as he explained what had happened and his plan. He invited them to follow as he began to hike to where his truck and camping equipment had been. Zeke's stomach churned, and he struggled to control his panic as he viewed the nuclear debris as far as the eye could see. What had happened to LeShawn and Monique? Were they trapped in rubble, crying for their big brother to come? His Mom was a drug addict, he was all his preschool brother and sister had. He would rescue them,or die trying. But he was miles away from home-the football boosters arranged for special transportation to get the heavily recruited, All State football running back, to this wealthy school everyday. He would stay with this group, they were his ticket, until he found a way to rescue LeShawn and Monique. Karen had grown up on a ranch where her father was hired to care for the horses. She was tough from working with the horses, self sufficient,and was instinctively wary of how David had just naturally assumed command. Karen had just transferred to this school under redistricting, and she didn't know any of them well.But the school, and the entire City were totally destroyed, there was no other option. Karen grabbed her backpack, stuck a knife from what was left of the underground school kitchen in her hiking boots, concealed it with her sock, then followed. Liu was a first generation Vietnamese immigrant who excelled at school. She had been utterly humiliated and shamed that she had even been sent to detention. Liu had carefully noticed how David had organized their evacuation and got everyone out. David was a natural leader, and he seemed to know a lot about Nuclear War. She would stay with this group until her Dad found her. Jorge was going to be an architect and was dual enrolled in engineering classes at the Community College. His leg had been broken when the ceiling collapsed, David and Karen had helped set his splint. He was all in, hobbling behind. Karen loathed Ashley Kensington, and wondered if the cheerleaders required DNA test confirmation that you had blond hair, blue eyes, long legs, and no brain to be the cheerleader captain. Ashley considered staying at what was left of the school. Surely her wealthy parents would send the maid or someone to get her. But David sounded like he knew all about Nuclear attacks when he told her that was stupid, and she was terrified of being left behind, alone. Doron was a genius who was also popular as the creator of the encrypted "geek.peek" homework school website.

    But when he investigates the crash, what he finds will yank him out of his self-imposed exile and thrust him into a world he could have never imagined.He suddenly finds himself trapped on a damaged alien spacecraft and plunged into a universe of interstellar crime lords and government conspiracies, along the way meeting strange new friends… and enemies. As he struggles to find his way back home he is inexorably drawn deeper into a world where one misstep could mean his death. Or worse. He desperately wants to get back to Earth, but it may be the end for him. … or is it just the beginning?

    This volume assembles 2 novels and 4 shorter works -- almost 500 pages of classic fiction -- by 3-time Hugo Award-winner Clifford D. Simak. Included are:TIME QUARRY [novel]EMPIRE [novel]THE STREET THAT WASN'T THERE [short story]THE WORLD THAT COULDN'T BE [novelet]HELLHOUNDS OF THE COSMOS [short story]PROJECT MASTODON [short story]If you enjoy this book, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the more than 100 other entries in the series, covering science fiction, modern authors, mysteries, westerns, classics, adventure stories, and much, much more! (Sort by publication date to see the most recent entries.)

    There smuggling, bribes, and a wild-west live-free-or-die attitude prevails and an eye-for-an-eye is the preferred method of retribution. For Zenaida, a child of the Rim, the death of her father requires retribution. But she must first learn how to survive while trying to track down her snow leopard's stolen litter and her father's killers. But unknown to her, her father's killers spared her for a reason—a secret that could mean her death if she discovers it.

    10:32 AM EST: An entire floor of government agents leap to their death from their office building. 12:57 PM EST: All the police officers inside a station murder each other. And the day has just begun. Lieutenant Asher Benson left Iraq with a traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and a Purple Heart. His doctors warned that the symptoms would be life altering. They had no idea. As his body healed, the thoughts of those around him began to echo through Ash’s mind, stretching the boundaries of his sanity. Five years later, Ash is drowning the voices with copious amounts of booze and self-loathing. When unidentified intelligence agents abduct him in broad daylight, Ash is thrust into a world of espionage and assassinations. A unique terrorist is operating on U.S. soil, and the government needs Ash, and the malady that has plagued him for half a decade, to find the killer. *Ash is the first book in the Asher Benson thriller series, which is full of snarky humor and nonstop action.

    Soon, he finds himself running for his life as he seeks to understand what he stole and why so many people suddenly want him dead. Ancient secrets and curses come alive around Jute as he journeys to freedom in the north, accompanied by a talking hawk, a guilt-ridden assassin, and a forgetful ghost. But, as they seek to save themselves, the little company realizes that much more is at stake than their own lives.A storm has come to Tormay, and, in the shadows of the night, the Dark walks. It will do anything to destroy the land. It cares nothing for the armies and might of men. Only one thing stands between the Dark and its wicked dreams: a thief named Jute.A Storm in Tormay is the complete collection of The Tormay Trilogy. It contains The Hawk and His Boy, The Shadow at the Gate, and The Wicked Day. The story is about 390,000 words long, which equates to over 1,000 pages.

    The best players are celebrities, adored and worshiped by countless fans. Zack is a superstar among players.His final play may change the world, forever...

    Despite his inability to relate to others, Lisanne married him in admiration for what she perceived as shy intelligence. However, she’s been disappointed by the way he’s settled for working as no more than a glorified lab tech with a low salary. Adding to their problems, Vaz and Lisanne have two teenagers who are typically surly, embarrassed by their parents, but whom they want to send to college—if only they can find the money. When Vaz is fired from his job as a researcher, but then discovers a means to achieve “cold fusion,” a technology which could solve the energy crisis and their financial difficulties, virtually no one believes him, least of all his family. In fact, the only people who do believe are the ones who are trying to steal the technology from him...Turns out, if you’re a genius, such problems may not be as bad as they seem.

