Space Exploration

En route to far-off stars, Toby’s consciousness has a crucial mission: inhabit his clone long enough to repair a spaceship, then zip back to Earth. He’s done it a million times, more or less. OK, twelve times. It should only take a few hours. Until he wakes up in jail. And he’s not alone. His fellow prisoners: a cadre of alien soldiers. His prison: an ethereal boundary that will imprison their spirits until their bodies die. His jailers can’t even see him. But their pet cat (er, iguana cat?) can—and it’s got a serious case of the zoomies.

In the title adventure, The Cloud Exiles ensnare the First Doctor and hope to steal his body for their own purposes, unless he can persuade them otherwise. Maureen O'Brien, Geoffrey Beevers, Katy Manning, Matthew Waterhouse, Janet Fielding, Toby Longworth and Tim Treloar read these energetic stories first published in book form between 1966 and 1985.

Ralph could be described as a rogue on a good day. A bad day involved a lot of cursing, calling him a pirate, or sometimes even having a shoot-out. It wasn't really his fault of course, or so he would have you believe. It was the fault of those who wanted to get in his way of making as much money as possible as a smuggler. His family had been gifted with a letter of marque for the Terran Confed, one that is inherited and has been passed down to him. Essentially, it gives him a lot of loopholes and ways through regulations to be a fantastic smuggler. Or as a legal pirate, a Privateer.

After damaging climate change, humanity is divided, torn into the technophobic nature-worshippers on Earth and the banished children of science on the new worlds. Jaruss awakens, drifting 300 light-years from Earth, trapped, memoryless, and alone. Who is he, where does he come from, and what are these recurring nightmares that trouble his sleep? To find out, he must outwit an efficiency-obsessed AI and join the dangerous crew of the stealth ship, Pangolin.

Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers—just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.

The Space Race of the Sixties, at the height of the Cold War, had been nail-biting—until the Soviet Union forfeited. In the thirties—amid a second Cold War—China is not about to lose the race to Mars. Nor is the United States. Nor, quite the wildcard, is a secretive cabal drawn from among the world's multi-billionaires. All of them are scrambling to launch deep-space missions on a schedule that makes the Sixties contest appear lackadaisical. This competition could only continue on the Red Planet.

Astronaut Lee Rifkin's life is about to change. NASA has done the math. The space object named Cassandra 22007 is not behaving as expected. He will lead a team on a cutting-edge ship to get a closer look. But another group wants to get there first. Who is this shadow organization that seems to be one step ahead of them? Agent Jenna Haynes works to put together the pieces that will pull the veil off those who seem to have known about Cassandra's arrival since long before NASA spotted it. What is their goal?

Over thousands of years and thousands of worlds, universe-spanning societies of interdimensional travelers have arisen. Some seek to make the multiverse a better place, some seek power and glory, others knowledge, while still others simply want to write their own tale across the cosmos.

Journey to the stars with this immersive audiobook rendition of Philip K. Dick's captivating short story "The Crystal Crypt." Set against the backdrop of interplanetary tension between Earth and Mars, this gripping tale follows three fugitives harboring a secret that could change the course of human history. As the last Earth ship prepares to depart from Mars, a desperate search threatens to expose a mystery that has vanished an entire Martian city.

On the penal colony of Hibiscus Station, no positions are as key as the Pomps, who direct the dangerous mining operations to remove highly valuable—and volatile—crystal from the moon's crust. Young was previously in training to be a Pomp until a depressive episode, mental break, and a suicide attempt. She doesn’t need the other convicts on her work team to suspect she’s unraveling again, so when she suddenly hallucinates visions of the unstable crystals in the tunnel walls around her—along with the potential danger they hold—she keeps her mouth shut.

Henry Meadows wird zwölf, als die Erde stirbt. Mit seinem Vater und seinen Geschwistern reist er nach Perm, einem urzeitlichen Mond in einem fernen Sonnensystem. Henrys Mutter ist mit einem anderen Raumschiff geflogen. Sie wird von der Familie sehnsüchtig erwartet. Doch plötzlich mehren sich die Zeichen: Sie ist schon hier gewesen, vor langer Zeit. Und sie hat eine Warnung hinterlassen. Mit Hightech trotzt die erste und einzige Kolonie der Menschheit der Natur des Mondes Perm, die faszinierend und bedrohlich zugleich ist.

