En route to far-off stars, Toby’s consciousness has a crucial mission: inhabit his clone long enough to repair a spaceship, then zip back to Earth. He’s done it a million times, more or less. OK, twelve times. It should only take a few hours. Until he wakes up in jail. And he’s not alone. His fellow prisoners: a cadre of alien soldiers. His prison: an ethereal boundary that will imprison their spirits until their bodies die. His jailers can’t even see him. But their pet cat (er, iguana cat?) can—and it’s got a serious case of the zoomies.

Jordan McKell has a problem with authority. Unfortunately for him, the iron-fisted authority of the powerful Patthaaunutth controls virtually every aspect of galactic shipping. In order to survive, Jordan ekes out a living dabbling in interstellar smuggling for outlaw concerns that represent the last vestiges of free trade in the galaxy. So when Jordan and his partner, Ixil - an alien with two ferret-like "outhunters" linked to his neural system - are hired by a mysterious gentleman to fly a ship and its special cargo to Earth, they jump at the job.

Decades after a successful invasion of Earth and the Terran Democratic Empire by the Ryqril—hostile, leathery-skinned aliens—resistance fighter Allen Caine is training for an undercover mission. He will assume the identity of an aide to the senate—part of the government that colludes with the invaders.

A long era of peace and prosperity in the interstellar Commonwealth has suddenly come to an end. Four alien starships of unknown origin have attacked, without provocation, an eight-ship Peacemaker task force, utterly destroying it in six savage minutes. The authorities claim there were no survivors. But Lord Stewart Cavanaugh, a former member of Parliament, has learned through back channels that one man may have survived to be captured by the aliens: his son, Commander Pheylan Cavanaugh.

Grad student Danae Panya's dream assignment has been approved. She'll study Triplet, the strange planetary system scarred by nuclear war and connected through portals. The most experienced Courier of Triplet, Ravagin, will lead her to its hidden worlds—Threshold, Shamsheer, and Karyx—and introduce her to their secrets, including their advanced technology, their dark magic, and the captivating demon culture of the innermost planet.

The newly renamed Vance Turbo has sabotaged his own career at Space Fleet Academy due to a desire to atone for a training accident. Unfortunately, his actions result in him getting press-ganged into an expendable crew of misfits recruited by a legendary starship captain. Their mission? To recover a collection of lost sun-destroying missiles that could restart a galactic war. Unfortunately, Vance is smart enough to know something is wrong with this picture. After all, no sane person would recruit this crew to save the universe.

The Padang Commonwealth Alliance has been invaded by aliens called the Sytorians. The war is in its tenth year, and the Padang Alliance is losing a war of attrition. Initially, the two nations' cruiser-kill ratios were equal. Today, the Sytorians destroy three Padang cruisers for every two Sytorians cruisers. The Padang admiralty is having a difficult time finding replacement crews for those injured and killed. Particularly experienced fleet and squadron commanders.

Shadows of the Empire illuminates the shadowy outlines of a criminal conspiracy that exists in the background of the events in the movies, ruled by a character new to us. Prince Xizor is a mastermind of evil who dares to oppose one of the best-known fictional villains of all time: Darth Vader. The story involves all the featured Star Wars movie characters, plus Emperor Palpatine and, of course, Lord Vader himself.

A tactical nuclear weapon is stolen from an Indian research facility, setting off a chain of events that spans the globe. Those behind the heist plan to use it to take out thousands of innocent people—all to assure death of a single man who they believe is too dangerous to be left alive. What are the lives of thousands compared to the safety of the world?

Dispatched to the mysterious planet of Zonama Sekot, source of the fastest ships in the galaxy, Obi-Wan and Anakin are swept up in a swirl of deadly intrigue and betrayal. For the Trade Federation is interested in Zonama Sekot as well. Raith Sienar, a brilliant but unscrupulous weapons and ship designer, seizes the opportunity to make a killing by stealing the secret of the superfast ships.

