Dispatches from the Galaxy

Book excerpt: A Dispatches from the Galaxy Collection A generation ship with an impossible problem. A food supply planet at risk of starvation. A faster-than-light space communication network in danger of collapse. Join Kari Kilgore on a trio of exciting Space Opera novella adventures! The Changes Cascade Sue Warrell, Systems and Security Chief aboard Expedition Mission Bellagos, fought long and hard for a one-way trip. Protecting the lives of over eight thousand people and the generation ship they call home. As a failed systems update tests Sue and her team to their limits, a crew member's disappearance pushes disaster into the impossible. Will Sue find the truth before Bellagos passes the breaking point? Restricted Species Earth Wars veteran Jim Turhan loves his quiet life on supply planet Mossera 4, teaching the art and science of xeno-farming. Then crops all over Mossera 4 begin to fail. Will Jim discover the cause before starvation, or worse, turns his dream life into a nightmare? The Becalmed Bitan, the most valuable substance in the human universe, only comes from one planet. And that planet has a problem. The TransGalactic Corporation sends Luis Ahmad on a desperate mission to help the human colony on Bitanthra. Can Luis save the colony and communications across the galaxy? Excerpts from Dispatches from the Galaxy: The Changes Cascade Evans took a deep breath. "Senior Tech McHugh is missing. I made sure to investigate before I brought this to you, ma'am." "You're forgetting the geo-sensor." Sue tapped the tiny bump hidden in the hair above her right ear. "Mr. McHugh would not simply disappear, even if he could." "The tracking screen was the first thing I checked. Pull it up if you could, please, and we'll make sure." "One missing," she whispered. "Even if he were dead..." She switched over to the report on McHugh, and a deeper chill ran through her. The yellow of Invalid flashed behind his name. Not one other person showed that impossible status. Restricted Species "The freighters won't bring any food with them," Jim said. "Even if we warn them, they can't detour to another supply planet." Rob's face was pale. "There aren't any close by." "Not that they could re-route to." Jim scrubbed his face. "We won't actually starve to death. At least I don't think so. But with a year or more before we get a good harvest, we'll have a planet full of miserable cadets and furious miners on our hands." He knew all too well how shortages and hardships they weren't prepared for could turn a difficult situation into a nasty one. The Becalmed "II don't think it's trauma," Luis said, "or disease. I don't believe this is contagious at all. What do you think is going on?" Tears stood in Willis's eyes. "Some of us are afraid it's some kind of poison we're passing along to our children." "I can't rule anything out yet," Luis said. "But your medical center here has tested for everything we know of, and off-world facilities have too. Nothing seems out of line with your bodies. Nothing seems to accumulate or get depleted over time." "Except our kids' feelings," Myrtle said. She didn't look sad. She looked furious. "That's depleting, more and more every year."