Showing results by publisher "Podium Audio" in Hard Science Fiction

The day that changed Melody's life was like any other over the previous two years. She'd found she had a gift for writing, and her career as an author had almost healed the pain of losing her job. When the Secret Service rang her bell, everything changed. Something was nearing Saturn…and it was slowing down. Had she been right about the object?

Merritt Alder is done with Earth. The planet is polluted and overpopulated, and its people are hungry. Earth's first colony, Galena, is a pioneer world 10,000 light-years away. It has clean air, unpolluted water, and continents of arable land. Anyone can start a new life…if they can get there. For Merritt, the journey is only the beginning. Obstacles arise every step of the way, forcing compromise and sacrifice. And not everyone on his ship is pure of heart.

It is 2056. Mathematics professor Elisabeth Gabai is fascinated by multi-dimensional forms that have no equivalent in reality. Then, her boss sends her to the site of an artifact that might have come straight from her theories—or from the technology of an advanced civilization. Twenty-eight years earlier, physicist Max Webber is hell-bent on improving Einstein’s theories of relativity. His latest concept seems flawless, except it predicts the end of humanity. The extinction of Earth can only be prevented if Max can locate a multi-dimensional object.

Scouts have located a forward base of the freakish creatures, who plot to annihilate all meat-based lifeforms. Earth assembles a joint task force with legions of Rigellian bears, Mogwa battlecruisers, and Saurian troops. Together, they strike as one against Crystal World. After annoying every superior in his chain of command, James McGill is the first to be deployed on the unexplored planet. His mission: to establish a beachhead on this strange, hostile ground. Surrounded and cut off, his troops fight to the bitter end against creatures made of earth, stone, and jewels.

When Kyle Wimberly, the hands-on president of Full Cycle Solar, Inc., investigates a unit failure, he finds an alien shuttle has crashed into it. The shuttle's captain is grievously injured, his crew dead. Then, to Kyle's surprise, the captain asks for help, speaking perfect English. Kyle and colleague Alexandra Reyes carry the captain to the shuttle's medical bay for treatment by its auto-doc. This simple act of compassion launches the two down a path that will change their lives and the world forever.

In the aftermath of a bioengineered plague that wiped out all life on Earth, Jupiter's Europa colony has become the last bastion of human civilization, and it's Lt. Ryan Braeder's job to keep what remains of his species alive. With food and supplies dwindling, he has no choice but to take his last ships on a perilous journey to a dead colony on Ceres in a desperate bid to find provisions and replacement parts.

In the aftermath of the destruction, Shaun finds himself trapped by the winter. With little other choice, he joins a group of survivors doing the best they can. His idea of "best" isn’t always shared by the group, though. But before the weather breaks, when he wants to resume his journey, they all face conflict. Miles away, doing the best that she can, Abbie is adapting to life without power; her own situation is far from ideal. After the sound of the falling bombs fade, as the dark world they live in tries to recover, they have to find a way to adapt to their new reality.

Michael Baker is a 35-year-old, natural-born American citizen from Texas, a successful entrepreneur, and amateur astronomer. The scientific community mocks him when he publishes the time and coordinates where a supernova will occur. When it occurs, people start wondering who Michael is. The day after his third supernova prediction stunningly comes true, Michael abruptly takes over every television and radio in the world and announces that he is the Ambassador to Earth from the Intergalactic Confederation of Planets.

The colony on Haven-7 has gone rogue. The colonists have split into two factions: the Techborn and the Dusters. The Techborn have always ruled the planet. They control the remnants of the crashed starship that brought humanity to this new world. The Dusters… they eat Techborn dust. Now, the Techborn strength is waning. Their weapons are getting old, and radiation leaks from the aging reactors have created mutations. Some of these, like their brutish troops known as Tuskers, have proven useful—but others are abominations.

When the solar flare took out the world's power… nobody could explain why the street lights still glowed in Jakarta. Was it a signal from space? When the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) transmits strange images of the red planet: a scientifically unexplained light phenomenon on the summit of Elysium Mons has the experts both concerned and baffled. A team needed to check it out. The mission to Mars was set. Now, they had to build the team.

