Dark Star Safari

Dark Star Safari: Thirteen stories of stories comprising 2 novelettes, and 11short stories of science fiction, fantasy and the paranormal.Dark Star Safari: When secret agent Space Force Captain Sherry Travers lands on Planet Garthon, behind the enemy Tenduran Empire' borders, and hires a guide to take her to meet the leader of a weapons manufacturing and smuggling operation, her hired guide turns out to be more than she expected.The Nature of the Beast: You expect the story you're reading to go one way, and unexpectedly it twists. As a writer, I sometimes like to change things around...Can android parents raise a human child?: In a world recovering from a double asteroid strike, where billions have died, and androids have taken up many human burdens, you may wonder how well an android couple can raise a human child. And what happens when their human daughter comes home from her first semester of college and makes a shocking announcement?Blue Book Value: You need to buy your daughter her first good, pre-owned spaceship? After checking the net ads, you go to some short, slimy dealer and try to bargain him down in price, right?Trouble With Cat-alogs: Collier's Planet. Young Cindy MacBain needs to go off the wildlife reserve into town to have her annual physical for school. But taking her pet cat-analog into town is against local laws. What happens when the animal sneaks a ride into town? (This story is a continuation of Adventures in Wildlife Exobiology from my first anthology, A Twist in Time.)White Feather: Where did the tall tales of Sasquatch originate? Well, let me tell you about Luis White Feather...Resonant Effect: Awakened from another of those strange dreams caused by the Santa Ana Winds ionizing the air around his trailer, Fred continues working on the whatever-it-is the dreams have been providing him the engineering plans to construct. But what the heck is this thing going to be? And how will it affect Earth?Ghost of a Chance: Even death won't stop this psychic detective from solving crimes! Join Ronald Horowitz as he gathers a circle of friends to aid in his never-ending quest for justice. Oy...False Positive: Planet Stratford 5. When Dr. Barbara Walden discovers a false positive in a simple blood test for E. coli, it creates a race against time to find a cure to save the families of Gamma Colony.Ancient Magic: When Master Orthis, Headmaster of the Ordovician College of Sorcery, attempts to save the College from the fury of a raging volcano, he must first defeat a power-hungry sorceress. Can Orthis survive both a volcano, and a mad sorceress? (This story is a continuation of Too Much Magic from my first anthology, A Twist in Time.)The Adventure That Never Happened: Dr. Watson describes one of those cases that didn't quite pan out.Faces in the Doors: Ever notice how you see faces where there are none? In a cloud? In the bark of a tree? In the grain of the wood paneling of your home? Sure, picking out faces is just a survival mechanism built into our species. But did it ever freak you out?A Passage to Carnalia: The work of a space-freighter captain can be arduous, dangerous, tedious, and sometimes disgusting. But it also offers prestige, and certain perks...