Robert A V Jacobs

This book is an Omnibus edition of two books 'The Yellow Dragon' And 'The Diamond Sword of Tor'

Robert was almost ten years old, so things like make believe worlds and strange creatures were no mystery to him. He wasn't a complete baby, and realised that was just what they were, make believe. So when his Grandpa started to tell him stories about other realities and the weird and wonderful beings that inhabited them, he thought he was just being told made up stuff. That is, until he took a real look into Grandpa Kenneth's garden shed....

The title story is a science fiction short based on the work of two well known authors, but those that follow it, may stretch your imagination by taking you into all that is weird and wonderful. A ghost in love, a fortune from a Leprechaun, an evil twin, a time traveller, a door to Narnia, the revenge of a witch, and a visit from some aliens are just a few of the things that, hopefully will make you laugh, cry or be terrified. Our hero moves into a new house, and it's haunted, His sister is a holy terror on legs and impossible to control. He takes the blame for all her misdeeds. Then he meets the ghost. Both are immediately attracted to each other. But that is the least of their problems. One twin is an astronaut, one a murderous criminal. The second has always coveted his brother's success, but his criminal past betrays him. So he schemes in an effort to take his brother's place. Just two of the thirty-two stories, set in the past, present and future that are waiting inside.

Rear Admiral Gale Harkness's ship, the Argos, under the command of Captain Bernice O'Reilly is despatched on a mission to discover the fate of two remote outposts of humanity that have gone silent. To discover that both colonies have been totally obliterated, with the exception of one young girl, is a shock in itself, but when Gale and her crew are assaulted by hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanoes that seem to have no basis in nature, she has to ask whether an alien intelligence is involved. Narrowly escaping from an artificially produced Nova, the crew of the Argos discover a moon that shows the remnants of a nuclear explosion and some intact artificial structures. A landing party is sent, but is forced to abandon their ship and as a result become marooned. What they find provides answers to many of their questions, and who or what the Taldi'na are, is finally revealed.

Five hundred years ago, humans burst through a portal between realities bent on conquest. With the help of the Elves from this reality, they tried to eradicate the dragons. Things did not go well, and the invaders moved the Elves to safety between realities and withdrew. The power used to move the Elves backfired through the portal damaging the invaders' reality severely, and the dimensional key in the form of a Diamond sword was left behind. But now after five centuries the sword hidden behind a disguise of steel, has found its way into the hands of Erun Oncant, Sovereign King of Cardoney. A child at play caused the portal to allow a single team of humans through, and they need to recover the key to return home. When they don't find it in the castle they kidnap the Queen, to coerce Erun into returning it.

Erun Oncant, the ordinary son of ordinary parents, lived in Cardoney. That is, until chosen by a dying dragon to be the rider for her unhatched daughter. As he took the sword from her dying body, it became instilled with magical powers, and all that remained of her flowed into it. The egg hatched into the first ever yellow dragon, a colour never seen before and only talked about in legend, and with the help of Princess Lelia from the Kingdom of Vanticor, he cared for her, as she grew to full size. Her name, inherited from her mother, became Corella. Tensions between surrounding Kingdoms had developed into all out war under the influence of a wizard of immense power. All feared that Cardoney would be next. Erun and Corella forged an inseparable bond, and together, they set out to foil the evil machinations of the wizard and restore peace to the world.

With virtually nothing happening except divorce cases, Larry is getting bored. So much so that when he is approached by a five year old to find her stolen Panda, he jumps at the chance. But when the one escalates into seventeen, and then a murder in front of him, followed by an attempt on his own life, and the death of his friend, he realises that there is more to this affair than was at first realised. It seems that an eighteenth Panda may be the key to the puzzle, so all of his efforts are channelled into an intensive search for it. When the truth is revealed, and the extent of the criminal activity becomes known, Larry risks all to protect those around him, and bring the perpetrators to Justice.

A phone call in the middle of the night alerted Larry Dexxman to the death of his wife Penny's friend Stella. It seemed to be a simple mugging, but what should have been a straight forward investigation turns major when the bodies start to pile up. Initial enquiries reveal that Stella's past, and her present, were shrouded in mystery, and when the frequent trips that she took before her death lead to the Department of Work and Pensions whose office in London is unaccountably destroyed in an explosion, the puzzle deepens. The investigation moves to Stella's last employer, Bytesize Systems Ltd, who were contracted to develop an AI solution for the DWP, but before any progress can be made, the owner is brutally murdered in a hit and run. Larry, despairing that he will ever get a handle on the puzzle is not as surprised as he should have been when the whole thing is brought to a head by his home being invaded by armed intruders.

Humanity had been at war with Humanity for fifty years when a greater threat, in the form of the Shi-az-ee, came along. The Shi-az-ee blamed Humanity for an atrocity that they did not commit, and embarked on a holy war, vowing to destroy them all. Due to public pressure in both systems of humanity, the war between them came to an end, and the combined fleets turned their attention to the Shi-az-ee. But hidden in an unlikely place, lurked the true enemy, waiting and watching, and seeking its revenge.

