The future is unknown and unknowable--but it's fun to speculate. For as long as we've been thinking, we've been dreaming of "What is--?" and "What if--?". What is over the next hill? What is in the next valley? Where does the sun go at night? What are those lights in the sky? What if we go there? But at the edge of old maps, there was often the warning: Here There Be Dragons.
Adventures abound in those places unknown. New people to meet. New sights to see. New animals to tame. New riches to be had. And, unfortunately, new ways to die. Or not. What lies ahead can never be known. That is the adventure of life.
For humans, the great unknown draws us, tempting us to leave the safety of home to explore in the next valley and over the next hill. But people are people, and where we go, adventure awaits.
In the future we will never know, our children's children may walk on worlds we can only dream of. In the future they will never know, their children's children may accomplish things we've never even dreamed of.
This collection of stories is all about "What if?" and "What is?" Set six hundred to fifteen hundred years in our future, they ask these questions. What if we could travel through time? What will we find? What if we're not alone? What if we make a mistake? What if Murphy's Law really is universal?
Enjoy the adventure.
"First in Her Class" - Introduces Captain Erica Reordan and the Temporal Cruiser CSS H. G. Wells, TCH-1.
"Rescue Mission" - In 2696, a salvage vessel discovers three submerged TBM Avengers and the CSS H. G. Wells is assigned to investigate.
"Szekely" - A scout ship makes first contact with an alien civilization.
"Stinking Potemkin" - Even in the future, people are still going to be people, and some will drop off the grid for reasons of their own.