On Tigris, children develop telekinesis beginning at the age of five. By the time they're pre-teens, though, their special abilities peak, then slip away as they reach maturity. Being able to "teek" gives them power—even over most adults—until they gradually become regular teenagers, no longer special, no longer with authority and status. Some handle the Transition better than others.

Timothy Zahn shows an unparalleled mastership of science fiction in the fifteen tales gathered here. "The Price of Survival" features an alien ship that arrives in our solar system without hostile intentions but with a desperate need whose fulfillment could destroy humanity. "The Giftie Gie Us" tells the story of two lonely survivors who find love among the ruins of a post-apocalyptic United States. And in "Pawn's Gambit," a human and his alien opponent face off over a game that will decide which one of them will return home.

After engaging in bloody warfare against each other, two alien races—the Greens and the Grays—take refuge on Earth, both believing their home and their enemy destroyed. For seventy-five years, they have been passing as humans, living peacefully—until each side discovers the other has survived. Now, in order to avoid another destructive conflict, these extraterrestrial rivals have united and agreed that a sacrifice must be made . . . On a dark and cold October night in Manhattan's Riverside Park, a strange ceremony is about to begin.

Damon Lathe and his blackcollar combat team face their most serious challenge. On one of the conquered human colony worlds is a Ryqril tactical center through which flows an entire sector's worth of military data. If the blackcollars can find a way inside, it could tip the balance in the current Ryqril-Chryselli war. It could even start humanity on the path back to ultimate freedom.

Deep in space lies the black hole known as Angelmass, so called because it emits enigmatic particles with the unusual ability to render humans calm, reasonable, and incapable of lying—which would normally be seen as a good thing. But not by everyone. Academic Jereko Kosta is pressed into service by the Pax to spy on the Empyrean, joining the crew of a ship actively hunting the particles. But what he learns turns out to be both scientifically fascinating and morally frightening.

When former government agent Frank Compton steps back into his apartment after his tangle with the Modhri - a coral-like group mind - he finds a young woman with his gun in her hands waiting for him. Her little sister's life is in danger and Compton is the only one who can help. After retrieving his gun and kicking her out, he finds himself falsely accused of her murder. With a little help, he posts bail, gets a new identity, and begins the search for the little girl.

What would you do if you opened a package to find a man’s head? What would you do if the headless corpse had been swapped for a case of bullion? What would you do if you knew a brutal murderer was out there, somewhere, and waiting for you? Some people would run. Dr Thorndyke intervenes.

A tactical nuclear weapon is stolen from an Indian research facility, setting off a chain of events that spans the globe. Those behind the heist plan to use it to take out thousands of innocent people—all to assure death of a single man who they believe is too dangerous to be left alive. What are the lives of thousands compared to the safety of the world?

Jordan McKell has a problem with authority. Unfortunately for him, the iron-fisted authority of the powerful Patthaaunutth controls virtually every aspect of galactic shipping. In order to survive, Jordan ekes out a living dabbling in interstellar smuggling for outlaw concerns that represent the last vestiges of free trade in the galaxy. So when Jordan and his partner, Ixil - an alien with two ferret-like "outhunters" linked to his neural system - are hired by a mysterious gentleman to fly a ship and its special cargo to Earth, they jump at the job.

Grad student Danae Panya's dream assignment has been approved. She'll study Triplet, the strange planetary system scarred by nuclear war and connected through portals. The most experienced Courier of Triplet, Ravagin, will lead her to its hidden worlds—Threshold, Shamsheer, and Karyx—and introduce her to their secrets, including their advanced technology, their dark magic, and the captivating demon culture of the innermost planet.

Jim Oster ruptures the membrane between our world and afterworld (AKA, The Flimsy), creating a two-way tunnel between them. Jim's wife, Val, is killed in the process, and Jim finds himself battling his personal grief and an invasion of the Flims. The process of battling the invading Flims leads him to the center of the afterworld, where the ghost of his wife just might be. Can Jim save Earth with the help of a posse of Santa Cruz punks, and at the same time bring his wife back to life?

