Science Fiction short story. 6000 wordsKrin Tlento,of the felid Tlartox, finds herself on the run from the bulls of the barendi herd she was hunting. Her radio sabotaged, she has but one option: to face death with honor, as befits one of the People of Tlar, with her fangs in the throat of a barendi bull. In the unlikely event she should survive, her second priority is to retake her ship from the mutineers who left her to die.

The Yrden Family traders have two mottos: "Fair Trade" and "We Pay Our Debts". "They plan to kill you, steal your cargo, and crash your shuttle to mask their deed. Forget about trade. Just get in your craft and fly away. Tonight," Colleen Newborn tells the young trader, Clay Yrden. A fair trade for his life, she figures, would be passage away from the small town of Glencayther, and the planet Erin itself. Clay, however, has heard this one before and fails to believe her, which leaves her n...

Saddled with a woman he neither trusts nor wants, Karsten has good reason to regret agreeing to take on the role of Steadfast. Now, he must find a way to rid himself of her without mentioning his mission, which has nothing to do with the trader façade he maintains.Arialla so desires to leave Kellok's Crossing and her own secret behind that she accepts the Steadfast, though he seems both a man without honour and a coward. In addition, she discovers he believes, as she feels a child ...

She needed a ship to escape pursuers; he a companion on a trip to the stars. The deal seemed straight-forward, but neither told the other everything.Jaswinder Saroya believed that her research in the area of Hyperspace Field Theory would benefit everyone: Family Traders, the InterPlanetary Corporations, Earth's Colonies and governments alike. She erred in not considering commercial and political consequences. Now, someone wants to steal or bury her research and, perhaps, her with i...

Ghost Flee: Military SF - 104,000 WordsWar on two fronts: the nightmare of military commanders everywhere. Already at war with the Combine, the human Confederation must now prepare for a second front against the felid Tlartox Empire, who wish to avenge their humiliating defeat at the hands of the humans 300 years earlier.Voting down the long-standing peace treaty with the Confederation, the Tlartox look forward to a resumption of 'The Hunt'. Admiral Tood Tlomega has focused...

Secrets can both protect and destroy. Building an alliance against the interstellar Damarg pirate threat, Colleen Yrden must decide which secrets to keep and which to reveal.Meanwhile, she has hired Turhan Maxwell, an engineer, as head mechanic at an Yrden asteroid mining venture perilously close to Damarg-claimed space. Though warned that the man appears to be hiding something, Colleen gives Maxwell his chance, knowing that adding one more hazard to an already hazardous operation ...

Pirates threaten tradeships in the human sector of the galaxy.Someone has to stop them to prevent all trade from becoming prey.That's where the Yrden Family Line comes in -- and, oh yes, there's also revenge to consider.The Damarg alien, Korsh, heads the pirates. His attack on the Yrden Lines flagship cost Colleen Yrden her husband -- and her son, Brian, his father. The Yrdens need her more than ever, but she has secluded herself on the planet New Brittain. If they ...

Two Novellas. Total word count: 40,000PILTON'S MOON: Brendon Kinso has come to Tarlton's World to bury his brother. From his first step on the planet, Kinso feels hunted. He hires Callie Torbold, a local detective, to discover the validity of this feeling. Now both are on the run, and to survive they must solve the mystery of Pilton's Moon--the war which took the lives of every man, woman and child on that mining colony. And to do this they must deal with the Tswentap, the spider-l...

Book 3 of The Yrden ChroniclesColleen and Clay Yrden receive word that the Damarg Empire has invited them to open a trade route into their space, something that the Family Trading League has desired since first becoming aware of the Damargs.But there are others who frown upon the Yrden success, and have made plans to take down the Family. Clay and Colleen must discover who they are and who they represent, and why the enmity before their enemy can succeed in destroying an Yr...

In the Company of Cowards: Fantasy; 79,500 WordsYoung Rel Panace, son of the First Councilor to the Thane of Greltin, finds himself running like a coward from hoodlums who would beat him, perhaps to death. Trapped in a blind alley, right arm useless, his pursuers catch him. Only the timely intervention of Coll, a man with a brand upon his left cheek, saves him.Rel discovers this brand marks those found guilty of cowardice on the battlefield, and that many more men in the ci...

He was prospector, smuggler and spy. And then things became complicated. What can a man of honour do when he finds himself working for both sides?When Lorne witnesses the ambush of a caravan, he ends up protecting those he would otherwise consider enemies. Taken in by the hated Korgans, honoured as a hero, Lorne begins to work for them even as he plots their destruction. Living a lie is no life worth living and, torn by promises made to both sides, he struggles to find a way out th...

Book 2 of The Yrden Chronicles takes over where "Trading For The Stars" left off.Newly married and just getting used to her position in a space-based trading family, Colleen Yrden looks forward to her honeymoon on Liberty Station before she and husband, Clay, join their new ship and start their new life. Her plans don't include getting on the wrong side of the station's crime boss, but an inadvertent good deed puts her in his crosshairs. She should take Clay's advice to distance he...