Recovering from a heart attack, Larry is being overprotected by his colleagues, which in itself is providing more stress than he needs, so he decides to take some time out with a visit to Gregory's caf . A conversation overheard in the caf attracts Larry's attention, and becomes more intriguing when a day later he witnesses the murder of the principle speaker. On the spur of the moment as he kneels beside the dying girl he makes a promise. He promises to find the murderer, whatever it costs. It is a promise that he will find has a much higher price than he would willingly pay. An imposter in MI6, murder, embezzlement, and terrorism, are just four of the hazards that he has to face, as he struggles with the bizarre, in the form of an almost identical twin to himself. Several attempts on Larry's life, when his 'twin' is in the vicinity raises the question of whether those attempts are really meant for him, or are they actually meant for the 'twin'?

Harry the eight year old son of Malcolm and Natalie Firth, engages Larry Dexxman to find his mother, but he has no idea of the can of worms that Larry is about to open. Larry's wife Penny, Neil and Denise his two new assistants, and Sally his tiny Shih-Tzu/Yorkshire terrier cross, embark on a mission to find her . With the help of MI6, they delve into the murky depths of Malcolm's life and are astounded and horrified to find that he has links with Vincente Vasquez, a known villain, suspected of drug smuggling and murder. When Special Branch shows an interest in his case, Larry finds that he has unwittingly become embroiled in an ongoing espionage investigation, which seems to be inexorably linked to Natalie's disappearance. Whether Natalie is alive or dead is a moot point, when keeping himself, his friends, and Harry alive, becomes the order of the day.

When the body of the British Home Secretary's son is found in an alleyway where he had been battered to death, Larry Dexxman, a seventy-five year old private detective is thrown into the middle of a political minefield that could easily cost him his life. His only protection is Sally, a tiny Shih-tsu/Yorkshire terrier cross, Penny his twenty-four-year-old assistant and his own combat experience gained in the armed forces fifty years ago. Narrowly surviving several attempts on his life, Larry must try to protect those around him while, at the same time, keeping his promise to the murdered boy's girlfriend that he would find out who was responsible and see that they are brought to justice. Worried that the situation might be terrorist related, the Home Secretary orders his own daughter, Denise, placed under protection as a precaution, but Larry soon realises that it is not enough, and if he can't remove her from danger she could easily be next.

It all started when Larry Dexxman received a letter more than twenty years late, which cast doubt upon the official verdict of accidental death on two employees of a legal company, one of which was Larry's former wife. Several attempts on Larry's life, when there is no discernible reason for them, drag him ever further into a web of lies and deceit. It seems to involve espionage, and is believed to be centred on the law firm of Parkes and Parkes, until links back to a former adversary are found. All of the main suspects are already dead, so his attention is inexorably drawn back to the law firm. Finally things come to a head, leaving Larry and his colleagues trapped by two people consumed with the desire to see them dead in the slowest and most painful way possible. Now, the only question that he has left to answer is whether or not this will actually be his 'time to die' after all.

Two hundred years had passed since the disappearance of Daisy Weal, and the flagship of the Star Fleet, HMSS 'The Daisy Weal', named in memory of her, was heading towards the desolate planet of Cren to deliver an archaeological and survey team. When passing through a binary system, an accident happened, and a beam of energy from an unknown source penetrated the ship killing all passengers and crew instantly. The ship's semi-sentient bio-processor took evasive action, and escaping on emergency thrust, it inadvertently twisted space and performed an unintended, and previously thought impossible, hyper jump. As a result, it ended up completely lost, but finds that it has been programmed with an overpowering urge to find a way home. This is the story of that journey home and of the many civilisations that were encountered, of changes that were made, of friends that were met, and of the life that it was given.

The passenger liner the Star Queen, suffered mysterious damage to its jump engines and emerged from hyperspace, close to the sun, at half-light speed on a collision course with Earth. Distress signals were sent out as the ship scorched into the Earth's atmosphere to explode devastatingly just before impact. 600 years later, and 600 light years away, the distress call is intercepted by a warship of Her Majesty's Star Fleet. The distress call is a radio signal, presumably because of an FTL coms failure, and it is soon realised that its origin is the start of the twentieth century, before space travel was discovered.

Daisy Weal is gifted with extraordinary powers. Her early years were spent learning how to control them, learning how to fit in and learning how to be human. Daisy has just celebrated her sixteenth birthday when the Crenian comes to earth. His race had been wiped out by a genetic shift that had been introduced centuries ago, and instinctively his first act is to attack Daisy, before he realises that her powers are at least equal to his own. Eventually he joins forces with her and together they unravel the mystery of his race's condition, and set out to prevent the same thing from happening to the human race. Daisy and the Crenian are getting uncomfortably close to the truth and, as a diversion, the President of the United States is kidnapped and Daisy's friends start to disappear. She discovers that a sinister plot is being hatched by the being that she has seen as her friend and mentor. Once more she calls on the Crenian and together they meet the enemy in a final confrontation.

Daisy Weal was gifted with extraordinary powers. Her early years were spent learning how to control them, learning how to fit in, and learning how to be human. She had reached thirteen, and was settling into becoming a teenager. She met Amy, who became her constant companion and friend. Daisy was teleporting the necessary personnel, equipment and supplies to Moon Base, when she discovered cameras spying on her. Sir Charles Wilberforce Prendergast had discovered Daisy's secrets. Fearing that her powers might be a danger to his own plans, he decided to force her to work for him. If that was not possible, he would eliminate her. He turned to his assassins. Following several failed attempts, one of which left Amy seriously injured and in hospital, Daisy realises she can't allow Sir Charles to continue. It was time for him to answer for his crimes.

This book is an Omnibus edition of two books: 'The Yellow Dragon' And 'The Diamond Sword of Tor'