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Craig A. Falconer

Every night for the past four months, I've dreamed of being chosen for the trip to Calbora.

The others have grown comfortable in the safety of the station's bunks, praying their names won't be called.

Not me.

Every day since we got here, I've looked up and wondered.

Not anymore.

No one can know the real reason it matters so much, but one way or another... I'm getting on that ship.

Because I wasn't born to look up and wonder. I was born to get up and wander.

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Wanderlust is the first in a new series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer

Jack de Golia

Craig Falconer

Sci-Fi Sizzlers

Wanderlust

When his alien masters finally let their guard down, Chad Mitchell will be ready...

Chad Mitchell is an outsider. Born on an alien-controlled colony and with human servants for parents, a good life was never in his future. 

But as he develops into a remarkably fast learner and unrivalled pilot, Chad finds himself valued more and more by his autocratic alien overlords.

From the edge of the colony's inner circle, the true extent of the aliens' wickedness becomes apparent. Chad's human friends watch him mingle with the leadership and think he has changed — that he has sold out to the oppressors, enjoying the trappings of a new position and forgetting where he came from.

Chad Mitchell knows better.

As he works his way deeper and deeper into the colony's trusted circle of power, an opportunity looms on the horizon.

True freedom lies in wait if Chad's plan comes off, not just for himself but for every human on the colony.

The cost of failure, on the other hand, does not bear thinking about.

Freedom doesn't come cheap. And for Chad Mitchell, it sure as hell won't come easy...

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Bound For Glory is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Garrett Kiesel

Bound For Glory

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the sun…

On their golden wedding anniversary, Lorraine Green and her husband made an unbreakable pact:

As the surviving partner, her life insurance payout will fund a one-way ticket to the solar system's most exclusive retirement community: Sunset Stays.

Her children say she is too old. Too vulnerable. Too frail to face the many risks of space travel.

But Lorraine Green is nothing of the sort.

Though the real reason for the pact can never cross Lorraine's lips, she leaves no doubt that her mind is made up.

The adventure of a lifetime calls... but so does a burning thirst for justice.

Because millions of miles from Earth, in a tranquil paradise of blue skies and golden fields, a painful score lies unsettled.

And in her seventy-fifth trip around the sun, Lorraine Green will do whatever it takes to put things right…

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Sunset Stays is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Megan Carter

Sunset Stays

The night is still. The lights are calling...

It sounded like a good idea at the time.

Three nights in a log cabin, out here in the Scottish wilderness with no one else for miles around.

Three nights in this idyllic kind of halfway house. Three nights to reflect on the incident at my own pace and draw a line under my recovery.

The sights and sounds will soothe you, they said.

Doctor Chambers told me to listen for the birds. The guidebook on the table promised deer and red squirrels.

But no one mentioned the lights in the sky. No one mentioned the Visitors.

They were wrong.

I'm not soothed, but I'm not crazy. I know what I've seen and I know how to prove it.

Someone has to believe me, even if Doctor Chambers won't.

The Visitors are real, the Visitors are here, and tonight's the night I'm going out there to find out why...

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Arise With Us is the latest in an exciting line of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

John Kielty

Arise With Us

Sometimes, the stories come true...

Across oceans and ages, the same tales have persisted.

The lights in the sky. The whirring sounds at night.

The ships that cross the darkness and the headaches that come when they pass overhead.

But for some, the feelings have intensified. Recently it all feels... closer.

EJ, a humble artist, senses that the long-foreseen arrival is imminent.

Denounced as a self-promoter seeking attentions and fame, he finds few listeners but never stops trying to raise the alarm.

When dusk falls, the prophecy rains down.

Within minutes it becomes clear that the planet isn't big enough for two dominant species.

Something has to give — tonight.

But for EJ and everyone around him, outmatched by an invading force from another world, it may already be too late...

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Whence They Came is the latest in a new series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Whence They Came

When one door closes, another world opens...

It wasn't supposed to go like this.

The mission was simple.

I took every precaution. I had done it a thousand times before.

But this time was different.

This time is different. This time, something went wrong.

I've called for help, but no one hears.

I'll admit it: I don't know how to get home.

Hell, I don't even know where I am.

And worst of all... wherever I am, I don't think I'm alone.

What have I done?

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Replica is the latest in an exciting line of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Alex Freeman

Replica

Of all the jobs to fall asleep on...

As the well-tipped tour guide at a model town within a nuclear test site in 1950s Nevada, Darren Murphy has a job to die for.

His work is easy and relaxed, much like himself, drawing envy from his wide circle of friends.

But one fateful day after one particularly late night in the burgeoning city of Las Vegas, Darren makes a huge mistake.

The mother of all accidents

"I'll try my best to get us all out of here before the next bomb goes off..." Murphy often jokes to his rapt tour groups.

