Showing results by author "Martin Wilsey" in All Categories

When the dreams came, Kara Manning thought they were just nightmares of blood, murder, and destruction. A product of too much pizza and action movies on her new TV. She never imagined that they were far more. She thought they were subconscious fears transformed into night visions of red skies and her beloved ruined city of Richmond, Virginia. She had no idea that the vampires of her horror dreams were real or that she was a Valkyrie, whatever the hell that was.

Barcus is a working stiff looking for a good paycheck. When the Ventura and its crew enter orbit for a scheduled planet survey, the ship activates an automated defense system protecting the planet. Although the Ventura is destroyed in the attack, Barcus alone survives the harrowing fall to the remote planet surface. He struggles to remain alive and sane and to discover why everyone he knew and loved on the Ventura was deliberately murdered.

Barcus is a working stiff looking for a good paycheck. When the Ventura and its crew enter orbit for a scheduled planet survey, the ship activates an automated defense system protecting the planet. Although the Ventura is destroyed in the attack, Barcus alone survives the harrowing fall to the remote planet surface. He struggles to remain alive and sane, and to discover why everyone he knew and loved on the Ventura was deliberately murdered.

Emma Boone thought her dream job as the new Chief of Security on Lumina Station was going to be easy. She didn’t expect corruption, incompetence, and murder. Lumina was a “small-town” space station orbiting above an isolated, quiet, agri-colony planet specializing in exporting wheat, corn, bourbon, and a few other interesting, unusual commodities. When she took the job, she thought a small station with a tiny population of just over 4,000 people would be quiet compared to her last post.

Restless Spirits: An Hourlings Anthology Maybe there will be blood, or children's games, or a perfect house, a curse, a fortune teller, or a knife... But no rest.

One Sought Death, One sought the Truth, and one sought his next meal. They all found more than they expected.

Elizabeth Cruze came to Earth for one reason: to buy weapons. She never counted on ending up in prison. Never fear, though, she's not planning on staying there long. Special Investigator Neal Locke has made a career out of catching the most elusive and dangerous criminals. He's never failed to "get his man". When Cruze escapes from prison, Locke is tasked with tracking her down. She should be easy to find...all he's got to do is follow the trail of bodies. But Locke has been an investigator for a long time.

No one knew how it began. The world fell in just a few weeks. Some people survived. Some decided to live.

Nobody knew how it began. Nobody knew how it would end. All they knew was that they had to survive another day. ... and another night.

BEWARE OF STRANGERS - Mankind has always feared outsiders: strangers with malevolent purposes, foreigners who bring disruptive change, the marginalized who simply won’t fit into ordinary society. They’re the Unknown Factor, often serving as agents of change, but sometimes as the harbingers of doom. Danger haunts their wake, just like it follows:* A burgeoning mage with a talent for the forbidden art of necromancy.* A ruthless, supernatural kidnapper who leaves a trail of bodies in his wake.* A sprit with a passion for justice, lots of time, and far too much work.* A young, misunderstood...

The horrors of the Iraq war led Timothy Beck to become a simple parish priest…until that day when his life changed forever. Now, he’s a member of an elite team secretly funded by the United States government to hunt vampires.

Cobb wanted a simple life. He wanted excellent steaks, great coffee, friends, and a quiet place to restore his favorite ship. Working for a recovery operation turned out to be the best place to find parts cheap. She had other plans for him. He wanted the staff of the deep space salvage ship, Oxcart, to treat him just like another member of the crew. Not the man he really was. Light years from Earth, he thought his secrets, his past, wouldn't matter. Especially not to her.

All her life, Jade Church has dreamed of owning her own starship and flying the space lanes as a courier. Being paid to see the galaxy. that’s the life she’s always wanted... Her first job was supposed to be easy. Just deliver a small case to a small, non-descript, colony planet, they said. Nobody told her she was carrying a priceless cargo. Or that this small case had been stolen. Or she’d have to deal with ruthless soldiers, assassins, implacable AIs, and massive alien carnivores.

The deep space survey ship Ventura entered orbit and was immediately destroyed. Commander James Worthington and his crew were flying escort when the savage attack hit. With his ship heavily damaged and half of his crew dead, Worthington finds refuge on the dark side of this planet's moon. Plagued with threats from all around, he finds his old friend, Barcus, and tries to bring the remaining survivors together as a team before time runs out.

Something strange is happening in the Oklahoma desert. Harv Reardon is the owner of Oklahoma Salvage, an enormous graveyard for trucks, cars, planes, shuttles, and space ships in various states of decay. With the help of his great grand daughter Alex, they help a mysterious stranger rehab a ship for space flight. Something just doesn't feel right to Harv and Alex....

Life on an asteroid mine was far from exciting. It wasn't even that dangerous anymore due to the level of automation. At least, it wasn't dangerous before he arrived.

Captain James Worthington, Roland Barcus and the crew of the deep space survey ship Ventura have been betrayed and blown out of the orbit of the planet Baytirus in a heinous ambush. As they struggle to survive, the crew discovered they were sacrificed to protect a dark agenda. Now that they've fought their way free of their planet-bound trap, the survivors are ready to go home. Whether Earth wants them back or not.

A disgraced royal guard who failed in protecting his king hunts down those who cost him more than just his honor.

This is a collection of my short science fiction and fantasy stories written from 2015 to 2021.

Reliquary is an anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy short stories on the theme of relics. Authors were invited to interpret the term "relic" in whatever way made sense to them, resulting in an exciting and eclectic mix of stories. Some key definition included: Container for storing holy artifacts. Or unholy ones. A small box with hinged lid suitable for hiding demons from the past. Crate, trunk or case. Usually with baggage. The last place you'll ever look. This is the second anthology from the Hourlings, a writing group based in the Washington DC metropolitan area.