I made it home. But something came with me…
From hero to outcast. From saviour to biohazard...
As hollow victories go, this one is hard to beat.
When Driver and I saved Earth from the Anomaly's suffocating radiation, we thought it was all over.
Our triumphant return from the occupied alien world of Bayzen was supposed to draw a line under everything.
The problem is, we didn't come home alone.
No one has ever seen anything like this.
What they're calling it sends shivers down my spine: a parasitic alien pathogen.
It could be a virus, a toxin, or maybe something even worse. And believe me: what we don't know definitely can hurt us.
It's too late for me—I've been exposed. But this has never been about me.
It's going to take some incredible risks and another long-shot space mission to get to the bottom of this, but I'll fight until my last breath to undo the damage I've done.
As a horrible question echoes in my mind, I'll do anything to make sure the answer is the right one:
Am I Earth's last hope... or the man who sealed its fate?
I thought I'd seen it all. Talk about your all-time wake-up calls...
Earth is teeming with alien larvae.
That reality has just crashed down on us like a ton of contaminated space rocks.
Every time I close my eyes, I still see the huge spider-like monster rising up.
I killed that one just in time, but we know that more could hatch at any moment.
Even worse... we know that if any of them reach their final form, they'll be indestructible.
Now, our only hope of saving Earth from this ticking time-bomb lies on the distant world of Eden.
The problem? We have reason to think the natives engineered this stuff.
If there was any other route forward, we'd be taking it.
We wouldn't be blazing this uncharted path to potentially hostile territory.
But with one card left to play in a game we can't afford to lose, I can't keep my mind from fixating on one unshakeable question:
Are we racing towards Earth's salvation... or on a one-way trip to oblivion?
Time is the tonic. So why wait?
Time travel doesn't exist.
Sure, it would be great if it did. It would be great if the hype wasn't all bluster.
With huge funding behind them, ChronoTonic claims to have achieved the impossible. The corporation is pushing its new machine — a time machine — as the solution to Earth's problems.
I'm just not buying it.
They want to buzz forward in time, pick up a few technological advancements, and buzz back to apply them in the here and now. They say we can save lives and reduce suffering by learning the lessons of the future — today.
The same corporate overlords that got us into these problems are apparently going to get us out of them. Yeah... I'll believe that when I see it.
I think it's all empty hype.
And if it's not, I sure as hell don't trust ChronoTonic to use this technology as altruistically as they claim.
After years of hype, today is the day when they will finally reveal the machine.
I have media clearance to be in the audience, but I have bigger plans than that.
Once I get inside ChronoTonic HQ, I'm not sitting in the crowd.
No. That's not what investigative journalists do.
I'm stepping in with one goal in mind:
Wherever or whenever the truth is hiding... I'm going to find it.
Sci-Fi Sizzlers are standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!
Beyond the gate, destiny awaits …
An alien message is now humanity’s only hope.
Decoding the signal has given us one chance to stop the Anomaly, an evertightening cosmic noose, before it squeezes the life out of Earth.
The only problem is, the aliens’ single instruction sounds like a bona fide death wish.
They want me to step through their incredible quantum gateway, an enigma wrapped in starlight.
Believe me: if I had any other option, I’d be taking it.
But with the best data giving Earth a few days before the Anomaly consumes us, options are in short supply.
Suicide or salvation? I’m about to find out.
Because whatever I'll find on the other side, this all ends now …
When the stars whisper, we have to listen …
An alien signal.
Of all the things I expected to uncover while trying to make sense of the Anomaly, this didn't even enter my mind.
But now, the signal has changed my understanding of everything.
The Anomaly that's suffocating Earth isn't natural, and decoding this message could be our one shot at saving the planet.
The trouble is, we don't even know where to start.
What will it take to decipher the alien signal and unlock the secrets of the Anomaly? And how should we reply when we decode their message?
A lot of people don't think we should trust the aliens who are reaching out to us. I can't pretend I don't understand why.
But with no other way of putting things right, we have to at least figure out what they're saying.
The clock is ticking until the Anomaly consumes us. The fate of humanity lies in my hands all over again.
