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STEN #6
THE RETURN OF THE EMPEROR
By Allan Cole & Chris Bunch
CHAPTER ONE
THE SHIP BULKED monstrous. Each of the
decahedron's sides measured nearly a square kilometer.
There was but one man on board. He floated,
motionless, in a shallow pool that curved in the center
of one compartment. His eyes opened. Blue. Incurious, like a newly born child. Some time passed.
A valve activated, and the liquid drained out
of the pool. One side dropped away. The man sat up and
lowered his legs to the deck, moving slowly and carefully like an invalid
testing himself after a long time bedridden. The deck was warm.
He might have sat there for a moment, an
hour, or a day before a voice spoke. It came from everywhere.
"There is food and drink in the next
chamber."
Obediently the man pushed himself to his feet.
He swayed, then recovered. On a low stand beside the
pool/ bed was a blue coverall. He glanced at it briefly, then walked to a wall. It was smooth and blank except for
a circular palmswitch. He touched the switch.
The wall became a screen. Vid? Imaging radar?
Computer simulation?
Outside lay space/not space. It was black, and
it was all colors. It hurt the man's eyes. He palmed the
switch once more, and the screen became a wall.
Still naked, he padded through a doorway.
A table was set for one. The dishes were
covered. The man lifted one cover and scooped food up with
his fingers. He chewed, then swallowed. His expression was still unchanged.
He wiped his fingers on his thigh and walked
into another compartment, where he saw a reclining chair
with a steel-gleaming helmet on it. Odd tendrils curled from the helmet.
The man sat down and put the helmet on.
There were other people in the room. No. He
was outside. He was wearing clothing—some kind of
uniform. The other people were all smiling and laughing and trying to touch him. He let them. He heard
himself saying words he did not yet understand.
He noted one person amid the throng. He had a
very pale face, and his eyes gleamed. The
pale-faced man stretched out his hand to shake. Suddenly he drew something metal-shining from his clothing.
The man felt blows in his stomach. Felt
himself falling backward. Felt pain. Pain rising until... until everything
stopped.
The man took off the helmet. He was back in
the compartment, back in the reclining chair.
The voice spoke again. "E-time since
deactivation: six years, three months, two days."
The man's expression changed slightly. A
thought drifted through his mind: Wrong. Five years late. Then
the thought was discarded as meaningless. What was "late?" He rose.
"You have ten ship-days before
departure."
The man nodded once. He returned to the mess
compartment. He was hungry again.
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ALL THREE STEN OMNIBUS EDITIONS NOW ON TAP
The entire 8-novel landmark science fiction series is now being presented in three three giant omnibus editions from Orbit Books. The First - BATTLECRY - features the first three books in the series: Sten #1; Sten #2 -The Wolf Worlds; and Sten #3, The Court Of A Thousand Suns. Next: JUGGERNAUT, which features Sten #4, Fleet Of The Damned; Sten #5, Revenge Of The Damned; and Sten #6, The Return Of The Emperor. Finally, there's DEATHMATCH, which contains Sten #6, Vortex; and Sten #7, End Of Empire. Click on the highlighted titles to buy the books. Plus, if you are a resident of The United Kingdom, you can download Kindle versions of the Omnibus editions. Which is one clot of a deal!
Here's the Kindle link for BATTLECRY
Here's the Kindle link for JUGGERNAUT
Here's the Kindle link for DEATHMATCH
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HERE ARE ALL EIGHT AMERICAN EDITIONS OF STEN
YOU CAN BUY THE TRADE PAPERBACKS, E-BOOKS AND AUDIO BOOKS BY CLICKING ON THE STEN PAGE!
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THE STEN COOKBOOK & KILGOUR JOKEBOOK
THE STEN COOKBOOK & KILGOUR JOKEBOOK
Two new companion editions to the international best-selling Sten series. In the first, learn the Emperor's most closely held cooking secrets. In the other, Sten unleashes his shaggy-dog joke cracking sidekick, Alex Kilgour. Both available as trade paperbacks or in all major e-book flavors. Click here to tickle your funny bone or sizzle your palate.
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IT'S A BOOK!
THE COMPLETE HOLLYWOOD MISADVENTURES!
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TALES OF THE BLUE MEANIE
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| Venice Boardwalk Circa 1969 |
In the depths of the Sixties and The Days Of Rage, a young newsman, accompanied by his pregnant wife and orphaned teenage brother, creates a Paradise of sorts in a sprawling Venice Beach community of apartments, populated by students, artists, budding scientists and engineers lifeguards, poets, bikers with a few junkies thrown in for good measure. The inhabitants come to call the place “Pepperland,” after the Beatles movie, “Yellow Submarine.” Threatening this paradise is "The Blue Meanie," a crazy giant of a man so frightening that he eventually even scares himself. Here's where to buy the book.
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Diaspar Magazine - the best SF magazine in South America - is publishing the first novel in the Sten series in four
episodes. Part One and Part Two appeared in back-to-back issues. And now Part Three has hit the virtual book stands. Stay tuned, for the grand conclusion. Meanwhile, here are the links to the first three parts. Remember, it's free!
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