Every ruin tells a storyAcross the vast expanse of space and time lie the remnants of civilizations that reached for the stars—and vanished.Silent cities carved into asteroids. Derelict megastructures drifting between galaxies. Temples buried beneath the red sands of dead worlds.This book contains 13 bold tales of humanity’s encounters with these cosmic ruins. Think Indiana Jones meets Arthur C. Clarke.Follow determined xenoarchaeologists as...

When a series of late-winter storms hits the annual Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska, bush pilot Ben Helm gambles on a break in the weather to fly two dropped dogs and two race personnel to the checkpoint at Unalakleet. But the conditions worsen, and a catastrophic mid-flight accident forces Ben to ditch on the landfast ice somewhere in the Bering Sea.Stranded, with no communications and only limited supplies, the three survivors, with their two canine companions, must try to ride ...

Warning! Wildlife may be dangerous. Proceed beyond this point at your own risk.When celebrated Omicron detective Ferrix Vaughn is called in to investigate a deadly breach on Hesperidia, a protected planet full of indigenous wildlife, he doesn't know what to expect. The place used to be a tourist attraction, but the safari tours were discontinued long ago due to rampant poaching. Only a handful of researchers live there now, including Jan Corbija, the young woman wh...

In 1961 the maximum length of single-deckers was increased to 36 feet. Bristol Commercial Vehicles and Eastern Coach Works designed their first rear-engined single-decker to take advantage of this new length. Two prototypes were built and tested in service in 1962. United Automobile Services had the RELL version with a low chassis frame for bus work. South Midland had the RELH version with a high frame for coach work. Production started in 1963, with Eastern Coach Works-bodied buses and co...

Robert Appleton’s superb images stretch back to 1970, featuring the buses of the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company Ltd and the Eastern National Omnibus Company Ltd. Both were Tilling companies that had become part of the National Bus Company. Eastern Counties had an extensive network of services radiating from Ipswich in Suffolk, supported by a number of outstations. Eastern National did not have the same need for outstations, but there were small depots such as Harwich in the north-east co...

The Leyland National was conceived as a joint venture between British Leyland and the National Bus Company to replace all the rear-engined single-deckers in the British Leyland Group – the AEC Swift, Leyland Panther, Daimler Roadliner, single-deck Daimler Fleetline, and Bristol RE. The Leyland National was built at a new factory at Lillyhall in Cumbria and had several novel features, including integral construction, a sophisticated heating and ventilation system that meant a rear pod on th...

New species. Old wounds. A fight for supremacy on the galaxy’s wildest planet.When Hesperidia’s satellite defense system suffers a catastrophic failure, the meteor shower it was supposed to repel rains down over the terrified tourists on safari. Three large surface impacts trigger a crisis intervention from the colonial authorities. It results in the removal of the current governor, and auditions for a successor are soon underway. Jan, Alien Safari’s pre-eminent ra...

It's the newest, most thrilling sightseeing cruise in the Alien Safari brochure.For ranger Jan Corbija, ferrying rich tourists around the aquatic wonders of Hesperidia's islands helps to fund her important scientific research. But her final 'White Water' tour of the season might just be one sail too many when passengers steal her equipment for a dive into uncharted depths, triggering a tragic series of events.A leisurely cruise becomes a race against time w...