Spacer's Companion

Explore the Angels' Reach in this single-author anthology of short fiction set in the optimistic 30th century future! Seventeen original short stories of interstellar adventure, including:An Unwanted Diadem: Risko Brett, an antiques dealer on the world of Maribel, acquires some sort of costume crown from a spacer who seemed only too glad to be rid of it. The spacer said it was an ancient Xenarch artifact, but he certainly doesn't take such claims too seriously - that is, until strange things start happening...A Spacer's Companion: Ramiro Welles has had a string of bad luck. Now his beloved ship, the Jen Daley, has broken down so completely that it would bankrupt him to fund the repairs. The only way he can keep flying is to accept the help of the notorious con artist Livia Farran. Livia, of course, wants him and his ship to play a part in her next illicit scheme, a fact Ramiro, who has stayed on the law's good side his whole career, is quite aware of...Sapphire's Smugglers: Gus and Blake, two small-time crooks, discover something amazing while hiding out on the moon-world of Lazul. Most of the way there, however, Faye and her daughter Junia, headed the same direction to start a new life, stumble onto their brazen contraband operation...Filling an Officer's Shoes: Hassan Russel, a sergeant in the Confederated Marines, doesn't like the temporary company commander. Nobody does; Lieutenant Jessica Coughlan is a staff officer with almost no combat experience, assigned to lead forty-odd grizzled veterans. With a live-fire training drop coming up, and the company's senior sergeant grumbling loudest of all, Coughlan somehow expects Russel to keep the peace in the ranks for the duration of her temporary command...