Only this time, due to a slip-up no one could have foreseen, his best might not be enough.

And when the dust settles after a remarkably powerful nearby detonation, the man looking back at Darren Murphy in the model house's mirror might not be the one who stood there before the blast...

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Megaton Murphy is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Eric Reed

Megaton Murphy

When science runs amok, nature steps in...

For thousands of years, man has reigned supreme over nature.

But deep in the African jungle, at the edge of Genusphere's controversial research facility, a challenger rises.

Broken fences. Smashed cameras. Unusual tracks in the mud.

The locals talk of apes behaving strangely.

Sarah O’Leary, leader of the genetic research team, rubbishes their warnings...

... until the first bodies are found.

The Genusphere compound locks down amid a media blackout, but the villagers fear it could already be too late.

Some of them don't buy the official story.

They don't think O'Leary and her colleagues are worried about something getting into the genetic research compound.

No.

They think she's trying to cover up whatever got out...

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A Scent Of Man is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

A Scent Of Man

There's no time like the present, but there's no place like Yester Year...

When Paula Frederick gets a weekend job on Dream Rock, a former prison island that now serves as the world's largest leisure destination, she can hardly believe her luck.

Dream Rock's outlandish surroundings are a welcome break from her studies. Paula's fully costumed role within the island's smallest zone, a medieval-themed amusement park called Yester Year, seems set to allow for even more immersive fun than she imagined.

Not even hazing from some mean-spirited colleagues can dampen Paula's spirits — at least until a trip through the wrong door reveals that the old stories about some kind of mysterious vortex beneath the island might have been more than fanciful rumours, after all.

Full immersion in the world of centuries gone by was all fun and games... when there was a way back.

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Yester Year is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Yester Year

IN THE HIGH-TECH PARADISE OF INDIGO SANDS, PERFECTION EXISTS.

OR SO THEY THINK...

For Bianca Blane, a young but jaded online influencer, the fame she once sought now weighs heavily on her shoulders.

When she receives an exclusive invitation to spend a preview week in the cutting edge tourist resort of Indigo Sands, Bianca seizes the opportunity to disconnect from her increasingly demanding followers.

Indigo Sands strikes Bianca as truly pristine — perfect in every way.

She feels sure that she'll give the new resort a glowing endorsement as the most desirable destination in the world, home of the most advanced technologies ever created.

But before too long, a veil is lifted.

Because behind the facade, nothing is as it seems...

__________

Too Good To Be True is the latest in a new series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Too Good To Be True

Flash your blues away with Happy, Inc — results guaranteed!

In a world where the scourge of emotion has been defeated, Happy Inc's services subtly influence every citizen throughout the day.

The elimination of jealousy and anger has sent crime rates plummeting. But on the other side of the coin, the elimination of ambition and dissatisfaction has rendered creativity a thing of the past.

Gillian Reid, a promising Happy Inc employee, excels without excitement and succeeds without pride.

Like everyone else, she has always been comfortable but never truly happy. Like everyone else's, her Emotional Volatility has always been limited to stay within the bounds of a mediocre middle.

Gillian Reid's life plays out like any other, until one fateful day... when her EV limiter stops working.

And with her eyes truly open for the first time, Gillian Reid does not like what she sees...

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Happy, Inc. is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Happy, Inc.

Every home could use an extra helping hand...

Meet Pamela 2.0, the latest and greatest incarnation of a gadget like no other.

Increased intelligence! Greater dexterity! Faster responsiveness!

The lucky tech reviewer who receives the first prototype quickly learns that Pamela 2.0 represents a quantum leap in consumer robotics, capable of meeting a modern homeowner's every need.

Eager to please by following any order that doesn't involve physical contact with a human, there's almost nothing Pamela can't do — she takes out the trash, she washes the dishes, she feeds the dog.

But sometimes, just sometimes, she thinks for herself.

Today, Pamela arrived with one objective: to secure a positive review from her influential host. And one way or another, she'll stop at nothing to get it...

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Pamela 2.0 is the latest in a new series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer

Connor Brannigan

Pamela 2.0

Every family has a Funscreen on their wall. The question is... who's watching who?

When the government's new private welfare system begins rewarding unemployed viewers for watching the right kind of ads, Roger Birch welcomes a Funscreen into his home.

Like millions of others, Roger and his family soon depend on ad-viewing income for their survival.

Unlike millions of others, the events of one uncomfortable evening leave Roger aware of the government's shadier reasons for investing in Funscreens.

With HD cameras hidden behind a 60-inch glass veil, the answer was staring him in the face all along...

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Funscreen is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Steven Barnett

Funscreen

The strange sounds. The weird lights. The ever-increasing mystery around Farmer Johnson's barn...

When Tobias and Kira raise the alarm from the next farm over, they're dismissed as two meddling kids with two overactive imaginations.

