Blue and Gold Publishing is pleased to present:
Placed in a not-so
distant future of interplanetary travel and terraforming, this action-packed thriller is the story of a young engineer who is thrust into a world of sinister interplanetary intrigue and a ship captain's desperate search for the missing Love of his Life.
Travel with them to the far reaches of the solar system as they and their companions face danger and adventure, tragedy and joy, and loss and reward through trials of personal discovery and rebirth in a desperate fight to bring justice to tyranny, love to the lost, and liberty to the oppressed.
Includes appendices and an extensive glossary.
Many who were born and grew up in the 1940s through 1970s were enraptured with the looming prospect of firsthand exploration of the solar system. Our imaginations soared in anticipation of colonization and development on the new frontier. The stars in our eyes grew yet brighter with exposure to the paintings of Chesley Bonestell, and the writings of men like Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein who transported us through the minds eye to that grand and exciting future. In this verse-novel I have tried to capture some of that spirit, whether nostalgic to the gray hairs or hopeful to the young.
With the rapid acceleration of technological advances in the past half century, the world of this story is no longer a far reach and the possibilities are legion. It is not hard to imagine environment suits made of nano-sized heat pumps, atomics-powered rockets, cold fusion reactors, laser weaponry, artificial intelligence, and any number of other emerging technologies. However, in this story I have refrained from describing much in the way of new technologies and I have used much of the current and familiar. Rather than the hardware they possess, this is a story about people, coping in a future that is patiently waiting for those who would dare to make it.
I hope you enjoy reading this novel-in-verse as much as I did writing it.
- James T. Sapp
Author's Preface:
Preface
Prologue
The Captain's Lament
The Doctors View
1 First Flight
2 Introductions
3 Rude Awakening
4 Food for Thought
5 Mars
6 Soldana
7 Dinner and Delight
8 A Better Offer
9 Decision
10 Departure
11 Date Night
12 Discovery
13 Into the Deep
14 Progress
15 Nocturne
16 Snap Decision
17 Saturn
18 Titan
19 A Far Country
20 Catching Up
21 New Friends
22 Candlelight and Flowers
23 Off-Leash!
24 Job Well Done
25 Jonesy
26 Jackrabbit
27 Stroke of Darkness
28 Terror and Atrocity
29 Rewind
30 Worth His Salt
31 Revelations
32 A Small Request
33 Making the Point
34 Rendezvous and Pow Wow
35 Tripping the Trigger
36 Boomerang
37 Vignette
38 Iapetus
39 Message in a Bottle
40 Two Plus Two
41 Engagement
42 Moonshine and Musings
43 Descent
44 Kumbaru
45 Backlash
46 Mousetrap
47 A Message from Mars
48 The Black Ring
49 Confidence and Conscience
50 Its a Go!
51 Contact
52 Troubled Angels
53 Reunion
54 Dominos
55 Waiting
56 No Plan Lasts...
57 A Toast!
58 Raven Down
59 Nail in the Coffin
60 The Little Bird
61 Gloves Off
62 Getaway!
63 Shattered
64 A Necessary Evil
65 Spurs and Bugles
66 Dreams
67 Trouble at Veles
68 Judgment
69 Help Wanted
70 Enceladus
71 Respite
72 Banquet on Barsoom
73 Ribbons, Bows and Bells
74 Castle West
Epilog
Appendix A
List of Principal Characters
Captain Blue's Crew
Residents of Titan
Appendix B
Australian Slang as Used on Titan
Glossary
630 pages, available in Hardbound, Paperback, or EPUB.
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