Whether you're new to the series or a returning customer or fan,
remembering what you've survived and anticipating what's around the next nebula
adds a great star chart to any epic adventure!
Traps & Treasures
Every discovery breeds opportunity.
But what we do with what we learn has rarely been one of humanity's strong suits. With the tafchas and the orgalins, humanity is forced to face our own nature's greatest challenges.
Is it better to compel evolution and create a god-race with tremendous power - but with equally tremendous social control? Or to work together until advances leave the masses scattered and isolated? Do minions always need masters? Will freedom empower innovation - or destroy order?
Each novel in this series explores what people do with the surprises they find - for better or worse.
The Tree of Knowledge
of Good & Evil
keeps spreading its seeds...
This inspiring image "Alien Artefact" was provided courtesy of Moonxels
the A Lifeform Detected SciFi Mystery series
Each of us is a team of engineers, architects, designers, and visionaries drawn from our life experiences.
Whatever our social influences, we each choose our path - as well as our focus-intensity along that path.
What we focus on deepest and longest determines our outcomes.
Series Theme
"They always said the world would end in fire.
I’ve searched countless tombs from countless excavations. So many clues pointed in the same direction. The histories. The warnings. It should’ve been obvious. But we dismissed them as fables.
Now a ring of ancient light burns in our sky. A heavenly messenger has indeed arrived. But from what gods? Here to teach, here to destroy - doesn’t matter. No one’s willing to listen.
They’ve called for our best - our soldiers, our scientists - but even in our hour of greatest need to pull together, panic spreads its ugly wings.
The fate of humanity, of Earth itself hangs in the balance. They all owe their futures and their fates to me - to the eccentric mind of a toss-out archaeologist.
Can I solve the mystery of the ages and meet the gods’ demands in time?"
-Dr. Anston Ricks, xenoarchaeologist, Earth
These inspiring images were provided courtesy of: "Gnosis Kamden" by Noiprox, "Earth 4K Stock" by Hameed.
Book 1: And Should We Die
It started off in the shadows, like any other archaeological dig - with buried treasure, to boot. But when Dr. Anston Ricks was called back to the surface, he was whisked away on the fastest flight to civilization.
The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by strangers - the prominent in each of their fields. In the heart of the greatest tech & accomplishments known to man, what was he doing here?
Before he knew it, he was soaring to the skies - and beyond. The greatest secret in modern history, but certain death to all who touched it. How was a dusty relic-digger supposed to solve a mystery of the ages?
And then he saw the doorway. The keyhole. The irony was inexplicable - and worth the gamble, if only to know What if?...
But the buried treasure was only beginning to be uncovered - about 100,000 miles from Earth. What was it? A gift from the ancient gods? A living curse, freshly exhumed?
All hell breaking loose on the ground. 7 billion people and a countdown to extinction, watching, waiting. What chance does anybody have of surviving, with a collision like the dinosaur meteor looming in the skies above?
The survivors are going to want answers. They’re going to demand payment, in full. And if they can’t get it from the mystery in the sky, they’re going to get it from somewhere else.
"I had to dig through Hell to find Paradise.
They called it Havensite because it looked so lovely from Earth.
It’s a nightmare you don’t wake up from.
I’ve worked my home and family up from this stormy grave - but they all want to flee to safer havens.
No one wanted it until I found the forest, the city, the mystery.
Now everyone wants their piece of the prize.
Over my dead body.
I built it. I earned it. And let’s just see who’s willing to die for it."
-Sigard Holsford, homesteader, Havensite Heel
These inspiring images were provided courtesy of: "Malcolm Interpreter to the Prince" by Art by Morgan C Morgan, "Volcanic Planet 03 - Icon 5" by Schinyman, "Desert Planet 06" by Schinyman.
Book 2: The Tomb of Dur Kaetin
Havensite Heel - if you can reach the surface, you might survive. For a few hours, anyway. Sister planet to Hynor, visitors can bake in the heat or face storms that tear apart anything with less than a stardrive-shield for a skin.
Sigard Holsford tried his luck on Hynor. And got seriously burned. With bruised pride, his family, and a beat up old shuttlecraft, he turned to Havensite Heel. From Earth, the charts all said it should be fine. So why is it a nightmare?
For over 25 years he and his family worked a home and farm up from the beaten soil, with his head held high and little else to show for it. Until the day his son headed down to the mine. And found the wall. And the forest. And a mystery no one could ever imagine.
Havensite is a tomb. A once thriving gem in the cosmic crown. Until They showed up. And started experimenting. And opened a portal into an ancient accident no one could heal.