Jack Morgan has been framed for theft. He's hiding on a distant planet with the virtual presence of his deceased Uncle Virge, a con man who has been his only family since Jack's parents died. Jack knows he must clear his name before the cops catch up with him. A firefight among ships in the skies above leaves a downed ship near Jack's hiding place, with a single unlikely survivor. It looks like a dragon, and it must join with a human host within six hours or die. The only available host is Jack. Draycos, Jack's new companion, is a K'da, a dragon-like species that lives symbiotically with the humanoid Shontine. The attackers, determined to exterminate Draycos's people, will find them if they don't flee; so the pair works together to escape the planet and begin a search for the truth behind Jack's frame-up and the identity of the attackers. With Jack's future hanging in the balance, as well as the future of billions of Draycos's people, the pair must track down the people who framed Jack, and prevent the destruction of the remaining K'da and Shontine. They'll also discover whether their union was mere coincidence, or a friendship written in the stars. Zahn keeps the story moving at breakneck speed.

Lady Vivienne Harlowe doesn't fear much, and delves into life's experiences head on. But for years she's been plagued by the unsolved murders of her parents and the strange disappearance of other family members. Now, in the face of a new tragedy, she vows to follow every twist and turn until she's solved the dark deeds at Mablethorpe Castle.

Decades after a successful invasion of Earth and the Terran Democratic Empire by the Ryqril—hostile, leathery-skinned aliens—resistance fighter Allen Caine is training for an undercover mission. He will assume the identity of an aide to the senate—part of the government that colludes with the invaders.

England, 1925. After years shut away from the world, former detective Lord Edgington of Cranley Hall plans a grand ball to celebrate his seventy-fifth birthday. But when someone starts bumping off members of his scheming family, the old man enlists his teenage grandson to help find the killer, before one of them is next.

En route to far-off stars, Toby’s consciousness has a crucial mission: inhabit his clone long enough to repair a spaceship, then zip back to Earth. He’s done it a million times, more or less. OK, twelve times. It should only take a few hours. Until he wakes up in jail. And he’s not alone. His fellow prisoners: a cadre of alien soldiers. His prison: an ethereal boundary that will imprison their spirits until their bodies die. His jailers can’t even see him. But their pet cat (er, iguana cat?) can—and it’s got a serious case of the zoomies.

In the wilds of a jungle planet, the Legion fights in brutal combat as Republic marines fly their SLICS from one tragedy to the next. H292, a repurposed warbot, shows the heart of a hero as he wades into the battle not to destroy - but to save.

Whitt Rogers has been dreaming. Horrible dreams. Dreams that stretch the very fabric of the real and the unreal as he is pulled by a voice across the country to a small crab fishing ship set to depart into the Bering Sea. At sea, the memories piece themselves together in cracked fragments. But there is something out there, something speaking to Whitt in his dreams. A voice from a long-forgotten memory that promises peace at the cost of madness. A voice that leads to a place unimaginable and inescapable.

The colony world Adirondack and Silvern fell to the Troft forces almost without a struggle. Outnumbered and on the defensive, Earth made a desperate decision. It would attack the aliens not from space, but on the ground - with forces the Trofts did not even suspect. Thus were created the cobras, a guerrilla force whose weapons were surgically implanted, invisible to the unsuspecting eye, yet undeniably deadly.

Captain Cirilo Webster is a loyal officer of the Santiago Corporation, the multistellar megacorporation that controlls all travel between the Seventy-Seven human colonies. Finally given command of his first interstellar freighter, he is determined to do well by both his crew and his employers—but nothing is ever that simple. His crew is used to Captains passing through on their way to better ships. The Company’s policies have made more enemies than he can count. Their mission is unusual and the client might be lying to him. And if all of that wasn’t enough?