Showing results by narrator "Piers Ryman" in Science Fiction

Nothing will ever be the same again. Having successfully averted a mutiny and the near-discovery of the Exit Plan, the White Flower II's new captain is now in charge of fulfilling that plan to its end, and there's only a little more than a month to prepare. But there's a problem—Tesko doesn't want to deliver the terraformer to the pirates as agreed. She wants it for the geroo, and she will not take no for an answer. But it's not as simple as kicking the pirates out, as both crews need each other. For now.

Centuries ago, we lost our world. Planetary Acquisitions keeps us alive solely to maintain their vast fleet of gate ships in an endless quest to find them new worlds to settle - or to conquer. Years flutter by like a tree shedding its spring petals, and so we desperately cling to this chunk of dirt-and-machine we call home.

Tales of Hayven Celestia tells 13 stories of ordinary people put in extraordinary circumstances. Stuck in situations far beyond their control, they have to make the hardest choices of their lives. The stakes have never been higher, and one wrong move will lead to catastrophe.

Kanti had spent many sleepless nights torturing himself with thoughts of the day when he would give up on returning to Tish. Old and grey, back-stooped from decades of labor, he would try to get up out of bed, and change his mind. Why bother? He couldn’t have been more wrong. He was still young, his pelt still tanned, and his back didn’t hurt when he rose. Everything had conspired to keep the two lovers apart: rivals, foes, distance. Now, he needs his friends’ help more than ever if he wants his old life back.

The best-laid plans of geroo and ringel often go awry. Nobody knows that as well as the crew of the White Flower II, the geroo ship whose captain still bears the literal scars of his last failure. Despite their best efforts, his ship and its crew still languish in slavery to the cruel krakun. But when a new opportunity for freedom presents itself, will the geroo be able to pull off an even more daring escape plan - right under the nose of a krakun overseer?

"They’ve put Kaz on trial for the murders!” cried Aziz. “They’re going to execute her as the killer!” Tori shook her head in an attempt to wake more fully. “What? No. That’s a mistake. Kaz wouldn’t harm an insect. There’s no way a court could find her guilty.” “The krakun legal system doesn’t give a damn about geroo. They find everyone guilty!”

Desperate to get the surgery she needs, Tori transfers aboard the Sailor's Gambit I to catch a vigilante. But the situation quickly unravels, and our unlikely investigator discovers that a serial killer on the loose is the very least of her problems.