Sigard knew some graves should never be dug up. Some secrets are better left buried. But then his son opened his mouth - and now others are pouring in to see for themselves.
But they want more than to see. They want to touch. They want to take. And they don’t give a damn whose territory they tear apart to get it. Finders keepers. If you’ve got the bigger stick.
"You do what you can to survive on Ensa Caison. To get ahead, to keep your wallet tucked safely away. When are those dice gonna roll in my favor?
You learn to listen when the rumors get ripe. Word is, they’ve found some ruins over in a haunted forest. I like ruins - middle of nowhere, no security, no witnesses. And haunted? Less competition.
Sometimes you need a little help to clean house. I know I shoulda told my friend a little more about what he was getting into. But how was I supposed to know he’d be such an idiot? And now he brought his sister, too?
We had no idea what was waiting for us. The bodies, the destroying angel, the depth of the mystery lurking beneath that pristine forest robe.
Now it’s every man for himself. Only there aren’t just men. Or humans. And this garden paradise is tipping over the edge of a long plunge to Hell.
Unless I can do something about it."
-Dieter Guyson, miner, Ensa Caison
These inspiring images were provided courtesy of: "Midjourney 6752" by Javier Lluesma, "Felucia Icon 4" by Schinyman.
Book 3: Divided We Fall
A warm welcome is what you get on Ensa Caison. Warm as an oven rack, that is, for humans. Gorgeous forests stretch from coast to coast - with one barren strip, reserved for human colonists.
A week’s trip from Earth, the travelogue needs something to beckon the wealthy and adventurous out to the fringes. What could a few bent promises or a few sweetened perks hurt?
Dieter Guyson knew his friends would be upset when they arrived. But hey, they’d get over it - right? A few drinks, a few laughs, the good memories would balm their sore feelings in no time.
So how did they wind up in the royal palace? Condemned to the Arena of Death only hours after they arrived?
From bad to worse, their first trip to loot freshly uncovered ruins leads straight into a war zone. Amid the massacre, Dieter and his friends meet a formidable friend - who’s there for his own reasons.
Strength in numbers, right? How bad could it get? The deeper Dieter gets, the stranger and more perilous the twists and turns braid. Maybe he should cut his losses and run - before they cut him first?
But no, the Fates have other plans for Dieter - and his friends. Plans that involve treasure. And gunships. And mountain-leveling missiles. How much bad luck could run downstream?
And then they find the secret. The relic. The tragedy. And the next thing they know, they could be facing the end of Ensa Caison as they know it.
"They were waiting for me. The minute I stepped off the flyte at the spaceport, my vacation was canceled.
In a matter of days, the time of my life had turned into the fight for my life.
An ugly case, dangerous, they warned me. But would I listen?
High-profile targets, a terrifying m-o, a one hundred-percent kill-rate.
She warned me I wouldn’t want to go there. But would I listen?
I’ve trained my whole life in how to deal with the bad guys.
But what about when the bad guys are your own?
They warned me to stop asking questions. Oh, if only I’d listened.
Now the whole human race is sliding head-to-head against a threat we can’t fight, we can’t escape.
And unless I can find a way to diffuse this bomb before it goes off?
My next vacation’s going to be under a tombstone."
-Special Agent Prescott Renstow, Transcope Investigations, Earth
These inspiring images were provided courtesy of: "Midjourney 6464" by Javier Lluesma, "Earth 4K Stock" by Hameed, "Desert Planet 06" by Schinyman, "Felucia Icon 5" by Schinyman.
Book 4: The Hunter's Shadow
Working with Earth’s Transcope Investigations Agency can weight you down. Headhunting interstellar sociopaths has taken its toll on Special Agent Prescott Renstow. His latest mission - Operation: Burnout.
Time for a little R & R as far away from home or work as he can get.
But when the latest serial assassin moves from Earth to Hynor, the call comes in - he’s reactivated. At least he’s got a little company this time.
One of Stearsat’s rising stars, Agent Mristen Bellens, knows how to get things done. Knows how to watch her step. Knows which rules to bend…and when one needs to break.
As soon as he picks up the scent, every mouth shuts. "You don't want to go there," they say. Military hardliners? Not his favorite, but all in a days work. Just tough nuts to crack, right?
But SA Renstow never counted on the tafchas. He never counted on their underground. Brought face to face with their powers, their tech, their civil war brewing, he and Bellens soon find themselves fighting for their lives.
