A ruthless pirate. An English admiral out for vengeance. A Coast Guard cutter out of time and thrust into the middle of a mortal conflict between two very angry men.... Today. Stephen Thompson is a man with a problem. You wouldn't know it by looking at him: A young, brash commander of the Coast Guard cutter USS Melbourne. By all accounts, he should have his whole life ahead of him. 1579. Captain Stone is also a man with a problem. The former XO to a ruthless English captain, Stone is now the captain of his own vessel, the Eustace, a pirate ship prowling the seas of the Caribbean. Now he spends his days eluding his former captain, now Admiral Deadmon, a man who will stop at nothing to wreak havoc upon his former XO as mortal vengeance. As both of them know, it is only a matter of time before Deadmon's ship of the line comes in contact with the Eustace. But Stone has one card left to play before Deadmon catches up with him: A secret that allows the Eustace to travel through time, pulling an unsuspecting Coast Guard cutter back through time with it. Thompson, out of time and out of place, finds himself in the middle of an ageless rivalry between two very angry men. Slowly, Thompson's intentions to survive and protect his crew begin to give way to crossing grey lines of morality, as the only way home lies in the trust of a very elusive pirate captain who may hold the key to the greatest bounty of history.

Ten dark fantasy/fiction short stories by Duane Gundrum, including: Mapping The Silence of Dreams (a Novella) Postcards From Hell The Dead Of Night Hath Fury You're Never Alone Of Historical Significance (a Novella) Voracious Vicissitudes Horror Story Returning To The Flock Fluffy And The Mystical World Of Dead Burnt Bodies The Shadow People (a Novella) Mapping the Silence of Dreams Harris Palmer is the assistant director of security at a laboratory where scientists have succeeded in making contact with something in the dream sphere, or more specifically, accidentally brought something back. Having touched one of the darker places of the place where people dream, a sinister gunfighter and his sorceress bride have returned to our world, leaving the fate of the world up to a corporate security agent who never really liked his job in the first place. Postcards From Hell John Deacon is a con-artist, a thief and a rogue in every sense of the word. He is also known as the only man who has ever escaped from Hell. With Satan hot on his heels, John finds himself courted by a mysterious branch of the Brotherhood who have a simple request for him: Kill Satan and stop running forever. The Dead of Night Hath Fury A San Francisco cop has been dirty for so long now that he’s lost all sense of being good. In his years he’s stolen drugs, money and whatever else wasn’t nailed down. After crossing so many lines you shouldn’t ever cross, he’s even killed people who got in his way. And then he meets the right girl, who causes him to clean up his act and begin to atone for his wrongs. But something doesn’t want him on the right side and will do everything in its power to make sure he never succeeds. You're Never Alone Jason Dent has lived a long, yet difficult life. For years, he’s been the last man left on Earth, constantly seeking out any other survivors before accepting there was no one else left. As he nears his own final years of his life, he begins to suspect he’s not as alone as he’s always thought he was. Something else…is out there. Voracious Vicissitudes David Park is a special operations officer serving in Vietnam where he is constantly hunting for Charlie. Only the newest member of the platoon begins to suspect that Charlie is neither Viet Cong nor someone named Charlie. It’s something evil, and it may be as old as time itself. Of Historical Significance A research graduate student has discovered through historical documents that something evil has been documented throughout history but has constantly been missed by those whose job it is to discover it. Horror Story Darren Shuester is the newest member of a squad of light hunters who seek out the evils of those who live in the light and threaten the very existence of those who seek safety in the darkness. Returning to the Flock Frederick was bitten by a vampire matriarch and turned, but he has escaped her control and tries to forge a new life for himself, even though the urge to return to her claws at him each and every day. When he attempts to break her spell forever, he begins to understand just how deep the bond exists between them. Fluffy and the Mystical World of Dead Burnt Bodies Before the Apocalypse, all Fluffy cared about was Fluffy. After nuclear devastation, all Fluffy still cares about is Fluffy. Having lost her favorite set of brushes, Fluffy sets off on an epic journey across the dystopian landscape in search of a still-functioning fashion mall where she can put her life back to order. The Shadow People Every thousand years, a mysterious race of creatures known as the shadow people return to the planet to seek out a new victim. Two police detectives discover themselves coming up against the mystical beings, facing a horror with which they have never dealt before.

After the destruction of the City of Fireme by the Dark One, the sorceress Evina and her warrior partner Helm escape to the City of Begmire, where they face down a sinister creature that is intent on destroying the city. In dire need of rest after the battle of Fireme, Helm must face the beast alone, realizing that his actions might call down the Dark One to Begmire, leaving Evina completely helpless to defend against him while still trying to recover her power. This is a stand-alone novella from The Tales of Reagul series.

In the distant future, mankind has finally solved the problems of wealth, poverty and class.... Rem Schlock is a new Exterminator tasked with hunting, finding and eliminating elusive Losers, those of society branded as "failures". During his search, he discovers the rumor of a mysterious "leader" of the Losers. Facing a future darkened by random death, decayed cities and hidden loyalties, Rem hunts this phantom criminal, discovering an underworld he never imagined yet once revealed can never be covered up again. Keywords: science fiction, dystopian, future, police, hard science, politics

The Tales of Reagul is the story of the sorcerer Sarbonn who is chosen by the "gods" to act as their representative and the planet's protector. During the dawn of the Roman Empire, a segment of the population is transplanted onto another planet as part of an alien sociological experiment. This planet, Reagul, develops a new history as its people slowly begin to realize they will never return home again. Sarbonn, gifted with the science of the aliens ("the gods"), discovers they have been abandoned by the aliens, leaving them to forge their own destiny in a lonely corner of the stars. The first book involves their colonization of this new world, their struggles with survival, greed and the realization that they are not alone. Previous civilizations have been transplanted to this planet before them. And Sarbonn discovers he's not the first sorcerer, and that the previous ones may not be all that welcoming to the new inhabitants.

Glass--The new billion-dollar drug. It's cheaper than cocaine, more addictive...and it's got a secret. Admitting the drug trade was out of control and the War on Drugs a complete failure, a covert collaboration between the DEA and the CIA develops a drug that in only five years has completely devastated the illegal drug market. The first half of the mission a success, the plan to eradicate the drug lords and then focus on treatment has gone terribly wrong. All because someone in the agency doesn't want to relinquish control. Now Daniel Burke is fighting for his life. A double-crossed CIA agent, he's forced to confront his own people, in addition to an overzealous FBI agent known for always getting her man--and the combined forces of the Colombian drug lords who see Burke as "target number one." Can Burke evade his own people, escape the FBI and still manage to bring the drug cartels to their knees?

After the collapse of civilization, military governments fight for control of a fractured world. Sergeant Brian Burke, a team leader of the Coloradans Army directs his soldiers through a mop up of Old Francisco, which has devolved into gang warfare between criminals, rogue police officers and remainders of what's left of the National Guard. Separated from his unit, Burke is contacted by a mysterious group of survivors who inform him that he is the mystical "Soldier" who is destined to find the Deck Const, a talisman that may reunite the world in peace again. But someone else is searching for the Deck Const, too, and Burke may have to unite the world, defeating its many armies, just to find it before it's lost forever. Book One, Rumors of War, covers the mop-up of Old Francisco and the start of Burke's mission to seek out the Deck Const.