Empire of Ninety-Nine Stars book 2
Science Fiction/Adventure/Space Travel
Date Published: 11/21/2019
Publisher: Chandra Press
The riveting second installment in the Edj series.
How do you stop an enemy that can see the future?
After the harrowing events of Herrig’s World, Edj is hot on the trail of D’Orneo. His pursuit leads him to Villalba, a world of tropical island paradises where over a hundred thousand luxurious resorts cater to every whim or flight of fancy. Fortunes are won and lost on Villalba twenty-nine hours a day in the casinos that never close. Gambling on anything for anything from cards to shark fights, dice to gladiators; if it can be wagered on, it can be found on Villalba.
Edj arrives to find that the once powerful economy of Villalba has ground to a halt. A new drug, Peek, grants users the ability to see the future. The casino industry is in tatters and the new governor is at wit’s end. Suspecting that D’Orneo is somehow involved, Edj plunges into an investigation. Going undercover as a member of the galaxy’s premier drug cartel, The Revenants, a group of beings who prolong their lives by harvesting body parts, Edj begins to unravel the truth.
What he uncovers has larger implications than anyone could imagine. With his cover blown, his guardian, Sam, neutralized, and his enemies able to see his every move before he makes them, can Edj find a way to stop Peek from becoming a weapon capable of bringing down the Empire?
About the Author
Mr. Burns is a factory worker who sidelines as a carpenter, computer technician and jack of many trades handyman whose primary interest is hard science-fiction. He has read and loved that genre all his life and has always dreamed of writing books that others would enjoy reading as much as he himself enjoyed those of the great S/F masters. He is very interested in high technology and tries to impart accuracy and plausibility into his work. Other reading and writing interests include fantasy, magic, the paranormal, the Norse runes and nature-centered religions. He lives in northern Mississippi.
Read a teaser
Villalba, world of a hundred thousand luxurious resorts, where any
and every pleasure is for sale. A planet chock-full of tropical island
paradises, where the rich come to play and the hopeful come to pray. Fortunes
are won and lost here 29 hours a day in the casinos that never close. Gambling
for anything, on anything, from cards to shark fights, dice to gladiators; if
it can be wagered upon, it's on Villalba.
“If games of chance aren't your addiction of choice, rest assured
that whatever is can be found here. We will cater to your every whim. Fantasy
fulfillment, pampering, body enhancement, sensory stimulation of every sort -
if you can dream it we have a place for you to live it.”
Few gamblers ever come out ahead,
though. It's a given that the odds are always fixed in the house’s favor. That
hasn't changed since the first gambling hall opened back at the dawn of
history.
Until now. Now, suddenly, if you can believe the rumors, anyone
can go into any casino on the planet and come away a winner. It's incredibly
easy, so the stories go. It’s as if the casinos have all decided to generously
pay out all the trillions of credits they’ve collected over the centuries, to
anyone and everyone who walks through their doors.
“It all started about three months
ago when a new drug called ‘Peek’ showed up. Now, this isn't any kind of
feel-good or take-me-away drug - we’ve got plenty of those available legally.
No, what Peek does is much, much worse. It gives its user a peek into the
future. The way I understand it, the user can see an overlapping image of all
the possible outcomes of whatever he concentrates on. The more likely a
particular outcome, the clearer he sees it.”
Needless to say, I didn't try my
luck at the casino that night. Instead, I took my purchase and let the most
sophisticated scanner on the planet have a look at it.
This incredibly sophisticated device, ansible linked to classified
databases on several different planets, was not located in Villalba’s planetary
forensics laboratory. Nor did it belong to any of the elite security services
that maintained offices there. It was, rather, aboard my highly customized
tramp freighter, the Wah, an integral part of the auto-medic system,
actually.
What I learned confirmed what both Gov. Svensson and Sam had told
me about it, mainly that it is like nothing else ever seen in this universe. In
fact, according to both Sam and my equipment, parts of it exist in several
additional dimensions that modern physicists can't even agree on the properties
of.
And every resource I referenced agreed that it could not have been
made in this universe.
Contact Link
Purchase Link
thanks for hosting
ReplyDelete