While flying to his grandmother's house, Nicky and his parents are captured by hostile aliens and transported three thousand light years to the planet X.

An inside tour of the incredible—and probably dangerous—plans to counteract the effects of climate change through experiments that range from the plausible to the fantastic David Battisti had arrived in Cambridge expecting a bloodbath. So had many of the other scientists who had joined him for an invitation-only workshop on climate science in 2007, with geoengineering at the top of the agenda. We can't take deliberately altering the atmosphere seriously, he thought, because there’s no way we'll ever know enough to control it. But by the second day, with bad climate news piling on bad climate news, he was having second thoughts. When the scientists voted in a straw poll on whether to support geoengineering research, Battisti, filled with fear about the future, voted in favor. While the pernicious effects of global warming are clear, efforts to reduce the carbon emissions that cause it have fallen far short of what’s needed. Some scientists have started exploring more direct and radical ways to cool the planet, such as: Pouring reflective pollution into the upper atmosphere Making clouds brighter Growing enormous blooms of algae in the ocean Schemes that were science fiction just a few years ago have become earnest plans being studied by alarmed scientists, determined to avoid a climate catastrophe. In Hack the Planet, Science magazine reporter Eli Kintisch looks more closely at this array of ideas and characters, asking if these risky schemes will work, and just how geoengineering is changing the world. Scientists are developing geoengineering techniques for worst-case scenarios. But what would those desperate times look like? Kintisch outlines four circumstances: collapsing ice sheets, megadroughts, a catastrophic methane release, and slowing of the global ocean conveyor belt. As incredible and outlandish as many of these plans may seem, could they soon become our only hope for avoiding calamity? Or will the plans of brilliant and well-intentioned scientists cause unforeseeable disasters as they play out in the real world? And does the advent of geoengineering mean that humanity has failed in its role as steward of the planet—or taken on a new responsibility? Kintisch lays out the possibilities and dangers of geoengineering in a time of planetary tipping points. His investigation is required reading as the debate over global warming shifts to whether humanity should Hack the Planet.

Michael Jan Friedman is the author of nearly sixty books of fiction and nonfiction, more than half of which bear the name Star Trek or some variation thereof. Ten of his titles have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. He has also written for network and cable television, radio, and comic books, the Star Trek: Voyager® episode ""Resistance"" prominent among his credits. On those rare occasions when he visits the real world, Friedman lives on Long Island with his wife and two sons. He continues to advise readers that no matter how many Friedmans they know, the vast probability is that none of them are related to him.

The novella "Nightmare Planet" is the conclusion to Murray Leinster's popular Argosy series and is most closely linked to his previous tales "The Mad Planet" and "The Red Dust." A spaceship lands on a seemingly uninhabited planet that turns out to be the vestiges of a grotesque science experiment gone horribly awry. Will the crew members be able to survive in this hostile territory?

On a faraway planet shrouded in obscurity from ancient history, a powerful race lives. Led by the benevolent and evil King Distar, the Annunaki have been preparing for their eventual return to Earth. Only this time, they will not be teachers or the Gods the ancestors once worshipped. It is December 21, 2012. Seventeen-year-old Adam Dolby is about to have his world torn asunder. As the Annunaki begin to invade and decimate the Earths resources, Adams parents confess that they are not his biological parents, but instead are appointed guardians who have been instructed to watch over and protect him from the Annunaki people, who want nothing more than to destroy him. Minutes later, his parents are deadthe victims of a vicious attack on his home. With the help of a mysterious and eccentric old man named Mentor, Adam is soon propelled into a mythical adventure where his mission is to uncover the origins of the universe and a race of beings called Eternals. In this exciting sci-fi adventure tale, a young man awaits in the shadows to learn the truth of his existence and the fate of the human race.

Life On Planet X: Christ Our Salvation encompasses a short story; poetry and essays regarding life on a planet in which you and I live. A surreal existence; our mortal lives are temporal and expiring; yet we have a hope in Jesus Christ. Our lives are eternal and the choices we make upon this planet will determine where each of us will spend eternity; heaven or hell. Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior promptly met his appointment with death; he died for the remission of humanitys sins; three days later he rose from the grave victoriously with great majesty and all power. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. I John 2:15-16 Very gripping...good, deep solid writing. ~ Jon Lineback

An exciting crossover between the Starfleet's finest crew and Earth's greatest mutant heroes who must team together to stop a deadly threat to the Federation. On the planet Xhaldia, ordinary men and women are mutating into bizarre creatures with extraordinary powers. But is this a momentous evolutionary leap or an unparalleled catastrophe? The very fabric of Xhaldian society is threatened as fear and prejudice divide the transformed from their own kin. Dispatched to cope with the growing crisis, Captain Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise™ receive some unexpected visitors from another reality -- in the form of the group of mutant heroes known as the uncanny X-Men®. Storm, leader of the X-Men, offers their help in resolving a situation that is agonizingly similar to the human/mutant conflicts of their own time and space. But when hostile aliens appear in orbit around Xhaldia to try and abduct the transformed for use as a superpowered force in an attack on the Federation, even the combined forces of the crew of Starfleet and the X-Men may be unable to prevent an inferno of death and destruction. Starfleet's finest crew and Earth's greatest mutant heroes will need all their powers and abilities to save the Xhaldian people and stop a deadly threat to the Federation.