Rose piloted spaceships… until she crossed the wrong owner. Now she's stuck in the Oligarchy with her cat, working in a salvage yard while trying to fix her ship — though without a cardinal crystal, the hyperspace drives are useless.When she finds an outlaw AI who claims to have a synthetic crystal, Rose promises to smuggle the AI back to the Independent Federation for a reward.It's the perfect solution! If the synthetic crystal works. If her second...

Floodmouth: home of vampires, mages, reliable public transportation… and student loans. For Jen Perkins — a non-mage human with a PhD in magic theory — working as an evidence technician for the Federal Bureau of Magic Enforcement provides a much-needed paycheck. Sure, the petty politics are irritating, but at least she doesn't have to deal with the vampire agents upstairs……until she gets paired up with one of those vampires to help him execute search warrants. Special Agent Simon B...

In the shipping port of Harbor Crag, dragon magic protects the city, and a greedy duke controls the dragons.Freeholder Lisette climbs the tower with the perfect plan — steal the duke’s money to pay her shop’s taxes. But a second thief complicates everything, and Lisette plunges into the dragon’s den.Bargaining with the dragon could end Lisette’s life. But it might just save them all.Lisette races to finish her quest, getting unexpected help from her mysterious thief...

Four years after the portals first appeared, people have adapted. Chaotic and irregular, the portals transport anything touching them between worlds — often stranding people on the other side.Now a wounded verdiran — from the only known sentient non-human species — arrives at Nessa’s veterinary practice. Intrigued by his questions, Nessa patches him up and gives him a place to stay.But this verdiran may hold the key to understanding the increasingly unpredictable portals thre...

Everyone has an alternate form. Lucky people never shift into it. For everyone else, there’s the Magical Probation Department.MPD Officer Angela Jones has spent her entire career helping shifters get back into their human forms and ensuring they can manage their magical powers.Her methods are a little unconventional, but she’s built a strong community of people who help each other. A far cry from her coworkers who would rather emulate the tough guy hero of ...

How do you hide a chaos god on a partially terraformed world? Sil stays on her hilltop farm, the payout from 20 years fighting the border wars.But the farm's damaged AI herds sheep into symbols visible from orbit. Not knowing how to channel the chaos elsewhere, Sil enlists the help of a former enemy soldier.Sparks fly when chaos and luck collide.Ride along on this extraordinary space western full of gods, AIs, nanobots, and hope.Welcome to Jackpot Dr...

Four years ago, Nessa’s careful life imploded when her husband disappeared during the first portal storm. Shimmering gateways to thousands of worlds appeared and vanished, sweeping away the unlucky. Later, the portals settled, but only a suicidal risk-taker would willingly touch one.Nessa rebuilt her life and her veterinary practice, now specializing in xenotics — the creatures that resulted from evolutionary paths on other worlds. But she still leaves supplies along the route Mark...

A collection of science fiction & fantasy stories by award-winning author, T.M. Baumgartner!Included in this collection:- A Treasure of Stars (retired space pirates save the day!)- Watching Blue Skies with the Parcheesi Gang (be careful of the Fae)- Gestures (a Cupid murder mystery)- The Dragon's Librarian (it's not wise to steal anything from a dragon)- Butterflies (sometimes bad luck is ...

Two months ago, the dragon Aarat drove out the evil mages. Now, Lisette needs to free the other dragons — and also help Remy deal with any dangerous magical artifacts left behind in the smoldering ruins of Lord Hanley's estate.But before they can sift through the rubble, another mage arrives in the harbor. With Aarat busy protecting a dragon egg, it is up to Lisette and Remy and the rest of the freeholders to protect Harbor Crag in any way they can.Dive back into the magic ...

First, do no harm.Xenotic veterinarian Nessa Cunningham is focussed on her practice and supporting her verdiran housemate. After all, it’s her fault Fred has been ostracized by his people.When a sick verdiran baby — Fred’s cousin — is left on their doorstep, Nessa must learn more about verdiran biology so she can diagnose and treat the child.But Fred and Nessa aren't the only ones waiting to see if this child survives...Return to the dazzling sc...

When your best weapons are chaos and a grudge…As the only nanobot technician on Jackpot Drift, Sil repairs everything from games to oxygen sensors. If she could just keep the goats out of the house, life would be perfect… well, almost perfect.Sil can handle the older god of chaos hiding inside her. Most days nothing falls down or blows up. But the One God wakes up — to warn the colony about Sil? Or to sound the alarm about the AIs changing...

When chaos and logic collide…A tiny colony at the edge of the universe — high clan looking to escape, low clan trying to get by, and bickering AIs with nowhere else to go. Also in the mix: competing gods, newly created flitterkin, and homicidal sheep. Who wouldn’t want to live on Jackpot Drift?With threats of annihilation coming from the civilized world, Sil and the other colonists race to make the planet self-sufficient. But not all danger comes through the...