    After all, the planet he’s orbiting is frozen and sunless, and the cities are dead. But when Toby wakes again, he’s surprised to discover a thriving planet, a strange and prosperous galaxy, and something stranger still—that he’s been asleep for 14,000 years.Welcome to the Lockstep Empire, where civilization is kept alive by careful hibernation. Here cold sleeps can last decades and waking moments mere weeks. Its citizens survive for millennia, traveling asleep on long voyages between worlds. Not only is Lockstep the new center of the galaxy, but Toby is shocked to learn that the Empire is still ruled by its founding family: his own.Toby’s brother Peter has become a terrible tyrant. Suspicious of the return of his long-lost brother, whose rightful inheritance also controls the lockstep hibernation cycles, Peter sees Toby as a threat to his regime. Now, with the help of a lockstep girl named Corva, Toby must survive the forces of this new Empire, outwit his siblings, and save human civilization.Karl Schroeder's Lockstep is a grand innovation in hard SF space opera.

    There is no trace of their young son, Alex Manez, or of the asteroid itself.On the outer edge of the solar system, the first manned mission to Pluto, led by the youngest female astronaut in NASA history, has led to an historic discovery: there is a marker left there by an alien race for humankind to find. We are not alone!While studying the alien marker, it begins to react and, four hours later, the missing asteroid appears in a Plutonian orbit, along with young Alex Manez, who has developed some alarming side-effects from his exposure to the kinetic element they call Kinemet. From the depths of a criminal empire based on Luna, an expatriate seizes the opportunity to wrest control of outer space, and takes swift action.The secret to faster-than-light speed is up for grabs, and the race for interstellar space begins! - The Interstellar Age -Book 1 - Forbidden The StarsBook 2 - Music of the SpheresBook 3 - Worlds Away

    This fast-paced, character-driven novel will immerse you in the world of US Marines in lethal powered armor, trapped aboard the ghostly ruins of a starship buried miles underground. Somewhere amid the twisted, frozen decks, these elite Marines will find themselves wrapped in an ancient mystery and a life-or-death battle to see who will become... the DOMINANT SPECIES.

     Beautiful, daring Anastasia, known as Stacy, is of noble birth. But she discarded a life of suitors and servants to live in the lush forest of the Haven. Embracing her adventurous nature, she suddenly leaves her life in the Haven to set out on a dangerous journey. But soon, as she arrives at the besieged ancient city of Satra, Stacy must employ all of her training in the Haven if she is to survive and save the lives of her companions. Dungeons of Kuba Their land is in peril. Power has been snatched from the hands of the Empire Princess by the maniacal Sigried. The Empire’s great fleet had set sail in search of a legendary treasure island, Kuba, leaving the Haven unprotected. A portentous vision meant the fleet had been tricked by a treacherous enemy to force Stacy, the Empire Princess, to confront her sometime friend and now arch-enemy Sigried in the faraway and mysterious land of Kuba, a dark and forbidding place. Darkness awaits her, but she must lead her people to victory if she is able to overcome her tyrannical foe. The Falcon of Eden The Falcon of Eden is a revered relic of the Russak nation, a bejeweled golden statue that has been lost for centuries. Stacy, the Lady of the Haven and Princess of the Empire, needs the Russaks as allies. To gain their cooperation, she is forced into a quest for their legendary bird. But Stacy and her small band of intrepid balloonists do not realize how far their sky journey will lead: to a strange fantasy civilization at the top of the world… The Beasts of Hades From the tranquil forests of the Haven, a small and gentle rabbit brings a message. The peace of the empire is now threatened by vicious creatures, maddened with blood-lust. And in their violent wake, there is an unearthly creature: not animal, not man. With her trusted wolf at her side, and the small rabbit as a guide, Stacy the Empire Princess begins a hellish descent far beneath the forest. In a subterranean world of fire and brimstone lives the true enemy. The Empire Princess Omnibus is an action-packed fantasy collection taking you deep into the lush and dangerous world of the Haven. Praise for Graham Diamond’s The Haven: ‘The Haven is a superb creation and I have been recommending it to all. The Haven stories are a wonderful experience’ — Andre Norton ‘Graham Diamond has written a novel that stands out and dares to be different.’ Rising Shadow Graham Diamond began writing as a fantasy and science fiction author. He was born in Manchester, England, but was raised in New York City. He is best known for books such as The Haven, Lady of the Haven, The Thief of Kalimar, Slack Midnight, Chocolate Lenin and Forest Wars.

    But Commonwealth operative Simon Kovalic knows nothing ever goes to plan. So, when a duplicitous bounty hunter lives up to his reputation, Kovalic’s ready—just maybe not ready enough.Now he and his team must get offworld, before their enemies catch up with them…

    Genghis Kahn. Julius Caesar. Attila the Hun. Mao. Stalin. For thousands of years, the Stones have been hidden among us, giving a privileged few the power to rule over masses, destroy old empires and create new ones. Now it's near the end of the 21st century. On the eve of a trip to Japan, Matt Newmark finds a dark rock in the shape of a claw, and it changes everything. With the help of a Shinto priest, he discovers it’s a Stone, a piece of ancient alien technology that gives him a sweeping view of history and control over time, matter and energy. But Matt is not alone. Mikal Ryzaard, a survivor of the Nazi death camps, has a Stone of his own and a burning vision to eliminate suffering and bring back Paradise. With all the resources of the world's largest multinational corporation behind him, he tracks down Matt and makes him an offer. Join me or die. This is the first book in the Stones series, a new techno-thriller quadriligy by Jacob Whaler.