Death Of A Spaceman

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The manner in which a man has lived is often the key to the way he will die. Take old man Donegal, for example. Most of his adult life was spent in digging a hole through space to learn what was on the other side. He had to be fated, didn't he, to go out the same way?

An intergalactic odyssey of love, ambition, and self-discovery. Orphaned as a boy, raised in the Czech countryside by his doting grandparents, Jakub Prochv°zka has risen from small-time scientist to become the country's first astronaut. When a dangerous solo mission to Venus offers him both the chance at heroism he's dreamt of, and a way to atone for his father's sins as a Communist informer, he ventures boldly into the vast unknown. But in so doing, he leaves behind his devoted wife, Lenka, whose love, he realizes too late, he has sacrificed on the altar of his ambitions. Alone in Deep Space, Jakub discovers a possibly imaginary giant alien spider, who becomes his unlikely companion. Over philosophical conversations about the nature of love, life and death, and the deliciousness of bacon, the pair form an intense and emotional bond. Will it be enough to see Jakub through a clash with secret Russian rivals and return him safely to Earth for a second chance with Lenka? Rich with warmth and suspense and surprise, Spaceman of Bohemia is an exuberant delight from start to finish. Very seldom has a novel this profound taken readers on a journey of such boundless entertainment and sheer fun. "A frenetically imaginative first effort, booming with vitality and originality . . . Kalfar's voice is distinct enough to leave tread marks."-Jennifer Senior, New York Times

Death of a Spaceman - a science fiction novel. Space travel opened many opportunities for humans, but the discovery of faster-than-light speed added a new complication for the Human Interest: Relativity. Society reorganized and stratified. Special Agents - pilots who could travel between the segments of the new culture - were employed to advance Human Interest while avoiding war among the stars. Kit became a Special Agent for the Human Interest. Blind, Kit was granted special cybernetic eyes, and he could see much more than the average human. But nothing prepared him for what he witnessed on the planet Kozar. I saw something menacing. It was just a glimpse, but I was sure that I'd seen it. Something sharp and lethal. A dagger lifted into the air. My eyes followed it faithfully, mesmerized. I couldn't turn away. Couldn't blink. Couldn't flinch. Then it descended. In slow motion, the way things happen when time is meaningless, when fate has turned a card, and there is no stopping the inevitable. The dagger struck my chest. Deeply. Except that it wasn't my own vision that I was viewing. My special sight had been hijacked by another's vision. Through someone else's eyes, I suffered the attack and then saw E'Lowa run to the door. E'Lowa had opposed human intervention in Kozarian space and now that the tide of events had turned against him and his faction, he had decided to take matters into his own hands. His opponent K'Mack had won approval to grant humans access to Kozarian space. I finally made it to the victim's room to stop the attack, but I already knew that I was too late. The guard grabbed the Kozarian standing there. The captive made no move to resist. In his right hand, he limply held a bloody dagger. I was ready to strike E'Lowa, the man I had just seen raise a knife and plunge it into my chest. But the Kozarian emerging from the victim's chamber wasn't E'Lowa. It was K'Mack. --- Winner of eLit Bronze Medal for Short Story Fiction.

A 2020 LOCUS AWARD FINALIST Jeff VanderMeer's Dead Astronauts presents a City with no name of its own where, in the shadow of the all-powerful Company, lives human and otherwise converge in terrifying and miraculous ways. At stake: the fate of the future, the fate of Earth—all the Earths. A messianic blue fox who slips through warrens of time and space on a mysterious mission. A homeless woman haunted by a demon who finds the key to all things in a strange journal. A giant leviathan of a fish, centuries old, who hides a secret, remembering a past that may not be its own. Three ragtag rebels waging an endless war for the fate of the world against an all-powerful corporation. A raving madman who wanders the desert lost in the past, haunted by his own creation: an invisible monster whose name he has forgotten and whose purpose remains hidden.

The Ebola virus continues to wreak havoc, three Airlines airliners fall, and oil prices suddenly collapse. The zombie crisis suddenly erupted after a series of strange changes. Not only did the protagonist and his companions have to avoid the direct threat from zombies, struggling to survive in the apocalypse of modern civilization, but they also had to constantly search for the origin of zombies. Was this the greatest conspiracy in the history of human society, or was this a disaster that Earth was destined to face?

Embark on an extraordinary journey beyond the bounds of Earth with "SPACEMAN" - a heart-pounding post-apocalyptic thriller that will leave you breathless from the very first page. Cayton Shepard, an intrepid astronaut, finds himself 249 miles above the Earth's surface when disaster strikes. In an instant, the lights go out, plunging him into the eerie darkness of space. Cut off from all communication and armed with limited power, he clings to an unyielding determination to reunite with his beloved family. Stranded aboard the International Space Station, Shepard's unwavering goal becomes clear: to find his way back home against all odds. With resourcefulness as his only ally, he must rely on his intellect and ingenuity to navigate the vast expanse of the cosmos and overcome the formidable challenges that lie ahead. As Shepard battles against the relentless void of space, his mind races with uncertainty. What awaits him on Earth? Will he be greeted by a world forever changed? With each passing moment, the suspense builds, fueling the desperate pursuit of answers. "SPACEMAN" is a riveting fusion of post-apocalyptic and dystopian storytelling, masterfully crafted to immerse you in a world teetering on the edge of destruction. Authored with the invaluable insights of former astronauts, NASA team members, and esteemed astrophysicists, this tale pulsates with a unique sense of detail and desperation that will captivate your imagination. Prepare to be spellbound as you join Clayton Shepard on his quest for survival, where every decision could mean the difference between life and death. "SPACEMAN" deftly captures the human spirit's indomitable will in the face of unimaginable challenges, exploring themes of love, resilience, and the unbreakable bonds that tie us to our loved ones. Don't miss your chance to experience the awe-inspiring adventure of "SPACEMAN." Acquire your copy now and be transported into a world where the vast expanse of space becomes both a haunting backdrop and a relentless adversary. Remember, even in the darkest void, the flame of hope burns brightest.

They asked me about it, of course, before I boarded the starship. All through the Western sector of the Galaxy, few rules are stricter than the one dividing human from nonhuman, and the little Captain of the Vesta-he was Terran, too, and proud in the black leather of the Empire's merchant-man forces-hemmed and hawed about it, as much as was consistent with a spaceman's dignity. "You see, Miss Vargas," he explained, not once but as often as I would listen to him, "this is not, strictly speaking, a passenger ship at all. Our charter is only to carry cargo. But, under the terms of our franchise, we are required to transport an occasional passenger, from the more isolated planets where there is no regular passenger service. Our rules simply don't permit us to discriminate, and the Theradin reserved a place on this ship for our last voyage." He paused, and re-emphasized, "We have only the one passenger cabin, you see. We're a cargo ship and we are not allowed to make any discrimination between our passengers." He looked angry about it. Unfortunately, I'd run up against that attitude before. Some Terrans won't travel on the same ship with nonhumans even when they're isolated in separate ends of the ship. I understood his predicament, better than he thought. The Theradin seldom travel in space. No one could have foreseen that Haalvordhen, the Theradin from Samarra, who had lived on the forsaken planet of Deneb for eighteen of its cycles, would have chosen this particular flight to go back to its own world.