Showing results for "Explorations" in First Contact

Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed stand-alone novel Children of Time is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden.

Mars and the Moon have been colonized, piracy runs rampant in the asteroid belts, and a thriving society grows in the depths of space. Humanity prepares to embark upon its greatest journey - the colonization of Alpha Centauri. Then, everything changes. A deep space reconnaissance probe discovers a new Earth-like planet 12 light-years from Earth’s sun. The probe also finds something unusual, something unnerving. A new mission is created, a space fleet is formed, and humanity embarks on unravelling the greatest mystery of all - the origins of life itself.

Colton Beck has six months to live. He works for the Angor near Los Angeles, aware that any day could be his last. The Angor arrived 20 years ago, resolved to help mankind survive, but not everyone believes their motives are honorable. When the Angor offer humanity a colony world, Colton is determined to see another planet before his final breath. He’s been diagnosed with Xeno, a rare disorder that surfaced with the Angor’s arrival, but he won’t let this stop him.

Daniel Clay fought across the galaxy as a corporate soldier. He left the violence behind for a life of science, raising a family far from the bloodshed of the Corporation. With his wife, Sarah, and son, Michael, he studied the alien Tyr for years, hidden among their complex societies. Their mission should have ended with the arrival of a replacement team. Instead, the Clays’ corporate overlords choose a death sentence: an invasion fleet to conquer the Tyr.

Jon Ryan has some unfinished business. Since he caused the universe to reboot, well, he can't seem to find his wife of two billion years. That's one great big oops. He also can't find the massive time ship Aramthella and her human crew. Double oops. And then there's the matter of not knowing whey why there are several copies of key people in the new reality he must navigate. Triple oops. He actually knows one whole heck of a lot less about his current situation than seems healthy. But he's Jon Ryan, former fighter pilot turned android warrior for humankind.

On a privately financed orbital habitat above the planet Uranus, political idealism conflicts with pragmatic - and illegal - methods of financing. Add a scientist who has funding to launch a probe deep into Uranus‘ ocean depths to search for signs of life, and you have a three-way struggle for control. Humans can’t live on the gas giants, making instead a life in orbit. Kyle Umber, a religious idealist, has built Haven, a sanctuary above the distant planet Uranus.

In the future: A united Earth, to deal with the problem of population control, divides its population into classes of citizen and non-gratis. To be born a non-gratis means a life of little freedoms and the constant possibility of being assigned to work on a colony. Lacking citizenship, every aspect of their life is controlled from where they live down to marriage and childbearing regulations. The only possible escape from life as a non-gratis is to qualify for one of the limited slots available for entrance into the military.

The battle over the alien artifacts rages across the solar system. On Earth, Los Angeles becomes the battleground for two mega-corporations that will stop at nothing to get their hands on the strange material. Meanwhile, as she races towards Ganymede, astronaut Rachel Ferreira discovers that the biggest threat to the ship and her team is not awaiting ahead out in space, but is right under their own feet. As the satellite images received from Ganymede get stranger and stranger, Rachel and Theodore each find themselves in a race against time.

Jeff Dolan always wanted to be an astronaut. After helping a private space company build a ship that can travel to Saturn's largest moon in five months, he gets his chance. Shortly after launch, a devastating malfunction forces Jeff and the crew to make a choice: continue to Titan or go back home. As the truth about their mission unravels, one thing is clear: Someone on Earth knew about the system flaw and covered it up. Yet surviving the journey isn't the crew's only concern. Even if they make it to Titan, they will face another problem: Something is already there.

In the heart of the South Pacific lies Point Nemo, the most desolate and remote place on Earth. At its core is a dead zone, devoid of life, where government agencies crash their obsolete satellites and space stations, confident they won't harm a soul. When the International Space Station suffers a catastrophic failure and plummets through the atmosphere, it's here that Mission Specialist Julie Rohr, an astrobiologist studying living space dust called xylem, finds herself marooned. Julie's only hope for rescue lies in the hands of her estranged father, Dr. Finn Maddern, a renowned mycologist.