And this time, the choices I make will echo through the cosmos …
Two worlds. Two adventures for the ages...
Taming a new world isn't easy. But making a new world?
Well, only the bravest would even try...
TERRADOX REBORN
Six years in the making. Six seconds from disaster…
At long last, the dream of a functioning research colony on Terradox has become reality.
Thousands of colonists call the distant romosphere home, recruited from Earth to spearhead the most ambitious research projects ever devised.
All eyes fall on the closing stages of a colony-defining isolation test within the man-made hellscape of Little Venus, where six astronauts-in-training have survived fifty-one weeks surrounded by an almost impossibly hostile atmosphere.
But while the heroes of tomorrow count down their final days until freedom, the gravest threat of all might already be on the wrong side of their Isolation Kompound’s impenetrable walls…
TERRADOX BEYOND
They didn’t think creating a new world would be easy, but no one ever expected this…
With the Terradox colony stable and established, attention turns to the most ambitious endeavour in human history: the creation of a planet-sized romosphere capable of setting a one-way course for the stars.
Tensions boil over regarding who will be chosen for humanity’s grandest mission, and who will be left behind.
But as the lucky few prepare for their incredible journey, it soon becomes apparent that these are the least of anyone’s problems…
Worlds Away is a great-value collection of two novels and a prequel story — Terradox Zero: Before The Crash.
The adventure of a lifetime awaits...
With Earth in turmoil under the iron fist of a despotic Global Union, a small group of exiles flees for the safety of a distant research station.
Terradox Zero: Before The Crash, an illuminating prequel story to the bestselling Terradox series, gives new insight to the journey's crew and passengers.
Note: this prequel was written after the rest of the series, but also serves as a perfect entry point. Dive in today!
Six years in the making. Six seconds from disaster…
At long last, the dream of a functioning research colony on Terradox has become reality.
Thousands of men, women and children now call the distant romosphere home, with experts in countless fields recruited from Earth to spearhead the most ambitious research projects ever devised.
All eyes fall on the closing stages of a colony-defining isolation test within Terradox’s least hospitable zone — the man-made hellscape of Little Venus, where six astronauts-in-training have survived fifty-one weeks surrounded by an almost impossibly hostile atmosphere.
But while the astronauts of tomorrow count down their final few days until freedom, the gravest threat of all might already be on the wrong side of their Isolation Kompound’s impenetrable walls…
They didn’t think creating a new world would be easy, but no one ever expected this…
With the Terradox colony stable and established, attention turns to the most ambitious endeavour in human history: the creation of a planet-sized romosphere capable of carrying a sizeable population on a one-way course for the stars.
Tensions run high on Terradox regarding certain planning decisions, and tensions run even higher on Earth regarding who will be chosen for humanity’s grandest mission.
But as the lucky few make their journey to their new artificial world and its departure from orbit draws near, it soon becomes apparent that these are the least of anyone’s problems…
Their ticket to the stars wasn't supposed to be one-way...
When a group of prize-winning high school students blasted off on a mission to space, their parents beamed with pride.
When news of the disaster came in, a nation mourned.
But nothing is truly as it seems.
Now, when one couple spots a hole in the official story, their grief morphs into a determination to find out what has really happened to their son.
No matter what, they will stop at nothing in their hopeful bid to see him again.
And the truth they uncover could change the world forever...
Empty Nesters is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!
I guess saving the world once wasn't enough …
First it was the auroras, lighting up Europe every night.
Then came the weird clouds over Africa.
The tidal shifts … the failing crops … the crazy changes to animal migration …
And I think all of this is just the start.
I don't buy the official line that these are natural occurrences.
Not anymore. Not since a whistleblower hid a coded message in my invitation for an upcoming commemoration ceremony on The Vita.
Now I know the truth—that Earth is in serious danger from the side-effects of their reckless research.
Since the moment I found out, I’ve known what I have to do.
Three years ago, I went into space and almost died saving the world from a madman’s evil plan.
When I made it home, I swore I'd never leave my family behind again.
But to make sure we'll still have a planet to call home in another three years, I have to go back.
And this time, they're coming with me …
