29 Vampires have an intense dislike of any kind of disability. They perceive it as weakness.
30 An ancient philosophical discipline, alleged to have its roots on Earth, the legendary birthworld of humanity.
31 Dragons in particular like the flavor of mayzel-fish, but then Dragons have no sense of taste. Ask any Vampire about Dragon aesthetics.
32 The source of this enmity lies some seventeen standard years prior to this narrative, at which time an “unfortunate incident” took place in the small agricultural community, Kilpatrick’s Folly, on the rocky planet Morpaline. A troop of Regency Dragons sought revenge for an inadvertent insult to one of their number.
The insult itself did not develop out of any action of any member of the local community, but instead occurred when a visiting traveller, known only as Mr. Costello, who identified his profession as “hero”, accidentally espoused a philosophical position somewhat at odds with the Dragons’ perception of personal integrity. Unfortunately, the Dragon’s response grew severely out of hand. They slipped into a killing rage and ran amok through the settlement, killing one hundred and seventeen of the hundred and eighty-three inhabitants.
The Regency Prefect of Morpaline, a member of the Lee clone-family, summarily ordered the entire troop of Dragons dishonorably executed. This judgment triggered a violent three-year campaign of assassination and terror by the Moktar Dragons directed against any and all members of the Lee family throughout the worlds of the Regency. At no time would either the Lees or the Dragons accept arbitration or reconcilement. As a result, the blood-war has never officially ended—the Dragons have simply run out of Lee clones to kill.
33 The Regency did not freely license female embryos, and of those who survived to breeding age, few remained on the planet. Thoska-Roole maintained its reputation as a good place to leave quickly.
34 Fececious: full of feces.
35 Genetically male, but bioformed to function as a female.
Several centuries previous to this narrative, the Regency had begun a deliberate policy of adjusting the availability of breeding licenses to restrict the ratio of female births in various sentient species. While this admittedly heavy-handed method of social engineering did have the desired effect of limiting the growth potential of any race that might grow in sufficient numbers to challenge the Phaestor aristocracy, it also produced widespread “mating psychoses” and “bonding frustration” among the many young unpartnered males of the affected races—particularly humans. The Regency responded by licensing the development of “synthetic females” for mating and bonding, but not for breeding. By the time of these events, the implementation of these policies had become so widespread that human males on the most rigidly controlled Phaestor worlds had never even seen a real female of their own species; gender-females remained the only experience of human femininity available to them.
36 Because of the distances and the speeds involved, no interstellar authority has ever succeeded in imposing a uniform code of conduct where the participants have not already embraced it willingly.
Other than the technocratic feudalism of the Regency, which does not function as a uniform authority in any case, but only according to the goals, desires, and whims of its individual Lords and their Ladies, the only significant effort to define a uniform standard of conduct and authority in the Palethetic Cluster comes from the Spacers’ Guild.
Ideally, the government of every planet or moon that hosts interstellar travel—every authority that operates a legitimately recognized StarPort—has also signed the Minimum Basic Agreement of the Interstellar Operations Guild, committing itself to a standard of behavior that all space-faring vessels can depend on. Without the IOG seal of approval, a StarPort cannot operate. No Guild member would allow his ship to land or receive goods at an outlaw facility.
The Guild handles the collection of all taxes for the representative worlds, disciplinary matters of its own members as well as ground-based employees, and arbitrates all disputes over contracts and breaches thereof. The Regency could not function without the approval and cooperation of the Guild.
On most worlds, IOG officials also run most of the ancillary operations of the StarPort, taking an additional percentage off the top to cover the operating expenses of the local Guild offices. In reflection of this fact, IOG installations usually tower over all the other installations at most StarPorts. Nevertheless, on some worlds, IOG authority remains tenuous.
On Thoska-Roole, for example, the IOG held onto its venue only by strategically applying bribes and kickbacks to the ruling Vampire authorities. The Phaestor had long had their eyes on the wealth of the Guild and had begun looking for ways to appropriate first the Guild’s operations, and ultimately, the source of its continued wealth. Instead, what she found left her so appalled that she made an irrevocable decision, one on a level with the famous brinewood betrayal that had eventually toppled a government.
37 Owed To A Dragon, by the poet Aristol.
38 Article Two of the Regency Charter strictly forbids the use of sentient creatures as prey animals. This prohibition serves as one of the most fundamental tenets of the Regency authority.
39 Because of Thoska-Roole’s elliptical orbit, it suffers extremes of both heat and cold. During winter, for instance, much of the atmosphere freezes, and those inhabitants who remain during the six month freeze must stay in the pressurized and heated habitats of the winter-caves. During the peak months of summer, when the planet passes through the outermost fringes of the red star’s corona, the oppressive heat also drives the population deep underground. As a result, most of the long-term residents have grown to regard the surface of the world with a mixture of distrust and fascination. Horror and mystery prowl the surface, watched by the Eye of God. Security lives only deep under the covering rock. So profoundly do the planet’s inhabitants feel this revulsion of the empty sky that many of them refuse to venture to the surface even during the long safe months of passage between the extremes.