Dies ist die Geschichte von Martin Lundgren, dem Raumfahrer, und seiner Suche nach der gläsernen Stadt, einem mystischen Ort tief unter der Oberfläche des Mars, an dem die Grenzen zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft verschwimmen. Es ist aber auch die Geschichte von Lena, der Primaballerina, die bei einem Attentat beide Beine verliert und dennoch zur ersten Tänzerin zwischen den Welten wird.

Als die Besatzung der Ares-9 Marsmission mit dem Ziel aufbricht, eine ständig bewohnte Basis zu errichten, ahnt sie nicht, was sich unter dem roten Staub des Nachbarplaneten verbirgt. Zum ersten Mal in der Geschichte wird klar, dass die Menschheit nicht allein im Weltraum ist. Das Artefakt, das sie im Staub des toten Planeten entdecken, verändert nicht nur das Verständnis der Menschen über ihren Platz im Universum, es birgt in seinem Innersten auch ein todbringendes Geheimnis.

Stephanie Harrington didn’t discover treecats—they were indigenous to the planet Sphinx, a colony of the tiny Star Kingdom of Manticore. But at age ten she was the first human to bond with one. Now, almost 17, she is the species greatest champion. To the rest of the human galaxy, if they are known at all, they are recognized as tool using, socially organized, fuzzy little creatures, with no known method of communication—who also happen to be fierce hunters. But are they sapient?

In den finsteren Weiten des inneren Asteroidengürtels hoffen die Bergbauastronauten Walter Adams und Tiziana Fontana, reiche Vorkommen an Gold, Platin und Seltenen Erden im gerade freigegebenen neuen Sektor zu entdecken. Doch als sie ein rätselhaftes Signal empfangen, stoßen sie auf ein pechschwarzes, mysteriöses fremdes Objekt. Nicht nur Walters Arbeitgeber, Wayaki Industries, erwartet schnelle Antworten: Auch zwei konkurrierende Konzerne haben längst Kurs auf das Objekt genommen. Was als Wettlauf um Profit begann, verwandelt sich in eine grausame Prüfung um Leben und Tod.

The crime of the century begins without a hitch. On July 5th, 2070, as it's about to be launched, the starship Alabama is hijacked - by her captain and crew. In defiance of the repressive government of The United Republic of Earth, they replace her handpicked passengers with political dissidents and their families. These become Earth's first pioneers in the exploration of space...

Die Majestätische Dracht erreicht ein Sonnensystem, das es so eigentlich nicht geben dürfte: Einer der Planeten umkreist beide Zentralsterne, aber in einer Bahn, die senkrecht zu der der anderen Himmelskörper verläuft. Eigentlich müsste dieser Kurs regelmäßig zu mächtigen Katastrophen führen – und ausgerechnet, als das Raumschiff der Grosnopfe dort eintrifft, steht ein solches Ereignis kurz bevor. Es sieht so aus, als müssten Marchenko und seine Freunde ein ganzes Sternensystem reparieren – eine unlösbare Aufgabe.

Agetha has survived many more battles than she anticipated when she first landed on her new home planet. She's older and wiser, has gained family and lost loved ones. And yet her reward for four decades of service is to be pushed to the colony's outer edges with the other aging Generationals. But that was only the beginning of her adventure.

Deep in space lies the black hole known as Angelmass, so called because it emits enigmatic particles with the unusual ability to render humans calm, reasonable, and incapable of lying—which would normally be seen as a good thing. But not by everyone. Academic Jereko Kosta is pressed into service by the Pax to spy on the Empyrean, joining the crew of a ship actively hunting the particles. But what he learns turns out to be both scientifically fascinating and morally frightening.

Hiding from her problems as she vacations at a beach house, Gloria's only concerns are walking her dog, relaxing by the pool, and kayaking. Then she spots a strange sea-creature stalking her as she paddles around a secluded cove.

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.