Showing results for "Whirlwind" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Serial killers come in all shapes and sizes, but this one is particularly puzzling. There's no pattern to the mutilated bodies that have been showing up in Albuquerque: The victims have been both sexes and all races, ages, and ethnic groups. There is no evidence of rape or ritual. Only one thing connects the victims: They were the victims of a natural disaster - one of the most unnatural natural disasters imaginable - leading to a most painful, most certain, and most hideous death.

Steward is a clone, a beta. His memories are 15 years old, because his alpha never did have a brain-scan update. And in those 15 years, the entire world has changed. An alien race known as The Powers has established relations with humanity, and the Orbital Policorp that held his allegiance has collapsed.

All The Human had to do was turn over his latest bounty to the local authorities and collect his fee. But when it turns out that no one in the galaxy wants to take possession of the criminal, Adam is left with no choice but to transport him a quarter of the way across the galaxy, from the renegade planet Sinalus to Unidor Security's headquarters on Tactori. The problem . . . it seems everybody and their brother are trying to stop him from completing his mission, both the good guys and the bad guys. What do they know that The Human doesn't?

In the year 2420, war looms between the galaxy's two most powerful empires: the tyrannical Theocracy and the protectionist Commonwealth. Caught in the middle sits the occupied outpost system Cadiz, where young officer and aristocrat Katherine "Kat" Falcone finds herself prematurely promoted at the behest of her powerful father. Against her own wishes, Kat is sent to command the Commonwealth navy's newest warship, Lightning.

Now a celebrated war hero, Captain Kat Falcone is back at the helm of HMS Lightning...and up against near-impossible odds. After an ill-timed outburst almost ends her career, Kat is handed command of a deep-strike mission into enemy space. The objective is to gather intelligence and distract the hostile Theocracy while the Commonwealth prepares its counteroffensive. The chances for success are slim - and for survival even slimmer.

As the Commonwealth produces more starships and increases recruits, victory begins to slip from Theocratic control. This can only make the Theocracy more desperate to win...and more dangerous to fight. After a mission to liberate an occupied planet ends in nuclear devastation, Kat Falcone - now a commodore in command of HMS Queen Elizabeth - sees firsthand just how far the enemy will go.

Chapter 1: The Humble Origins Our story begins in the late 1980s, a time when video games were just beginning to capture the hearts and minds of a generation. It was against this backdrop that two young Harvard Business School graduates, James McCurry and Gary Kusin, had a vision: to create a space where gamers could come together, explore new worlds, and share their passion. With this dream in mind, they founded a small software retailer in Dallas, Texas, and named it Babbage's, after the father of the computer, Charles Babbage. Step into Babbage's in those early days, and you'd be greeted by...