Once, Dan Randolph was one of the richest men on Earth. Now the planet is spiraling into environmental disaster, with floods and earthquakes destroying the lives of millions. Randolph knows the energy and natural resources of space can save Earth's economy, but the price may be the loss of the only thing he has left—the company he founded, Astro Manufacturing.Martin Humphries, fabulously wealthy heir of the Humphries Trust, also knows that space-based industry is the way of the future. But unlike Randolph, he doesn't care if Earth perishes in the process. And he knows that the perfect bait to ensnare Dan Randolph—and take control of Astro—is his revolutionary new fusion propulsion system.As Randolph—accompanied by two fascinating women who are also brilliant astronauts—flies out to the Asteroid Belt aboard a fusion-propelled spacecraft, Humphries makes his move. The future of mankind lies in Randolph's hands.The Asteroid Wars have... Views: 14
Can an experimental defense system stop North Korean missile strikes? Views: 14
The eleventh episode of The Human Division, John Scalzi's new thirteen-episode novel in the world of his bestselling Old Man's War. Beginning on January 15, 2013, a new episode of The Human Division will appear in e-book form every Tuesday. A secret backdoor meeting between Ambassador Ode Abumwe and the Conclave’s Hafte Sorvalh turns out to be less than secret as both of their ships are attacked. It’s a surprise to both teams—but it’s the identity of the attacker that is the real surprise, and suggests a threat to both humanity and The Conclave.At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied. Views: 14
A child lies dying. To save her, to preserve some of her identity, memories need to be retrieved from her avatar—Lizard Girl. Jude’s dad is using a cyber reality game to recover some of his sick girl’s memories in an attempt to restore brain function. The avatar’s personality patterns help patch the holes in Jude’s brain ravaged by the disease.
But what becomes of a virtual mind left to roam in cyberspace after its host falls sick? The Far Cinct is a cyber city forbidden to school kids and average citizens. The Far Cinct is where rogue entities go to hide and to innovate and to die. It’s where illegal cyber enhancements and compulsions are sold to those who have the money and the connections to find them. But that’s cyberspace for you—nothing is ever what it appears to be on the surface.
As Jude’s consciousness starts to slip, her cyber awareness gains independence. What is a girl’s avatar without her human? Can consciousness and identity be tied up in a digital world without the wet works of a human body? Jump into the world of weird and surreal, and as you journey to look for memories of a sick girl, you might accidentally discover a virtual soul of her avatar. Views: 13
A Time of Change is a perfect example of the Thurlos's ability to combine passion with tension as they introduce readers to Josephine Buck and other employees at a New Mexico trading post. When The Outpost's owner dies, Josephine, a young Navajo woman, is shocked to discover that Tom Stuart, whom she thought of as a surrogate father, has left her the business.Ben Stuart and his dad had had problems, but military service changed Ben for the better and put the two men back in each other's lives. His father's sudden death ends any possibility of a true reconciliation and leaves Ben fuming at being disinherited.Suspecting that Jo had an affair with his father, Ben is determined to get control of the trading post. Jo's hataalii training shows her that Ben is wounded in both body and soul, and she becomes determined to help him.As Jo and Ben move toward a deeper understanding of each other, they learn... Views: 13
For P.I. Paul Grayhorse, there were no secrets—thanks to his special Navajo gift. He knew why U.S. Deputy Marshal Kendra Armstrong found him in the canyons of New Mexico. Reopening the case that ended his marshal career and killed his partner did more than haunt Paul; it put him in the crosshairs.Using Paul to flush out her fugitive was risky, but teaming with him was downright dangerous. In his arms, Kendra felt like a woman, with a woman's desires. But with his powers, could she hide her biggest secret—that she'd fallen for him? And that for the first time in her career, she was afraid…afraid to live without him if she couldn't get her man?Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Paul Grayhorse stepped back into the shadows as a jagged flash of lightning sliced across the darkened New Mexico sky. He had a bad feeling about tonight, and it had nothing to do with the storm raging around him.Ignoring the pain coming from deep inside his right shoulder, he remained focused. The bullet wound had healed, but the nagging ache that remained was a reminder that even the briefest lapse in attention could have devastating results. In less than three seconds, a sniper had taken the life of his partner, Deputy U.S. Marshal Judy Whitacre. Her death, and the high caliber bullet that had torn through his own shoulder that day, had changed his life forever.He shook off the bitter memory as he continued to keep watch. It was a typically cold, rainless New Mexico storm, one of hundreds he'd seen while growing up in the Four