40 Sawyer referred, of course, to the rumors that the original genetic designers of the Phaestor had modelled their creations on wasps, spiders, and other carnivorous insects.
41 The TimeBinder’s dream state bears little relation to the Phaestor dream state. Where the TimeBinder communes with the shared identities of every individual who has previously worn the same headband, the Vampire communes only with his or her own hallucinogenic center. Wisdom drives the TimeBinder, but only hunger drives the Vampire.
More from the David Gerrold eBook Series
THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES
The Story Behind Star Trek’s Most Popular Episode
9781939529565
The complete story of one of Star Trek’s most popular episodes:
•From first draft to final shooting script
•The how and why of TV writing
•Three previously unpublished episodes
•Working on the Star Trek lot
•Personal stories of the stars
•32 pages of photos
•Original illustrations by Tim Kirk
•MORE! MORE! MORE!
THE VOYAGE OF THE STAR WOLF
Star Wolf Trilogy, Book One
9781935251514
The first work in David Gerrold’s Star Wolf trilogy, this tale pits the human members of the Star Wolf space vessel against the superhuman Morthan crew. Captain Jonathan Korie, hampered by the loss of most of the human fleet to the Morthans and a nearly disabled ship of his own, faces the Morthan threat driven by the need for survival and the desire for revenge. A classic of military science fiction, the Star Wolf trilogy combines rapid action with powerful studies of military character.
THE MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF
9781935618720
This classic work of science fiction is widely considered to be the ultimate time-travel novel. When Daniel Eakins inherits a time machine, he soon realizes that he has enormous power to shape the course of history. He can foil terrorists, prevent assassinatio
ns, or just make some fast money at the racetrack. And if he doesn’t like the results of the change, he can simply go back in time and talk himself out of making it! But Dan soon finds that there are limits to his powers and forces beyond his control.
UNDER THE EYE OF GOD
Trackers, Book One
9781939529541
David Gerrold’s classic space opera Under the Eye of God tells the story of a group of unlikely rebels on a mission to reclaim the galaxy from ruthless vampire overlords known as the Phaestor.
The dark, burnt world of Thoska-Roole, infamous for its harsh climate and equally callous inhabitants, might be the last place in the galaxy anyone would turn for aid in times of crisis. But the small, orange planet is home to the band of rebels who hold the fate of the entire galaxy in their hands.
The Phaestor were once humanity’s last hope, but these genetically engineered predators and their deadly army of Moktar Dragons have since seized control of the galaxy and subjugated all lesser species to feed their appetite for chaos and blood. Standing in their way is the ragtag alliance of malcontents from Thoska-Roole, including two bounty hunters, a mercenary ship captain, and a disgraced reptilian warrior. Together, they make a last desperate stand against the Phaestor and their reign of unprecedented terror.
A COVENANT OF JUSTICE
Trackers, Book Two
9781940363134
In this sequel to Under the Eye of God, David Gerrold’s classic space opera continues.
The bloodthirsty Phaestor, genetically engineered to fight in defense of the galaxy, have since turned against their creators and established a reign of terror and chaos.
Lead by a cunning war queen, her ambitious suitor, and a Dragon Lord, the Phaestor continue to strive for complete enslavement of the galaxy. But a growing band of rebels from Thoska-Roole fights for the galaxy, standing against the merciless vampire overlords.
As other humans, bioforms, and androids from worlds across the galaxy join their cause, the outnumbered rebels fight for freedom and the future of the stars.
STARHUNT
A Star Wolf Novel
9781939529497
Only an endless space war could have produced the Roger Burlingame. A war that had caused Earth to turn starships into instruments of total destruction. A war that had so drained Earth of resources that the Roger Burlingame was kept in service long after it should have been scrapped.
Now, light years from Earth, the great starship had sighted a quarry almost certain to defeat it in a fair fight. The captain’s nerve was gone; the crew were on the verge of mutiny. And command had passed to a fanatical young first officer hungry for his first kill.
War had turned into hell—and this was a voyage of the damned . . .
Originally published as Yesterday’s Children.
THE WORLD OF STAR TREK
9781939529572
They said it couldn’t be done! A science fiction show on national television? The network didn’t believe it would work. It was the 1960s. Would the public accept a non-human hero with demonic pointed ears? A black female lieutenant? Impossible!
BUT STAR TREK LIVES!
This is the story of a phenomenon—a story as strange and wonderful, in its way, as the Enterprise’s trip through space. Even the power of the networks couldn’t stop it. And so Star Trek went on to make entertainment history. Here is the complete inside story of what happened behind the scenes of the Star Trek universe, from scriptwriters’ memos to special effects, plus revealing personal interviews with the series’ legendary stars.
