Elin, a direct descendant of the first Khybor, holds the future of her race on her shoulders. When the Set'ri want to declare them non-Humans and have them exterminated, and other factions in civilization want them as slaves, Elin leads the way to a desert world called Norbra, where Khybors have a chance to live free and to raise their children in peace and safety. But their enemies have followed them...
On a remote colony world, the daughter of the Talon, the defender of the people, takes over her father's mask and identity. At the same time, an investigator comes to the colony in search of the Set'ri, to stop them from hastening the disintegration of the galactic civilization. Can the two work together for the sake of the future, or will their necessary deceptions push them apart forever?
Rescuing K'reeth from her kidnappers brought an epic storm down on their enemies, but common sense said the Dominators were far from defeated. Taron and K'reeth had dreamed of a world where Ayanlak and Na'huma colonists could live together in peace and acceptance. Now that she was pregnant, they needed to make that world a reality, and soon, or their child of two races might never be born. Admiral Dorwen had a dream of a peace village, where both groups of galactic refugees could learn from each other and learn to share their world, which the Ayanlak had named Storm Shelter and the Na'huma colonists had named Refuge. As fall turned to winter, volunteers gathered and shared ideas, and traveled to the T'bredi enclave, where they would be safe from their enemies, to prepare to start building in the spring. Touching while meeting together in the Dream Plain had always been forbidden, and the storm created when Taron rescued K'reeth illustrated exactly why. But that discovery sparked curiosity, and K'rin and other scholars delved into the archives to learn more about the Dream Plain, who had learned how to use it, and what else they could do in the realm of the mind. If people could travel wide distances through the Dream Plain--granted, with devastating consequences--what else could travel through it? The discovery of ancient treasures stored in the Dream Plain, unchanged by the centuries, opened doors of speculation and possibilities, and a chance to delve the secrets of the ancestors.
The colony world of Rensler remains under occupation by enemy forces. Erion Rensler, governor, and his father, Elbarto, the former governor, are still prisoners, their location unknown. All that stands between the invaders and success are the Rensler brothers, Eryk and Edrian. Eryk leads the resistance fighters in the forests of Rensler. Edrian stays under the watchful eye of the enemy, playing a dangerous game of deception. At night, he sheds his pretense of being a sickly book-head and becomes the Talon, defender of the colony, riding on a deadly Nightskimmer...
Before the Commonwealth existed, there was an expanding, multi-galaxy civilization, that disintegrated. This is the story of its downfall, where colony worlds learned to survive by their own strength...or were abandoned to die. Three novellas in one volume explore the birth of the Khybors, whose descendants will impact the Downfall, the rebirth of civilization, the return to the stars, and the Commonwealth far into the future. Khrystalis: Kerin was the youngest child of two powerful, intelligent, gifted research scientists. When the military interfered yet again in her father's research, the resulting lab explosion filled Kerin's body with experimental bio-crystal, long before it was ready for human testing. She was changed. Bio-crystal was meant to aid the body in repairing itself, when medical science was incapable. As it penetrated down to the genetic level, Kerin learned to change herself, and to sense the world in totally new ways. When her gift reached out beyond her own biology, she stood poised between being the bearer of a great gift for humanity, or a threat that would change the universe. Ambush: The twins, Casta and Pol, should never have been born, and there were many enemies who would still try to destroy them as they reached adulthood. Hidden away on a remote colony world with their uncle, they were allowed to explore all their potential, develop all the gifts they could imagine. That potential was put to good use when their home was attacked and their uncle was kidnapped by enemies intent on destroying first their world, then civilization. Their favorite game was called Ambush, and now the game had become reality. The enemy would never know what hit them. When the smoke had cleared, they had regained more than their uncle. Now what they were had a name: Khybors. Wing and Claw: Lor and Jae led the Khybors, training them to be the frontrunners of exploration teams clearing alien worlds for colonization. They had learned young not to trust the powers-that-be when they spoke of peace and cooperation between the emerging groups of augmented Humans and the rest of the Human race. All the signs were there, that the enemies who had been quiet, hiding in the shadows for generations now, were ready to emerge and attack once again. The time had come to reach for the stars, for Khybors to flee to the furthest limits of explored and colonized space, and find a world where they could live in peace and safety. First, they had to rescue the people who dared to stand up for them and speak on their behalf, before their voices were silenced permanently.