Corners. There was the usual blend of wind and stinging dust, but no rain or sleet to ease the parched desert.Given a choice, most people would have stayed inside on an October night like this one. That's where he should have been, too, sitting in his armchair, beer in hand, watching the football game next to a bowl of corn tortilla chips and hot salsa.Yet here he was, standing on the lawn beside an old brick office building in downtown Hartley waiting for an arranged meeting with a mysterious, prospective client.The skies rumbled again and the ground shook, rattling windows all the way down the block. Tense and ever alert, he kept his gaze on the darkened street. He'd considered staying in his parked truck, but this wasn't a stakeout, and his visibility and mobility would be restricted inside the cab of his pickup.Tonight was a first. Since leaving the U.S. Marshals Service he'd worked several cases that had involved teaming up with his brothers, but this time he was going solo, and he liked it.The woman who'd called his agency asking for help had captured his interest right from the get-go. Yolanda—at least that was the name she'd used—had dialed his office late last night. She'd spoken in a harsh whisper, her words coming out in a rush. Certain that her abusive, soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, an officer in the Hartley P.D., would be at his own home tonight watching the game, she'd insisted on meeting in this tiny downtown park after hours. It was near her workplace, she'd said, and on her way home.All things considered, Yolanda, or whoever she was, had come to the right P.I. He'd never had much patience with bullies, particularly those who preyed on women.As the minutes stretched by and the temperature continued to drop, he reached into his pocket for his cell phone and dialed his foster brother, Preston.Like it was with all his foster brothers, Preston and he had come from completely different backgrounds. Yet, once they'd been taken in by Hosteen Silver, the traditionalist Navajo medicine man who'd become their foster father, they'd grown as close, or closer, than blood brothers.Preston Bowman, now a Hartley Police detective, lived for his job. Even though it was getting close to seven, Paul knew his brother would still be clocked in.Preston picked up on the first ring and barked his name."It's me," Paul said."What's up?" Preston asked."I'm supposed to meet a client—Yolanda—no last name.She contacted me last night claiming she'd been trying to break up with her boyfriend, a Hartley cop. He's apparently started using her as a punching bag, so she's asked for my protection.""Hook her up with the chief's office or Internal Affairs. We have ways of dealing with this kind of thing," Preston answered immediately."I suggested that, but she doesn't trust the police. She thinks they'll cover for one of their own.""No way. We try to keep things in-house, sure, but we make sure the situation gets handled. We take a dim view of domestic abuse," he said. "Give her my number and tell her to come see me.""I'll pass that on when she shows up, but if she says no, I'm taking her case.""You're waiting for her right now?""Yeah. She's late. She said six-thirty.""You thinking maybe her boyfriend found out she was looking for help?""The thought occurred to me, yeah," Paul said."She wouldn't give you a last name?""Nope. She was whispering when she called, so wherever she was, she was worried about being overheard. All I got was a description so I could spot her," Paul said."Go on.""Blonde, five foot seven, average build. She said she'd be driving a green Ford SUV, wearing a denim jacket and jeans, and carrying a red handbag. She sound familiar?""You mean do I know an officer with a girlfriend named Yolanda who fits that bill?""Yeah.""Sorry, doesn't ring a bell. Give me her number and I'll run it through the system."Paul gave him the number straight from his caller ID, then waited."That matches a residential landline for a woman named Yolanda Sharpe. The address is on Hartley's south side—485 Conejo Road. Hang on a sec. Here's more. Yolanda's got a record—shoplifting, check fraud and a few misdemeanors," Preston said. "She's served six months jail time.""Interesting background, but she still doesn't deserve to get batted around.""True, but I think you should back off, at least for now. Look at the facts. She didn't give you her full name or even the first name of her boyfriend. Now she's late. Who knows what might have gone down? What if the boyfriend shows up instead, mad as hell and looking for a fight? With that bum shoulder, if he comes at you, you're going down hard.""Like hell.""Look, bro, something's off. You felt that too or you wouldn't have called," Preston said. "Anyone who checks you out on the internet knows you like riding to the rescue. Remember that roughneck you threw out the window after he cornered the waitress at the Blue Corral? Made the cable news.""That was self-defense." Paul chuckled softly. "And my shoulder didn't hold me back. He flew a good ten feet.""Okay, so you're not backing off. Give me your location and I'll join you. You might be able to use a little backup.""Just don't get in my way," Paul growled. "I'm standing behind the pines in the park beside the Murray Building on Main. My