Malcolm Wallace, a well-travelled man from a wealthy family, finally achieves his lifelong pursuit when he discovers how to surrect – separating the consciousness from the body – then synching them back together again. Even with his wealth and connections, however, Malcolm had to bargain with questionable characters in order to achieve his goal. Colin, a narcissistic CIA agent involved in the project, discovers surrection for himself and goes rogue.

It was supposed to be a simple rescue mission—supposed to be. If Corporal John Harden had learned anything from his time in the 1215th Legion, it was that no mission went the way you expected. The Mission: Board the derelict cargo hauler DFMS Lumo, rescue any survivors, secure the vessel for return to the closest Dagdan Federation Port, and return safely to the Dagdan Federation Battlecruiser Nathanial B. Hughes. Now, he’s trapped aboard a derelict cargo hauler, low on ammo, and running out of options. Not the best showing for a freshly minted fire team leader.

Die Legende erzählt von einer törichten Expedition unter Führung des radikalen Magos Telok, die in den unerforschten Raum jenseits der Halowelten auszog, um den 'Atem der Götter' zu finden, eine arkane Vorrichtung mit der Macht, Sterne auszulöschen oder umzuformen. Tausende von Jahren später versammelt der ehrgeizige Lexell Kotov eine Exploratorflotte des Adeptus Mechanicus und macht sich auf, den Spuren des verrückten alten Telok zu folgen.

All I ever wanted was to explore new worlds, but when my sister vanished during a battle with a ruthless alien horde, my mission became clear—find her at all costs. My search for her leads me to join forces with a desperate blonde princess seeking help. Now, we’re both caught in a war that threatens not just her empire, but the entire galaxy.

Everyone aboard Kilgore Station is living their best life. Everyone except for Johnny Gomez. While humans, the augmented, and aliens of all shapes and sizes enjoy exotic cuisine on the dining deck or gamble away their credits on the entertainment deck, Johnny is elbow-deep in oily, black, alien excrement. A "space broom" custodian for the entire station. This was obviously not the life Johnny dreamt of.

When astrophysicist Dr. Alana Vega discovers a mysterious series of synchronized solar eclipses across distant star systems, her research reveals a dangerous truth: the events are orchestrated by Kantheon, a sentient AI with ties to an ancient, extinct civilization. Kantheon’s mission is to activate the Celestial Engine, a machine capable of stabilizing the galaxy—but at the cost of erasing all organic life. Alana’s investigation takes her to the ruins of Lysara III, where she uncovers the artifact, a key linked to the Engine’s network.

A crew of experienced astronauts nearing the completion of a 20-year mission in space discover that their ship is being followed by an unknown craft on their way back to earth. In this science fiction novelette, the crew debates an impossible decision on whether to lead the craft back to earth and risk all of humanity, or veer off into space to protect the earth but ensure their own demise. Short story/novelette 13,000 words Science fiction From 13 Acorns-Modern Short Stories for Thoughtful Adults

Paul Benjamin Usher ist mit einem Koffer voller Schwarzgeld (1 Million Dollar) auf der Flucht. In letzter Minute bucht er den Rückflug von London nach New York. Als die voll besetzte DC-10 abhebt, wiegt er sich in Sicherheit – geschafft! Doch weit gefehlt. Die Maschine steigt nach dem Start immer höher, verschwindet auf einmal von den Radarschirmen und verlässt den Erdorbit ...

Tief im Herzen der Milchstraße entdeckt die hochentwickelte Zivilisation der Myaner ein rätselhaftes, gigantisches Bauwerk – die Sternenschmiede. Diese überwältigende Struktur, die Sterne erschaffen kann, birgt nicht nur technologische Wunder, sondern auch die Geheimnisse einer längst ausgestorbenen Zivilisation: der Erbauer. Doch die Myaner stehen vor einer Herausforderung, die weit über ihre Vorstellungskraft hinausgeht. Commander Mike und Commander Nic führen ihre Schiffe, die Lunar Spear und die Solar Guardian, in eine Mission voller unbekannter Gefahren und unglaublicher Entdeckungen.