Khybors flee to Norbra for a safe place to raise their children, far from enemies who want them declared non-Humans, or want to enslave or annihilate them entirely. Like the selfish, arrogant queen of legend for whom the planet is named, Norbra has a reputation for destroying all life. Elin and those who settle the planet believe no one else will want it. They hope their enemies will leave them in peace while they wait for Norbra to do the hard work of destroying their troublesome race. However, Khybors are made to survive. They make Norbra their home and use the dangers of the planet for their own defense. Then. as the generations go on, they make a long-range plan for survival, aware that their enemies won't give up. The only way for Khybors to survive as a race is to withdraw so far away that the Set'ri and other enemies will never find them, and in time, may even forget about them. Rorin Pace comes to Norbra to win Elin's heart, to follow his dream of piloting one of their ships, and to find a way to protect all Khybors. Kheeran, their daughter, reaches new dimensions as a pilot. Their son Banjer dives deeper within the computer world and discovers the vital element in the Khybors' long-range plans of escape to the far reaches of space. Zeph, a Wrinkleship pilot, allies with the Khybors in building their fleet and brings them a damaged ship called the Nova Vendetta, full of prisoners, pirates, and a growing artificial intelligence. Errien, Kheeran's daughter, leads the pilots who search for new gateways to other universes. Meanwhile, their enemies grow stronger and come closer, and the countdown begins to the destruction of the Central Allied Worlds.
Of all the races that are part of the Central Allied Worlds (CAW), the augmented are the most feared, despised and threatened, considered no longer Human because of their abilities. But the time has finally come for the children of Norbra to act... After generations of cycling back and forth between abuse and praise, friendship and fear in the galaxy, Elin and Rorin and their descendants have a plan and the technology to save all Khybors. Utilizing the mind-machine bond with their Skip ships, they can create Wrinkles in the fabric of space. For the first time, fleeing beyond the reach of politicians, genetic purists and extremists like those led by the vicious Set'ri allows them the means to invisibly get to safety and provide evacuation for their allies. But an unprecedented discovery alters everything. They aren't simply Skipping beyond the reach of the sensors, they're Leaping to alternate universes, perhaps new dimensions...where the CAW can never find them. In alien space, the only certainty is that they need to protect themselves from other races that may prey upon them and their unique talents. Born of loss, pain and despair, the first law of the Leapers is set in stone: Harming one Leaper amounts to harming all. Attack and the gift of the Leap will be removed from cities, countries, worlds…the entire cosmos. An act of survival on the part of the children of Norbra ushers in an era of unimaginable change
K'reeth and her sister, K'rin, were named for the moonbirds--sister raptor birds who share parenting duties, one the nurturer, the other the hunter and defender. Orphaned by catastrophe and adopted by the High Mistrada of the T'bredi scholars, they're teachers entrusted with all the gathered wisdom of the Ayanlak. Their bond of sisterhood is tested when K'reeth falls in love with the Wind Walker Talon. The relationship is further strained when the new peace with the Colonist invaders includes a promise to send home all the children who have been rescued by and raised among the Ayanlak--and K'reeth is the first. Her forced journey to be reunited with a family she doesn't even remember eventually takes both sisters across the continent and into the nest of political intrigue and contention that may tear their world apart--on the very brink of peace and the fulfillment of ancient prophecy.
Refugees from the Downfall Wars, separated by centuries of spaceflight, clash on a far distant world. Caught between them are Tayree--native, Wind Walker, visionary, and a recent widow--and Arin, a foundling raised by the invading Colonists. Tayree's visions send her to find Arin, stolen from her tribe when he was an infant. She knows him from childhood dreams...and because his twin brother murdered her husband and infant sons in an attempt to possess her. Arin and Tayree could be part of prophecy to bring peace between the Ayanlak natives and the invading Colonists, but only if their hearts can heal. Tayree has a chance to fill her empty arms, but claiming her rights of recompense from her enemy's family could destroy the future for her tribe and Arin's love for her.
Isaac Asimov and other speculative fiction writers have postulated that what seems to be mere technology to modern eyes could be viewed as magic to people of other cultures and times ... and perhaps worlds? In this series of novellas, classic and not-so-familiar faerie tales are placed in futuristic settings. The costumes and props might change, but the Human spirit and the quest for true love will never change. Maia has grown up in the Downbelow, a Borer, born to a life of labor so the arrogant Stocrats can live in luxury in the Above. She's made friends with a Metalman who taught her things the people in the World have forgotten. But even those marvels pale in comparison to what she discovers when she enters the Virtual world and learns the danger that threatens them all.
