Kirjahaku

Six previously published science-fiction short stories and a novel extract, including: "The Gremlin Gambit", "Snowball", "Light Conversation", "Into the Fire", "The Sock Problem", "Poetic Justice", and an excerpt from Alpha Centauri: First Landing.

What else could go wrong?Franklin Drake's six-ship expedition to Alpha Centauri is down to five ships. His injured lead exobiologist has been replaced by the backup . . . who is his second-in-command's ex. And they haven't even left the Solar system.The real headaches start when they reach their destination and lose another ship. Pushing on, they discover that their two target planets are far more Earth-like than they have any right to be. Almost as if they had been deliberately terraformed . . . . millions of years ago. If they survive the hazards of the planet, what they find will lead Drake to a decision that could get him court-martialled when -- or if -- they return.First book in the completed Alpha Centauri trilogy, the prequel to the T-Space series.

Marooned?The USS Poul Anderson lands on an Earth-like planet in the Alpha Centauri system with no way to return to space. Its small crew fully expect the USS Heinlein to be back for them in a few weeks . . . but the weeks are dragging on to months.Faced with surviving for an indefinite stay, they have only their wits and the meager resources of the lander to help them. No matter how Earth-like it may be, this alien world comes with alien challenges . . . and some very human surprises. How is Captain Elizabeth Sawyer going to keep her team alive until the Heinlein returns? And what if it doesn't?Inspired by Jules Verne's "The Mysterious Island" and Robert Heinlein's "Tunnel In the Sky", this sequel to Alpha Centauri: First Landing is for readers who like their hard science fiction with a generous dose of action and adventure.

Tree squids Kakuloa, a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, is the only known source of an anti-aging drug. Ellie Greystone, a young marine biologist, specializes in cephalopod behavior. Just the person Kakuloa needs to find a way to keep marauding tree squids from destroying the berry crop that is the drug's source. William Blake, planetary administrator for the pharmaceutical companies vested in Kakuloa has the tasks of keeping the berries flowing without letting anything disrupt the ecology that produces them, and of keeping visiting marine biologists out of trouble. And oh yes, dealing with a developer who thinks the Hawaii-like beaches near the berry groves would be perfect for his next tourism and gambling resort. Effectively the fourth book in the Alpha Centauri trilogy, this book is also the first in the Kakuloa series, which bridges the gap to the Carson & Roberts novels (starting with The Chara Talisman) set later in the T-Space universe. Join the adventure. Explore T-Space

A forbidden journey, a heist, and...UFOs?What does an ancient stone talisman have to do with a legendary 1960s alien abduction and the star map one of the abductees drew?Homeworld Security thinks the combination may point to the home world of a reclusive spacefaring species, and so warn archeologist Hannibal Carson and his pilot Jackie Roberts not to go anywhere near the place. As if that would stop them...although they're going to wish they had listened.What other clues might lie in the forgotten archives of mid-20th century UFO investigators? To answer that, first they have to get hold of the original files. Some theft may be involved....Of course the Velkaryan cult is deadly serious about pursuing both Carson and whatever his former foe Rico is now doing on Earth, so they're all going to have to watch their backs. Sequel to The Chara Talisman.

What's so special about 82 Eridani?Star pilot Jackie Roberts just wants to run a little freight then head home to Tau Ceti. But she owes Ducayne, of Homeworld Security, a favor. He wants her to go to 82 Eridani to pick a mysterious package up from one of his agents.After archeologist Hannibal Carson has a run-in with the ruthless Velkaryans, Ducayne sends him to 82 Eridani to check out the artifact that Roberts is retrieving.Meanwhile, the Velkaryan ship Carcharadon, last seen at Zeta Reticuli, is now also at 82 Eridani, and Ducayne's people think that the Velkaryans throughout T-Space are on the verge of serious political -- and possibly military -- gains.The planet Tanith, orbiting 82 Eridani, is about to become a very small place. The third in the Carson & Roberts T-Space series, after The Chara Talisman and The Reticuli Deception.

When the crew of the USS Anderson first landed on Sawyers World, at Alpha Centauri, they found a strangely regular, tree-covered hill that could as easily have been a pyramid as an old volcanic plug. The geologists declared it the latter, but archeologist Hannibal Carson has reason to think that Pete's Peak may be a pyramid. But to find out, he has to talk to one of the legendary First Landers, and if he survives that, he has a dinner date with his some-time pilot and old flame Jackie Roberts.Meanwhile, Carson & Roberts's old pal Rico, who was last seen shot and left for dead on Earth, has been slowly recovering in a traumapod, and now he's woken up. He's just not sure who put him in the pod in the first place, and the people who let him out have more questions than answered.This fourth Carson & Roberts adventure follows The Eridani Convergence. And of course, there are surprises.

In this sequel to Alpha Centauri: First Landing and Sawyer's World, The USS Heinlein returns to Earth, hoping to refit, refuel, and return to the Alpha Centauri system within weeks to pick up the stranded crew of the USS Poul Anderson. Things don't work out that way. Commodore Drake faces a court-martial for the apparent loss of not justthe Anderson, but also the Krechet and the Chinese ship, Xing Hua. The Chinese, meanwhile, have secretly reverse-engineered the Xing Hua and sent their own expedition to Epsilon Eridani, little realizing what awaits them.But the real surprise is in the biological samples the Heinlein brought back, then smuggled out of the Lunar Quarantine Facility by a biopharmaceutical company looking for any advantage it could get. Ironically, that may be the lever Drake needs to go and rescue the rest of his crew. That is, if they're still alive, and if they want to be rescued.