Word Count: 70000
Summary: Ray M. Holler is an interstellar shipping freelancer, expert smuggler, and an occasional thief with a troubled past which means that his life is far from the boring, mundane exploits of your average denizen of the Orion-Sagittarius Union, a political alliance of intelligent species inhabiting the Milky Way galaxy. In fact, more often than not, he finds himself up to his neck in situations that require wit, courage, and a decent amount of luck to maneuver out of in one piece. Throughout his adventures in a universe where a safe, peaceful life is possible but not guaranteed, Ray gets to meet a variety of interesting individuals, make new friends, reunite with old acquaintances, and maybe—just maybe—face his own demons. All Quiet In the Milky Way: Ray M. Holler’s Adventures vol. 1 brings forth five stories, accompanied by an equal amount of side vignettes. This collection will take you on an exciting journey to remote worlds that, in some aspects, may not be all that dissimilar from the one we live in today.
Word Count: 7000
Summary: Half a century before Ray M. Holler sets off for the stars for the first time, a chance encounter near Neptune forever changes not only the course of human history but that of the entire Galaxy. Colonel Milan Pavel is a highly decorated officer in the Visegrád Union Navy, serving his last few months in command of the Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the flagship of the VU’s Third Fleet. When an alien ship appears near Neptune, he initially dismisses it as an elaborate pre-retirement prank by his crew, but he is quickly proven wrong. The situation escalates rapidly as it turns out that the ship is on the run from a powerful enemy who is not far behind. Colonel Pavel has a decision to make: Either follow protocol and leave the aliens to their cruel fate, or risk his ship and crew in an attempt to save them.
Word Count: 14500
Summary: With the Milky Way Galaxy teetering on the edge of a widespread conflict, one man’s choices will ripple across the stars. Lars Svensson has left behind his military past for a much quieter life as a captain of the Lundgren, an old, rundown mining barge. His routine is upended when a catastrophic explosion at a deep spaceport forces him to take on hundreds of desperate survivors. Tensions run high as the Lundgren rushes toward the nearest inhabited system--but the disagreements among the crew soon prove to be the least of Lars’ worries. Sudden sabotage cripples the ship, leaving them all stranded in the cold void between the stars, light-years from any chance of rescue.
