Showing results by author "Daniel Arenson" in All Categories

In this anthology, you'll find 17 tales of conflict and heroism, exploration and discovery, endurance and triumph. Flee the apocalypse of modern-day Earth, fly a fighter in the cold emptiness of deep space, and find new life on the distant shores of an alien world. You might even discover something about yourself as each author opens a window on the soul of mankind.

The starship Freedom was once a mighty warship. Today, she's a tourist attraction. The space wars ended long ago. The Freedom is now a flying museum; the tourists love it. The Changing of the Guard, the starfighter aerobatics, the starboard cannon salute...it's the best show in the galaxy. James King commands the starship Freedom. He hates his job. He was a real soldier once, back when the Freedom was a real warship. He never imagined himself running a tourist trap. Right after Christmas, he plans to retire. Then, on Christmas day, the aliens attack.

In 1944, a secret Nazi experiment split the universe in two. In our universe, we won. Hitler died. Freedom prevailed. But in a parallel universe, the Nazis discovered the atom bomb first... and conquered the world. The light of freedom perished, and the Nazi shadow spread across Earth, the solar system, and the stars. In 2207, a portal opens between our two universes. One universe of freedom. One of tyranny. And through this portal flies the Weltraumwaffe, the space fleet of the Third Reich.

The basilisks. Giant serpents from deep space. Their true name is unknown. Their homeworld is cloaked in shadow. But one thing is certain: They're killers. And they vow to kill us all.

The galaxy burns. The enemy, a race of alien scorpions, storms from star to star. Planets smolder in their wake. Across the galaxy, they hunt humans. Long ago, we humans had a planet of our own. Long ago, we could have resisted the scorpions. But today we are refugees. We are lost in darkness. We haven't seen Earth in 2,000 years. We, the last humans, must band together. We must resist. We must fight the scorpions. And we must find Earth! Only Earth can unite us. Only Earth can kindle our hope. Only on Earth can we defend our species.

We hide in shadows. Our planet is lost. We are the last humans, and we must go home. Two thousand years ago, aliens destroyed Earth. Our fleets shattered. Billions died. The last humans fled a burning planet, heading to the stars. Today we are still refugees. Hungry. Afraid. Our enemies hunt us everywhere. So we hide. On distant asteroids. In rundown space stations. In deep caves on frozen worlds. And we dream. Of green hills. Blue skies. Golden fields. We dream of Earth. And for the first time, we have hope.

The marauders, vicious alien predators, brought us to our knees. They destroyed our fleets. They burned our cities. They butchered millions. But now we fight back. Across the ruins of Earth, we rise in rebellion. In the depths of space, we seek allies. And our last warship prepares for one final battle. It's a time for heroes. A time to show our human pride. Because Earth is our home. Earth is our birthright. Earth is eternal. We will save it. Or we will die on our feet.

The grays, terrors from deep space, overwhelm our fleet. Our starships burn. Our armies shatter. Our cities crumble. Hope is all but lost. Captains Marco Emery and Addy Linden launch a desperate quest. Against all odds, they must reach the grays' world. They must travel deep behind enemy lines. They must find the grays' source of power - and destroy it.

We call them the grays. For years, they lurked in shadows. For years, they struck from the dark. Kidnapping us. Torturing us. Studying us. Now they unleash their full fury. Thousands of their saucers attack Earth. Our armies crumble. Earth burns. Yet from the fire, heroes rise. Marco Emery. Addy Linden. Einav Ben-Ari. Names everyone on Earth knows. The names of legends. Names now whispered as a prayer.

Not long ago, the starship Freedom was a museum ship. A relic of a bygone era. A rusty old warship converted into a tourist trap. Then the aliens attacked. Now, once more, the legendary Freedom flies to war. The war is brutal. The enemy is merciless. The rahs, vicious arachnids from deep space, crave only one thing. Human flesh. Before this terror, Earth’s fleet crumbles. Starships burn. Millions die. But the Freedom still flies. James King, her gruff old commander, still fights.

They called her a relic. They said she would never fly again. They said she was too old. Too large. A floating museum. But now the starship Freedom is the only hope of mankind. The aliens attack us everywhere. Vicious aliens. Bloodthirsty spiders from deep space. Our fleets burn. Our cities fall. Earth cries out for salvation. James "Bulldog" King, commander of the Freedom, answers the call. He will gather the fleet. He will lead an assault. This is the final stand of mankind.

