After three years of study and training, Marie is now officially a
member of the UN Special Forces. But she's barely had time to
celebrate her graduation when an extraordinary event forces her to
leave for her first mission: an alien ship of unknown origin has just
arrived in orbit of Earth. As no contact can be established with its
crew, Marie and her team are sent to board the vessel and investigate ...
A first attempt to enter the world-ship and make contact with the
Humans inside has failed after the exploration team was contaminated
with deadly nanorobots. Only Marie, with her Mantris-improved body,
was able to fight them off, and so she and Kim, who is also immune,
make the decision to give it another try ... before the authorities of
Earth destroy the massive vessel, the robotic menace within ... and its mysterious Human passengers.
Bad luck, shoddy equipment and hostile fauna have stranded Kim and her companions thousands of miles from the Antares expedition's base camp. Abandoned to their fate by the fanatical leaders who cannot abide Kim's independent streak, wracked by internal dissent, the little group must make its way back through an unknown, terrifying land a long journey that will raise many questions and cost many lives.
As the main body of the Antares expedition faces a catastrophic situation and seems doomed to failure, Kim's little group is still trying to establish contact with whoever kidnapped her daughter Lynn. But the fanatic Jedediah is still there, causing dissension and creating obstacles. Only Kim's strength of character, her determination to find her daughter, and her special bond with the alien Sven - Lynn's father - can still save them all...
The Antares mission is underway. Kim, her daughter and her companions are on board the interstellar ship that carries the would-be colonists. Conditions are far from ideal, though. The fanaticism and bigotry of a large number of the passengers, all members of the project leader's sect, are putting everyone on edge. As well, there are rumours of substandard equipment for the expedition. By the time they reach Antares, Kim and her friends are already disillusioned... and the worst is yet to come.
Kim's group, still stranded halfway across Antares, must get back to the base camp through a journey filled with deadly encounters. Meanwhile, at the base camp, a trip to the neighbouring planet source of the strange ray that vaporised Kim's daughter is being organised. The prospect of meeting an intelligent species, though, drives the religious fanatics in charge to clamp down on any person or activity deemed rebellious. As if a hostile world isn't enough, the colonists have brought their own worst enemy with them...
Kim's mission to the other Antares planet - the one from which came the mysterious beam that took her daughter - is underway, and the young woman desperately wants to believe she will find her missing child. One amongst her team has no shortage of faith, though: the insufferable Jedediah Thornton is convinced they are going to meet an advanced alien civilisation. And he will stop at nothing to ensure humanity's representative is a man of proper morals...
Humanity migrates to a new planet, the secrets of which Kim Keller will have to unravel. After the failure of the Betelgeuse colonisation mission, Kim is back on Earth, where she is an increasingly popular figure. Meanwhile, advance scouts on planet Antares have witnessed some distressingly strange events. Worried about the future of this new mission, the sponsors of the Antares project call upon Kim to accompany the first colonists, offering legal amnesty for Alexa and Mark in exchange. It's the beginning of a new adventure for the young woman and her friends.
Caleb (a human) and Mezoke (a Sandjarr) are paired up and trained as special agents to keep the intergalactic peace. This is a controversial and historic alliance given their races' longstanding enmity, and a lot of people are watching them. Their first mission is to keep war from breaking out between humans and Javlodes on the planet Senestam.
Caleb acts as a mediator between the warring factions while dealing with an attack by Stilvulls (highly destructive insects)-and he also has to contend with his feelings for charming doctor Kim Vandersel. Mezoke is on the planet Upssal, trying to appease the Javlodes
It's clear now: the Neuronomes are not attacking the Confederation,
but rather are the victims of a mysterious aggressor, and they
explode when they die. They did, however, take up positions near
large population centres, threatening to take thousands of lives with
them when they go in order to pressure Confederate authorities - who
had once massacred them - into helping them. Unsurprisingly, Caleb,
Mezoke and Angus are chosen to go to the Neuronomes' home planet and
neutralise the unknown threat.
In a not-so-distant future where society has changed considerably but the problems often remain the same, a young policewoman from Paris is dragged into a difficult, dangerous investigation that could impact the very future of mankind.
Roger, Romane's brother, has been transferred to an Algapower lab in Brazil. Shortly afterwards, his sister, still working for Intelligence, arrives in Rio. Her new mission: to get in touch with her brother and convince him to inform the authorities on the company and its mysterious Mermaid Project. The stakes have changed for the Pennac siblings, though: among the documents retrieved during the New York mission, their names appear on a list of potential test subjects...
Romane Pennac's niece has been kidnapped in Paris. Her genetic makeup, inherited from the experiments conducted on her mother - and Romane - in her youth, make her a perfect candidate for Algapower's hybridisation experiments. Hell bent on rescuing her and putting an end to the corporation's actions, El Malik and Pennac attempt a daring raid on Algapower's Rio laboratory. But when things go wrong, they'll find some very strange allies...
