Solarian Space Marines encounter a city on a desert planet that was supposed uninhabited. Their mission to survey the planet for a raw material colony is scrapped for staying alive in the face of threats from all directions. Will they succeed in keeping themselves one step ahead of an enemy bent on destroying them at all costs?

  WHEN tall, pale, and strikingly beautiful Morgaine of Cornwall, raised to be queen and ruler, discovers that a newly discovered male half-brother is to be named heir in her stead, she vows to do whatever it takes to regain her place of power and status, the crown that is hers by right of blood. But will she take the crown, or, when faced with a far greater power and ability, choose a far greater challenge?   A 3,100-word literary fantasy short story.

It looks like easy money to grad student Matt Diaz: go to an old house and grab a red leather book.     How hard could that be?     Payment: a thousand cash, wired into your account, with a few hundred dollars in good faith money to start.     Once he enters the house, he discovers that getting in is going to be a lot easier than getting out, and he's going to have to find a way around a curse, a hitman, and a greedy killer ...

Why did Johnny have to have a paranoid freak for a dad? While other kids play video games, Johnny is helping his dad build a bunker that no one's ever going to need. Until the day they do. A short science fiction story of young adult dystopia with a survivalist setting.

A woman alone, in a cottage in the woods, and an old woman alone, needs to beware who she lets into her home... A short story retelling a classic tale - with a twist.

One change.One chance.If you had a chance to change one thing in your life, what would you do over?One man gets a chance to answer that question, a chance for a second time around...or does he?John Parelli, estranged from his wife and the son he loves, gets a second chance of a lifetime. What will he do with it?One change.One man.One shot.

What kind of person works as a mercy killer? What makes a death a mercy killing, instead of murder?A 4,500 word literary short story.

A doctor recuperating in a mountain cabin tells himself he's hallucinating a ghost haunting...until he finds evidence of foul play.Will he be able to uncover the murderer and bring the killer justice, or will the doctor be the next victim?A 6200-word short supernatural thriller and murder mystery.

ONE LAST LOOK - Johnny has a paranoid freak for a dad. While other kids play video games, Johnny is helping his dad build a bunker that no one's ever going to need...Until the day they do.A 2600-word short science fiction story of young adult dystopia with a survivalist setting.THE CITY IN THE DESERT - Two mech-suited Solarian Space Marines encounter hostile fire on what is supposed to be an uninhabited planet, and find themselves pawns of political intrigues by a civilizat...

WHEN flesh-eating zombies take over the streets, Dex Reynolds must find a way to survive the onslaught and the aftermath...and find out if the love of his life, his soon-to-be ex-wife, is safe. Will he be able to find her, fight off the zombies, guard her against predatory human slime, and convince her to let him take her to a secured farm he's prepared against all eventualities, or will she break things off him for once and for all?Outrunning Zombies: Love. Guns. Zombies. Survivin...

When lives unravel, who pays the price?     Three women share their work, their lives, and their silence: the burden of power weighs heavy on them all.     A literary fantasy short story.