The short stories posted here are stand-alones in a shared universe.
“Pax Humana”
Sample chapters are from my completed series. In the early twenty-second century, humans discover intelligent life on an nearby exoplanet. However, it is at most a bronze-age level civilization. So, when we go there to make contact, we are the advanced aliens, and we must decide how much of our science and history to teach to them. We begin a process of technological integration that is used by a native ruler to gain power, and the subsequent violence fractures the mission, instituting a ruling class of humans. The Book Two chapters posted here tell the story of the alien civilization after humans have colonized the planet, established a dynasty of god-kings that has lasted for thousands of years, and, by declining generations, let the world slip back into barbarity.
“Hol” is a completed novel set three hundred years after the advent of artificial superintelligence. Dark secrets lurk amongst the trappings of paradise. History is being re-written prior to the singularity; activists seeking this information are turning up dead. A religion has formed around Hol, the godlike machine consciousness. The story follows one of these activists, Irin, through his journey of investigation into human control in a largely automated world, infiltration into Hol’s religion, enlightenment and transformation by his contact with Hol’s priests and the god itself, and his increasingly contentious relationship with the radicals among the activists. A shadowy figure is directing events, a plan of vengeance brewing for centuries. The power to prevent a cataclysm is beyond Irin’s reach, but his journey has changed enemies into false allies, and old allies into brutal adversaries.
“Aegis” is set twenty thousand years in the future, when humans have colonized the galaxy. Along the way, we’ve encountered, made war and eventually peace with over one million species of aliens. This relationship is held together by a vast governmental system of diplomacy and trade called “The Aegis.” In Book One, the Prime Consul is betrayed by his Proconsul, and flees into exile, accompanied by his loyal bodyguard. They need to deliver a critical message to members of the opposing faction, to prevent an intergalactic war. On an uninhabited planet they meet Niro Hywari, a worker for Interplanetary Development Corporation, who was sold into indentured servitude to cover up the murder of his family by Aegis soldiers. He hides them with his cover and helps them navigate through the back roads of interstellar transport. We are given a view of a galactic civilization, seen through the eyes of political fugitives.