After the events in Stockholm, Caleb and Mezoke have become renegades and are hunted by the entire Confederation. Inevitably they end up on Tetsuam, a gigantic itinerant space station that's the capital of crime in the galaxy. But while they attempt to sort out a future for themselves, and as Confederate space is recovering from the civil war, the Neuronomes - sentient ships previously thought eradicated - appear to launch random, devastating suicide attacks that kill thousands...
Following the Kuala Lumpur incidents, which almost prevented the Human-Sandjarr reconciliation ceremony from being held, the situation on Earth is increasingly tense. The mood has turned ugly, resulting in attacks against aliens and assassinations of isolationist personalities. Meanwhile, the circles of Confederate powers are afire with political manoeuvring, and Mezoke is on trial for high treason, a convenient scapegoat. But when the judges request that Caleb be brought out of his regenerative coma to testify, the Sandjarr agent's loyalty is put to the test...
Romane and Brahim have reached Algapower's artificial island, with
the help of some cetaceans with a quite extraordinary behaviour. All
they need to do now is sneak into the laboratories, locate Romane's
kidnapped niece, and find a way to escape with her before the
corporation's mad scientists transplant a dolphin's tail onto her.
Not an easy task, especially as Algapower's found some ruthless
allies. But the two agents, too, have some rather unexpected allies -
and a revolution is coming...
After fleeing Confederate space, Caleb and Mezoke are hiding among a community of exiles disgusted by the corruption and violence infecting the galactic government. Caleb is recovering slowly, just as Angus, the living ship, is doing on a different world. But a powerful, dangerous psychic link seems to exist between them, and all are actively hunted by both the authorities and a terrorist group. When running ceases to be the answer, the only option left is resistance...
The unexplained deaths in the mangrove have not deterred authorities: The ceremonies will go on as planned in Kuala Lumpur, despite Mezoke's resistance and growing disagreement with Caleb. But the official optimism is soon dampened by news of further destruction, closer to the city. And when Nina and Angus return with the identity of the killer, an old enemy of the Confederation, the agents will be forced to act in desperation-and, maybe, to pay the ultimate price.
In tomorrow's world, the global economy will rest upon the listing of
humans on the stock market. But what sort of price will those whose
shares are traded have to pay for their prosperity? The first volume
of a painfully plausible trilogy. In a far too near-future, the
world's economy has collapsed. Amidst an unprecedented recession, the
only remaining bastion of capitalist prosperity is the new `Human Stock Exchange', where individuals are listed on the market. Felix
Fox sells cars over the phone, a poorly paid, thankless, dead-end
job. But he is determined to make it big, at any cost. When the
opportunity arises to be listed on the HSE, though ... will the cost
turn out to be too high?
Felix has done it. His painstaking efforts have paid off, and he is
now listed on the Human Stock Exchange. A new, more affluent life
begins - new house, new car, new opportunities - though he hasn't
lost his burning desire to climb higher and higher. Unfortunately,
the continued health of his stock requires not only constant hard
work from him, but also, increasingly, sacrifices, compromises ... and betrayals.
Felix's meteoric rise to the top has brought him much, but it also
cost him dearly. Rachel has left him. His shareholders keep demanding
ever more from him. Desperate, horrified, the young man is losing
himself - but even that he is not allowed: Simon, the father of the
HSE himself, puts him back on the right track by force. Because, in
the public's eyes, Felix is a success story, hope ... And for the HSE,
he's the future of finance.
Chicago, 1948. Martin Jones, insignificant pastor of the small Church of the Sons of Ezekiel, is visited by someone who calls himself a messenger of God and performs a miracle. The small-time preacher soon becomes the charismatic leader of millions of faithful. May 1949, Namibia. Kathy Austin is in a coma. But as the MI5 agent sent to bring her back to England has an unfortunate encounter, she too receives a rather ... miraculous visit.
Paul and Professor Stanford's archaeological expedition are exploring the ruins of Altair in an effort to understand how the people who built them vanished altogether. Protected from various dangers by their deadly guardian angel the Stepanerk, they make some decidedly unexpected discoveries. Until Paul is reminded of his original quest, that is, when a bounty hunter asks for his help tracking down his lost father - who's wanted for murder. spaceport... Later, they are rescued from a gang of thugs by a Stepanerk, a member of a sentient alien species. An encounter that will prove invaluable to Paul when he decides to go and look for his father...
After the events on Antares, the first official contact between
Humans and the Tsalterian civilisation can take place on Aldebaran.
Limited in scope, it is to involve only two groups of scientists
studying a mysterious structure of unknown origin - all under the
aegis of Kim, the only ambassador the aliens are willing to accept. A
situation that's not to everyone's taste on the Human side ... But as things threaten to take a wrong turn, Marie, one of the survivors
brought to Aldebaran by Sven the Tsalterian, suddenly intervenes ......
Nouv.
