Showing results by author "Craig A. Falconer" in All Categories

Boundless Skies explores classic sci-fi themes through a contemporary lens. Continuing the legacy of decades gone by, these fast-paced standalone stories offer wondrous settings, philosophical sci-fi questions, and twists that pack a punch.

When a massive meteor lights up the sky over the remote island of Kerguelen, the world holds its breath. In Birchwood, Colorado, Dan McCarthy gets to work. Following his incredible experiences of the previous year, Dan knows this was no natural occurrence. The Messengers are back - to finish what they started - and they didn't come all this way for nothing....

When a sudden impact sends a spacecraft bound for a distant research station hurtling toward a previously unseen and inexplicable planet, responsibility for the safety of its passengers immediately falls on Ivy 'Holly' Wood, a former poster child of the public space program now fleeing Earth's tyrannical leadership. The mysterious planet's startlingly Earth-like atmosphere initially breeds optimism among Holly's group of stranded survivors, but before long it becomes clear that Earth's rules don't apply.

Not Alone: First Encounter is a prequel to the globally acclaimed Not Alone series, set several years before two worlds collide under the weight of the grandest conspiracy of all time. For the first time ever, First Encounter lifts the curtain on a deadly series of events surrounding the initial meeting between the ruthless Richard Walker - untouchable head of the controversial Interspace Defense Agency - and a young truth-seeker from Birchwood, Colorado....

They came in peace. But that was last time.... As the world gears up for the first anniversary of Contact Day, Dan McCarthy’s year-long effort to stay out of the limelight collapses in an instant. A direct call from the Messengers throws Dan into urgent action, but the fallout plants a troubling seed of doubt: This time, maybe they didn’t come here to help....

In one harrowingly destructive instant, a mysterious seismic pulse in the Scottish Highlands rips away all semblance of global security. Complacency grew in the years since Dan McCarthy brought humanity into contact with intelligent aliens, but those days are gone. When peace is shattered, fear takes over.

I wasn’t supposed to survive. The station has been hit. Everyone around me is dead. I have 11 hours of life support left and no way of contacting Earth. I’m alone. I’m stranded. I’m desperate. But I’m alive. The more of the station I explore, the surer I get that this was no accident. Someone did this, and I don't think they're finished yet.

When Kurt Jacobs imagines the ultimate gadget—one capable of replacing phones, credit cards, keys and TVs—the idea consumes his every waking moment. When the Sycamore corporation buys into Kurt's creation and The Seed becomes a reality, his every dream comes true.

Some doors aren't meant to be opened.... While many on Earth grow fearful of the Messengers' remarkable powers and others lament a lack of interplanetary cooperation, two discoveries threaten to turn the world on its head. One find could simultaneously rewrite the history of two planets; one revelation could tear Dan McCarthy's life apart. With the stakes higher than ever following the birth of his daughter Piper - a child like no other with a secret the world isn't ready to handle - Dan will do whatever it takes to protect his family.

As two worlds reel from a colossal final pulse that cuts off all contact between them, two unimaginable discoveries raise the stakes even further. In a secret American facility, a power hidden from society for a decade is about to break free. And something much bigger, buried deep beneath the Scottish Highlands for thousands of years, is about to rise up.

When Dan McCarthy stumbles upon a folder containing evidence of the conspiracy to end all conspiracies - a top-level alien cover-up - he leaks the files without a second thought. The incredible truth revealed by Dan's leak immediately captures the public's imagination, but Dan's relentless commitment to exposing the cover-up and forcing disclosure quickly earns him some enemies in high places.

An alien message is now humanity’s only hope. Decoding the signal has given us one chance to stop the Anomaly, an ever-tightening cosmic noose, before it squeezes the life out of Earth. The only problem is, the aliens’ single instruction sounds like a bona fide death wish. They want me to step through their incredible quantum gateway, an enigma wrapped in starlight. Believe me: if I had any other option, I’d be taking it. But with the best data giving Earth a few days before the Anomaly consumes us, options are in short supply. Suicide or salvation? I’m about to find out.

The problem is, we didn't come home alone. No one has ever seen anything like this. What they're calling it sends shivers down my spine: a parasitic alien pathogen. It could be a virus, a toxin, or maybe something even worse. And believe me: what we don't know definitely can hurt us. It's too late for me—I've been exposed. But this has never been about me. It's going to take some incredible risks and another long-shot space mission to get to the bottom of this, but I'll fight until my last breath to undo the damage I've done.

The pulse hits without warning. In one harrowingly destructive instant, a mysterious seismic pulse in the Scottish Highlands rips away all semblance of global security. When peace is shattered, fear takes over. The stakes rise without mercy. As the pulse's chaos spreads across the world, it becomes painfully clear that Piper McCarthy - a child born like no other - might hold humanity's only hope of averting total disaster.

The alien creatures have made it to Earth. Entire cities are battling invasion from the menacing swarms. This is worse than Zola. It’s worse than the Leak. It’s worse than all of our nightmares put together. The creatures are indestructible, shrugging off our strongest weaponry. Now, our only hope lies inside a powerful ancient artifact we don’t understand. To save Earth’s future, we have to unlock the secrets of a lost alien past. Whatever it takes, we have to harness the power of the Orb. Humanity is coming together for one last stand against this threat from afar.

With Earth in chaos and life on New Kerguelen shaken like never before, a discovery on the mysterious world of Sanctuary blows apart humanity's understanding of just about everything. The consequences are almost unfathomable, the urgency unprecedented, and the revelations of a kind that even Dan McCarthy isn't ready for. One way or another, nothing will ever be the same. And this time, it's final....

Continuing the legacy of decades gone by, these fast-paced standalone stories offer wondrous settings, philosophical sci-fi questions, and twists that pack a punch.

Surviving in space was the easy part … I’m not alone anymore. I've made it down from the solitude of the station, all the way to an incredible underground bunker complex. Thousands of humanity’s best minds are by my side. I’m surrounded by secret cutting-edge technologies that almost defy belief. Too bad none of that is a match for what I’m up against now.

Ignacio Zola saw billions of lives as collateral damage in his plan to reach a new world. But when I got in his way, I didn’t just make him angry. I made this personal. Stopping one disaster has only pushed him towards something even more diabolical. Now, I have one shot left. To stop the planet-killing cataclysm Zola has set in motion, I’ll have to repurpose some mind-blowing technology from his own abandoned research center.

I guess saving the world once wasn't enough… First it was the auroras, lighting up Europe every night. Then came the weird clouds over Africa. The tidal shifts... the failing crops... the crazy changes to animal migration... And I think all of this is just the start. I don't buy the official line that these are natural occurrences. Not anymore. Not since a whistleblower hid a coded message in my invitation for an upcoming commemoration ceremony on The Vita. Now I know the truth—that Earth is in serious danger from the side-effects of their reckless research.