There’s a sense of normalcy for the community in Monterey, California, but their peace doesn’t last long. When they’re pushed to leave, they encounter something they never expected to find. The Glass remain, but they’ve shifted positions. Peggy reveals she used to have dreams, but prescription medication kept them at bay. Now she’s off the pills and is determined to visit Spokane with Will.

A barrage of ice meteors streaks through the void, targeting every colony and even Earth herself. The devastating force of these nearly invisible projectiles is sudden and catastrophic. Devin Starn's Red Company and the seasoned crew aboard the Borag are called upon to assist. Initially tasked with providing emergency services, they soon find themselves on a perilous mission to join forces with the Earth Navy in hunting down the source of these deadly attacks.

Contains books one and two of The Stasis Stories: A Pause in Space-Time (Book 1) and The Thunder of Engines (Book 2). Kaem Seba is a sickly and financially destitute young man with extraordinary math skills. With the help of Arya Vaii, a business student, he has developed a theory and an electronic device that allows him to stop time within limited volumes of space-time.

The spaceship Shepherd-1 is on its way to the star closest to the sun. Halfway there, the crew succeeds in using gravitational lensing technology to take sharp pictures of the origin of the universe—and thus obtain the answer that reveals how the cosmos came into being and whether or not God had a hand in it. But no sooner does the crew tell Earth this than the radio communication goes silent, even though the ship is apparently functional. Is it a case of sabotage—or were the three astronauts overwhelmed with the answer for which science and religion have been searching for millennia?

Earth’s entire fleet and all her legions are conscripted by the Galactics. Centurion McGill of Legion Varus is among countless troops pressed into service as cannon fodder for the Empire. Not everyone on Earth is happy with the demands of the Galactics. Earth has built up her military for decades, and now she might lose everything in a foreign war no one understands. As the man who has killed more Mogwa than any other human in history, McGill is approached and given a mission. He has a fateful decision to make.

Karl Meier is a private in the German Army. He's been sent to occupied Greece on a secret mission in late 1944 as the Wehrmacht is withdrawing from the country. Karl has been assigned to support Professor Johannes Schmidt in the excavation of the ruins at Delphi, searching for a wunderwaffe—a wonder weapon that could help Germany win the Second World War. Deep within a cave, he finds a golden orb. On touching it, Karl connects with an alien intelligence that has sat dormant on Earth for thousands of years—the Oracle.

Rebels build a secret base on Green World. Their plan is to attack Earth and retake all the planets the humans have conquered. Hegemony starships gather to strike the Rebels first, but where is their base? As the fleets search, Earth warships trespass into Skay space, igniting a fresh border conflict between rival Galactics. When James McGill stumbles onto the rebel camp, they’re forced to step up their plans. The world goes up in flames. Friends are permed and cities are destroyed as everything spins out of control.

In Radiation Hazard, Kaem and company are commercially developing “stade”, a piece of space-time that’s in stasis. Its phenomenal properties allow it to reflect all radiation, so when a nearby nuclear reactor undergoes a meltdown, the first thought is that stade might be used to limit the radioactivity from the accident. In Halting the Reaper, Kaem has been treated with gene therapy for the anemias that have made him so weak. In combination with his extraordinary memory, his newfound physical fitness is letting him perform at a high level in a karate class.

Admiral Jon McCarthy, a Nexus Ten with the gift of foresight, stands as humanity's last beacon of hope against the relentless Korilian Empire. With the outcome of the brutal 33-year war tilting in the Korilians' favor again, McCarthy must lead 3rd Fleet on a perilous mission behind enemy lines. By his side is Lara Anderson, a woman whose absence from a prime timeline—rendering her past and future indiscernible—may hold the key to humanity's survival.

In High Earth, digital entertainment is everything. Shows. Virtual worlds. Simulations - there’s something for everybody in a city where working for a living has been rendered obsolete by technological advancements. Even a short walk outside to visit with others is no longer necessary. Just load into the network and you can be with anyone, anywhere. For Asher Reinhart, nothing compares to Ignis; a live reality show that pushes human beings to their very extremes.