truck's across the street.""I'm in my cruiser now. My ETA's only three minutes or less, so try to stay out of trouble till then."Paul hung up, his gaze still on the empty street. His brother was right. He had a sixth sense about some things, and right now his instincts were telling him trouble was close at hand.Muscles tensing up, Paul reached for the lynx fetish he wore around his neck on a leather cord. The slivers of pyrite that comprised its eyes glittered ominously. He'd never been able to figure out why, or how, but whenever danger was near, the eyes of the lynx would take on a light of their own. Tonight, maybe it was the lightning or the cold playing tricks on his senses, but either way, he'd learned not to ignore the warning.After checking his watch one last time, Paul decided to walk back over to his pickup. He'd just stepped out of cover when a blue truck pulled up to the curb and the driver leaned toward the passenger's side window. As a brilliant flash of lightning lit up the night sky, he saw the pistol in the driver's hand.Paul dove to the ground just as two loud gunshots ripped through the air.Paul rolled to his right, and using a tree trunk as cover, he rose to one knee, pistol in hand, but it was too late. The truck was already speeding away. Making a split-second decision, he ran after it, hoping to read the plates.He hadn't gone fifty yards when he heard the wail of an approaching siren. A heartbeat later Preston rounded the corner and pulled to a screeching stop beside him."You hit?" Preston asked, leaning over and shouting out the passenger's side window."No." Paul opened the door of his brother's unit and jumped in. "Blue pickup, turned south down Applewood.""Make and model?""Ford 150, I think," Paul said, reaching for the shoulder belt as Preston hit the gas. "Or maybe a Chevy. The tailgate was down and it happened in a flash.""Let me guess. No Yolanda?""I never got a look at the driver. All I saw was the pistol sticking out the passenger's window. If that lightning flash hadn't lit up everything at just the right time, I would have been on the ground right now, a soon-to-be chalk outline.""You were set up, bro." Preston turned the corner at high speed, yanking Paul to one side. "The shooter can't be far. Keep an eye out for taillights on the side streets."Paul kept a close watch on the area as his foster brother raced down the street. Traffic here was light. Hartley was barely a city. Most downtown businesses were closed before six, and the area restaurants and bars were all farther east or west."In your gut you knew all along that this wasn't just another domestic abuse situation. I'm right, aren't I?" Preston said as he took another left, then slowed down and directed his spotlight into the darkened alley they passed."I didn't know, but I had a feeling something wasn't right," Paul said. "I'd just decided to call it a night when it went down."Preston slowed as they passed a bank parking lot, giving them time to study every inch of the well-lit area. "I think we struck out. The pickup's gone."After another ten minutes, Preston picked up his radio and called off the other patrol cars in the area."So, you gonna report this to the marshals service?" he finally ... Views: 13
**'A masterpiece of evocative scientific storytelling.' BRIAN COX****'Will appeal to fans of Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens'. Mail on Sunday **The extraordinary story of the species that became our allies.Dogs became our companionsWheat fed a booming populationCattle gave us meat and milkMaize fuelled the growth of empiresPotatoes brought us feast and famineChickens led us to wonder about tomorrowRice promised us a golden futureHorses gave us strength and speedApples travelled with usHUMANS TAMED THEM ALLFor hundreds of thousands of years, our ancestors depended on wild plants and animals to stay alive – until they began to tame them.Combining archaeology and cutting-edge genetics, Tamed tells the story of the greatest revolution in human history and reveals the fascinating... Views: 13
Twenty-five years before, Lucky Starr's parents had been destroyed during a pirate raid on the Terrestrial Empire. Now Lucky was a man, and an officer of the Council of Science. His ship was heavily armed, the pirates were at hand, the the time for sweet blaster vengeance was near! Views: 13
In novels like Mars and Moonbase, and Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, as well as Privateers, The Precipice, and The Rock Rats, Ben Bova has been telling the stories of the wars and rivalries, the outsize individuals, public crusades, and private passions that will drive us as we expand into the Solar System and make use of its vast resources. And throughout, Bova has shown our cosmic neighborhood as we know it to be, giving us a sense of Venus and Jupiter and the Asteroid Belt and Mars that's as up-to-date as the latest observations. For the last two decades have been a golden age of near-Earth astronomy and observation, and in his novels Bova has made dramatic use of our newest knowledge.But during that time Bova has also written short fiction about some of the same events and characters—-Sam Gunn, Martin Humphries, Klaus Fuchs, Dan Randolph, the Asteroid Wars. Now, in Tales of the Grand Tour,... Views: 13