The legend of Star Trek lives in the hearts of millions—now, discover the truth behind the fiction. Writer David Gerrold was on the set, watching it happen: the feuds, the fun, the love—the magic that is Star Trek. A must-have for “Trekkies” of all ages, The World of Star Trek includes more than 50 pages of photos from your favorite episodes and stills from all three movies.
ALTERNATE GERROLDS
An Assortment of Fictitious Lives
9781935618959
David Gerrold takes you on a tour of alternate universes . . . universes where Santa Claus isn’t nice and the best man is actually elected president; where Ronald Reagan and Gregory Peck command the plane carrying the first atomic bomb and John F. Kennedy stars in the hit show Star Track, where Franz Kafka doesn’t write fiction and the Devil holds educational seminars. Introduction by Mike Resnick.
WHEN HARLIE WAS ONE
Release 2.0
9781939529466
HARLIE is the first self-aware intelligence engine. But instead of answers, he has questions—too many questions, and most of his questions have no answers at all.
First published in 1972, When HARLIE Was One was immediately hailed as a groundbreaking debut novel, examining the most fundamental question of all: What does it mean to be human?
Revised by the author in 1988, this expanded edition is available again. Despite all the progress in computer technology since then, When HARLIE Was One still has extraordinary power to touch the human heart.
Nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novel of the Year, its themes of love and discovery are even more important today than when first published.
Read. Enjoy. Be inspired.
CHILD OF EARTH
Sea of Grass, Book One
9781935618713
Want to visit another world? It might not be as easy as you think.
When Kaer’s extended family signs up to emigrate to Linnea, a planet known for horses as large as houses and dangerously mistrustful natives, Kaer is certain the move will bring the divided household closer together. What none of them are prepared for is the grueling emigration training in the Linnean dome, a makeshift environment designed to be like Linnea in every possible way, from the long, brutally harsh winters to the deadly kacks—wolf-like creatures as tall as men. The training is tough, but Kaer’s family is up to the challenge. Soon they begin working like Linneans, thinking like Linneans, even accepting Linnean gods as their own. The family’s emigration seems to be just around the corner.
But then, a disaster on Linnea itself changes everything.
CHILD OF GRASS
Sea of Grass, Book Two
9781939529589
In the first installment of David Gerrold’s Sea of Grass trilogy, Child of Earth, Kaer’s family expected to assimilate into Linnean society undetected after becoming accustomed to the harsh climate and relatively primitive culture in the training dome—a synthetic Linnean environment designed to prepare Earthlings for emigration to the new world. But a sudden uprising on Linnea changed everything. After a band of religious zealots known as the Hale-Stones, former Earth residents living on Linnea, began outing other Earthlings and disrupting Linnean society in order to convert them to Earth’s Christianity in place of the Linnean religion, Kaer’s family was stuck in limbo.
Now, in Child of Grass, Kaer and Lorrin, Kaer’s father, venture away from the training dome as part of a secret mission to restore peace to Linnea and free the hostage Earthlings from captivity. Defeating the Hale-Stones means using every available resource to preserve the Linnean way of life, from advanced technology, to natural disasters, and even the Hale-Stones’ own religious teachings.
Through the struggle for peace, young Kaer is forced to confront issues about morality, loyalty, the bond of family, and the nature of intelligent life.
THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
Star Wolf Trilogy, Book Two
9781935618737
The Morthans were physically and mentally superior. Descended from humans, they were now, literally, “more-than” human . . . and considered the human race to be little better than animals. They would stop at nothing to conquer the remaining human-controlled worlds.
Docked for repairs after a harrowing battle with a Morthan ship, Jonathan Korie and his crew discover they have a Morthan imp aboard—a Morthan weapon so quick they have no chance of catching it, so clever they have no hope of outsmarting it, and so deadly they hav
e no choice but to try.
Includes introduction by Spider Robinson.
BLOOD AND FIRE
Star Wolf Trilogy, Book Three
9781935618690
The Morthans were physically and mentally superior. Descended from humans, they were now, literally, “more-than” human . . . and considered the human race to be little better than animals. They would stop at nothing to conquer the remaining human-controlled worlds.
Formerly a never-filmed script for Star Trek: The Next Generation, this conclusion to the Star Wolf trilogy finds Executive Officer Korie and the crew of the Star Wolf answering a distress call from a mysteriously lifeless ship. On board the Norway, they discover half-wave, half-particle clusters of golden light—and a dead man. The lights are the energy form of bloodworms, a fatal infestation that feeds off the energy of living bodies, which scientists on the Norway have developed for use in the Alliance’s war against the Morthans. Officer Korie’s struggle between his conscience and his desire for vengeance will determine not only the safety of the Star Wolf, but the fate of the enemies he’s sworn to destroy.
Includes introduction by D.C. Fontana.
SPACE SKIMMER
Book One
9781939529510
Under the Eye of God Page 28