The chase is on, and soon leads to forbidden wilds. Castis Majestic, jungle home of every wild thing with teeth, claws…and forgotten cities overgrown with shadows. And portals. Ancient gateways that could change the face - and fate - of human history. If he can solve the puzzles only prime suspects and wanted felons can unlock.
Can he set aside his conscience, turn a blind eye to honor-bound duty long enough to claim the end justifies the means? Worse still, can his thatch-roofed alliance prevail? Can they not only capture their target and elude the authorities - but also save their own lives while doing so?
"Down in flames. Seven survivors.
It was supposed to be a dead planet in a dead star system.
But under that sky-grid, it’s smothered with life - and ruins.
Who's hiding what?
We spread out to search for help.
Now two are dead and three are missing.
The forests are alive - and hungry.
They won’t give up their secrets without a fight.
We found a city. Plenty of help. But help always comes with a price.
Now they’re coming to collect. Do we pay or do we fight?"
-Acavar Purillo, at-risk youth counselor, Burselis
These inspiring images were provided courtesy of: "Acavar Purillo" by Art by Morgan C Morgan, " Basalt Planet" by Art of Anrach, "Desert Planet 06" by Schinyman.
Acavar Purillo was nobody special. A social worker, a counselor to at-risk youth from a dead-end planet next to the edge of human space. What difference could he make in the universe?
When one of his youth-in-custody hotwires the ship’s engines - through the damn thermostat, no less - it’s all over. It’s all his collection team can do to set the salvage-bus down in one piece.
The tropical paradise should never have existed. Ruins smothered in overgrowth greet them on every side - most of them growling, some hungry. But who lived here? What happened to them?
One dead city leads them to the next, until they start meeting the Chosen. Lost in time, in dreams that never should have been, funny turns to weird, and all too soon crazy turns to bloodshed.
They’ve got to get help - before there’s no one left to go home. When he finally finds the city of dreams, he’s not the first to seek refuge in its concrete cages and salvage heaps. The powers that be see him as the greatest threat they’ve ever seen. Worse still, the rats in the cellars have greedy paws, and are willing to sell all kinds of secrets - for the right price.
But when he learns the mysteries of the ancient spaceports littering the city’s fringes, nothing has prepared him for the fate-shifting role he’ll play for this forgotten city - or for the future of the whole human race.
Book 5: Critical Mass
"Keep them guessing. Keep them on their toes. Whatever it takes to distract them from the crosshairs between their eyes. I’ve lived my whole life by my wits. My hands. My blades. Ever since that night. That alley. I’m a collector now. I collect debts. So when my best friend came up missing, somebody was going to pay.
"I had to understand who. I had to learn why. Now I have to discover where. My hunt led to victims. To ruins. To the past. In time, to answers. Across worlds more crazy, deadly, and hungry than anything I ever saw back home.
"They say your life ends on the other side of a tunnel of light. But mine’s just beginning. They think they can hide, trick, or trap me? Bring it on. The whole Point Destination fleet and Friends of Takra have been building to this moment for years. Time’s up. With them at my side, we’ve got the best of the ancients, the present, and the future in our arsenal. We will get answers.
"Or die trying."
--Ree Sah Na, Communications Optimizer, the Yew Kah Seyli
These inspiring images were provided courtesy of: "Amber Nova" by The Kayeman, "Csilla Comparison" by Schinyman, "Hynek the Alien Territory" by Jean R. Martins, "Shiny Man Desert 07 Infocard" by Kevin Scheiman, "Desert 03" by Kevin Scheiman, ", "Shiny-Man Terran 06 Icon 1 Black" by Kevin Scheiman, "Love, Death, & Robots Beyond the Aquila Rift" by WjtekFus, "Shiny-Man Taris Icon 01b" by Kevin Scheiman.
Book 6: Systems Offline
What ever happened to the ancient orgalins of EverSpace? For years, the soldiers and scientists of Point Destination and the Friends of Takra have followed their trail - and their legacy - from age to age, world to world, and secret to secret.
When Private Securities Agent Risanna Cancham learns her best friend is missing, no stone will remain unturned in her search to find Mristen Bellens. Little could she imagine just how far afield that trail will lead her.
Enraptured by the lure of who they were and what they accomplished, Agent Cancham finds herself reborn as orgalin envoy Diplomat Ree Sah Nah. A bridge between worlds and generations so long alienated that they're now perfect strangers, she too soon discovers that the dream of her lifetime is dismally off-course - and well beyond an age of demolition.
Can she salvage the histories, the memories, the spirit that once fired this majestic race, not only drawing the humans to learn from the ancient best, but maybe also reminding the orgalins of the treasures they've lost?