The marauders, terrors from deep space, hit us hard. Our starships shattered. Our armies collapsed. Our cities crumbled. As Earth smolders, the marauders imprison us in camps. They farm us like cattle. They torture us for sport. Earth weeps. But there is hope. The Ghost Fleet, an ancient alien armada, might still exist in deep space. In a single starship, Sergeant Marco Emery and his friends seek this mythical fleet. They must find it. They must return with its might. Or the marauders will kill us all.

In the shadows, evil stirs. A race woven from arachnid and human DNA. They hunt like spiders. They think like men. They are the perfect killers. Like a virus, they invade the Freedom. James “Bulldog” King, commander of the Freedom, has fought alien fleets. This is different. This is worse. The infestation swarms through Freedom’s labyrinthine halls. Destroying. Eating up the Freedom from the inside. King must muster all his courage. All his strength. He must reclaim his ship. Or not only Freedom will fall—but Earth itself.

Earth burns. We call them the scum. They came from deep space. Creatures of claws and endless malice, they ravage the world. As the war flares, as cities crumble, Private Marco Emery and his platoon blast into space. They won one battle on Earth. Their next battle must be fought in the darkness. The scum will not rest until the last human is dead. Marco and his friends must defeat them. They must win. Or Earth will fall.

It's all-out war. Our cities fall. Millions die. The scum, these cruel aliens from deep space, are determined to kill us all. So we must kill them. Humanity musters its greatest fleet. Thousands of starships rally. Millions of soldiers deploy. For Earth to stand a chance, we must invade the aliens' home world. We must destroy their planet. Before they destroy ours. Earth's fleet flies through space. We fly toward millions of enemy ships. We fly to almost certain death.

They came from deep space. They came to destroy us. Fifty years ago bloodthirsty aliens devastated the Earth. Most of humanity perished. We fell into darkness. But now we rise from the ashes. Now we fight back. Marco Emery was born into the war. After his mother is killed, he joins the Human Defense Force, Earth's ragtag army. Emery must survive basic training, become a soldier, and finally face the aliens in battle. Against the alien onslaught, Earth stands alone. But we will fight. We will rise. We will win.

For years, they stalked us. Kidnapped us. Dissected us. For years, we feared them. Some call them "gray aliens". Some claim they crashed in Roswell. Others say they're just a myth. But legends often spring from terrifying truths. There are monsters in the dark. And their evil knows no bounds. We've faced aliens before. But nothing like this. This enemy is stronger, smarter, and crueler by far. And they want to kill us all. But we refuse to fall. We will muster all our courage. All our strength. We will tell the enemy: "Earth will rise!"

Five years ago, we won our first galactic war. We defeated the scum, a race of alien centipedes. But the marauders are stronger, smarter, and crueler by far. And they will show us no mercy. Marco Emery, hero of the last war, struggles today as a civilian. Shell shock cripples him. Nightmares haunt him. Yet now he must become a soldier again. Now his old platoon must reunite. Together, they must defeat the greatest threat Earth has ever known. Or humanity will fall.

Under the leadership of James “Bulldog” King, the Freedom won battle after battle. Yet now Freedom faces her most terrifying foe. Not an alien fleet. Not a charging armada. But one ship. Nobody knows where the Tyranny came from. Nobody knows who pilots this mechanical terror. She emerged from the darkness like a demon from hell. And she craves the blood of men. She is larger than the Freedom. Faster. Deadlier. Marooned in deep space, the Freedom must face her alone. A great duel begins. Two starships. Two captains. Two iron wills.

The Aeolians. The galaxy's most mysterious aliens. For a million years, they've been hiding. No human has ever seen them. Until now. James King, commander of the starship Freedom, travels to their secluded world. He seeks to forge an alliance. To learn from the Aeolians their ways of war. According to myth, the Aeolians once defeated the rahs, alien spiders who are plaguing Earth. Aeolia's secrets can save humanity. But King soon learns that Aeolia harbors more secrets than he ever imagined. Something terrible happened to these aliens. Something they will not speak of.