But as the Halloween festival draws near and tourists flock to their usually sleepy town of Hallow Creek, those two meddling kids' one crazy idea might be the only thing that can stop disaster in its tracks.

No tricks. No treats. Just a pumpkin splice shockoccino with a dash of danger and a sprinkle of terror...

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Pumpkin Splice is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer

Hector Carrillo

Pumpkin Splice

One Santa. One robot. One overdue delivery of cold Christmas justice...

All throughout Moonshine Mall, shelves are empty of the year's most sought-after toy — the Sheepy McFinnigan action figure.

Santa's elves are run off their feet trying to meet demand.

Jolly old Saint Nick himself is even busier... so busy that a Robot Santa has to stand in at Moonshine Mall's famous grotto.

Even worse, the mall's new manager Nancy Collins is sucking the fun out of everything.

Robot Santa is the only thing keeping the kids smiling amid the Sheepy McFinnigan stock shortage, but Nancy has her own selfish reason for putting him in place.

But what Nancy Collins doesn't know is that just like the real thing, Robot Santa is always watching.

For naughty children, Santa delivers a lump of coal.

But for selfish and greedy grown-ups, Robot Santa delivers a whole lot more...

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When Santa Slays is the latest in a new series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Hector C. Carrillo

When Santa Slays

A truly unique tale of first contact from the author of Not Alone and Last Man Standing.

Trillions of miles from home, the first human Seedling is about to be hatched...

Fifty years ago, humanity launched a probe to a distant alien world.

Thirty years ago, it arrived.

And today... contact will be made.

When alien scientists studying a mysterious object detect unfamiliar DNA, they set to work on cloning the being responsible for the incredible technology.

Now, all alone and trillions of miles from home, their fully grown human Seedling is about to be hatched...

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Seedling is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Seedling

Their ticket to the stars wasn't supposed to be one-way...

When a group of prize-winning high school students blasted off on a mission to space, their parents beamed with pride.

When news of the disaster came in, a nation mourned.

But nothing is truly as it seems.

Now, when one couple spots a hole in the official story, their grief morphs into a determination to find out what has really happened to their son.

No matter what, they will stop at nothing in their hopeful bid to see him again.

And the truth they uncover could change the world forever...

__________

Empty Nesters is one in a series of Sci-Fi Sizzlers: standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Empty Nesters

Time is the tonic. So why wait?

Time travel doesn't exist.

Sure, it would be great if it did. It would be great if the hype wasn't all bluster.

With huge funding behind them, ChronoTonic claims to have achieved the impossible. The corporation is pushing its new machine — a time machine — as the solution to Earth's problems.

I'm just not buying it.

They want to buzz forward in time, pick up a few technological advancements, and buzz back to apply them in the here and now. They say we can save lives and reduce suffering by learning the lessons of the future — today.

The same corporate overlords that got us into these problems are apparently going to get us out of them. Yeah... I'll believe that when I see it.

I think it's all empty hype.

And if it's not, I sure as hell don't trust ChronoTonic to use this technology as altruistically as they claim.

After years of hype, today is the day when they will finally reveal the machine.

I have media clearance to be in the audience, but I have bigger plans than that.

Once I get inside ChronoTonic HQ, I'm not sitting in the crowd.

No. That's not what investigative journalists do.

I'm stepping in with one goal in mind:

Wherever or whenever the truth is hiding... I'm going to find it.

__________

Sci-Fi Sizzlers are standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

A Savage In The Future

In a universe for sale, the highest prize could hide the deepest secret...

Dylan Kline, salesman extraordinaire, eyes Saturn's moons as his ultimate cosmic jackpot.

As global attention turns towards the first launch of the billionaire's ambitious project, the stakes could hardly be higher.

Kline's advanced rocketry has finally enabled heavy long-distance transit, opening up a new frontier of unimaginable revenue opportunities.

Mining speculators, multinational energy companies and even government agencies all want a piece of the action.

But they might not be the only ones...

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Sci-Fi Sizzlers are standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Saturn For Sale

With Oracle in your pocket, the future is yours to claim...

When Judy Fletcher's life is at its lowest ebb, she jumps at the chance to trial a truly next-gen digital assistant.

Oracle promises to change everything.

By harnessing live and historical data from billions of users' messages, habits and even real-world conversations, there is almost nothing the app can't do.

As Judy's life immediately changes for the better, she feels empowered like never before.

She comes to trust the app's instincts over her own, leaning on the power of big data to give her the upper hand in every interaction.

But with each decision it nudges her towards, Oracle is taking hold...

﻿__________

Sci-Fi Sizzlers are standalone short stories from international bestselling author Craig A. Falconer. These stories can be read in any order — dive in today!

Sci-Fi Sizzlers - serían

Sci-Fi Sizzlers - serían

Sci-Fi Sizzlers bækurnar í röð

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