Stephen B. Pearl

In the early 21st century, Rowan is fighting a secret war against alien pirates bent on subjugating all of mankind. At least, that's what she thinks. In reality, it's a thousand years later, Earth has long been part of an interstellar and interspecies republic, and she's a character on Angel Black, an e-entertainment that allows viewers a complete sensory experience through her perspective. Who needs actors when you can clone famous performers and splice in some alien DNA? Since studio clones have no rights, their lives and experiences can be tailor-made for the program. It's just too bad the clones don't know that. Ryan Chandler was a decorated war hero until he was cloned to save his life. His career options died with his original body and the best job he can get is a technician on Angel Black. He's planning to escape to a newly colonized system when Rowan is scheduled to be killed off. With help from unexpected allies, Ryan stages Rowan's rescue, but getting her off the set is only the beginning. To succeed, they must evade a manhunt supported by the state that fears Rowan's liberation might be the triggering event of a clone rights movement that could cost the establishment billions and shake the foundations of human society. Can two clones find their freedom in a society that treats them as second-class citizens?

Cloning Freedom

Oil reserves depleted. Society collapsed. A few places cling to modern technology. For everywhere else, there are the Tinkers. In southern Ontario, Novo Gaia uses sustainable energy to support its citizens in comfort. From there, Novo Gaia sends Doctors of Applied General Technology, tinkers, into the Dark Lands to install everything from solar stills to televisions—and make a profit. Brad Cooper is a tinker on his route in Guelph when he finds himself at the epicentre of a plague outbreak. Stranded without support in a tenuously-held quarantine zone, he must use his limited medical training in a desperate search for a treatment against an insidious relic from an age of excess. Meanwhile, fuelled by panic, other townspeople caught within the quarantine zone conspire to sabotage relief efforts. Distrusted by the people he's trying to help, hampered by political rivals, under-supplied, over-worked, and with his own risk of infection increasing, Brad seems to be fighting a losing battle as the casualties mount...

Tinker's Plague

David Rae

Simon A. G. Spencer

Dale E. McClenning

Gary Girod

J. R. Dwornik

Hugh A. D. Spencer

Erynn Q

JD DeLuzio

Stories of wonder and courage from the farthest stars to the ground beneath our feet Charging selflessly into danger, facing the mortality of an artificially extended life, plumbing the deepest depths of space, fighting to expose truths others want to keep hidden... This collection of all-new stories from Brain Lag authors features never-before-seen glimpses into favourite worlds as well as new characters and places to love. From starkly beautiful to brashly funny and everything in between, these stories showcase the range of voices Brain Lag has been proud to publish over the years. Why do we tell such tales of hardship and bravery, honesty and reflection? Because in the darkness between the stars, there are no heroes. There are only regular people who step up. Featuring all-new stories by: JD DeLuzio J. R. Dwornik Catherine Fitzsimmons Gary Girod Dale E. McClenning Stephen B. Pearl Erynn Q David Rae Hugh A. D. Spencer Simon A. G. Spencer

The Light Between Stars

Escaped e-entertainment star Rowan McPherson and her liberator, retired Space Forces Captain Ryan Chandler, have arrived at the Switchboard Station, the central hub of the Galactic Republic. The alien-administered sectors of the station provide sanctuary, as long as Ryan and Rowan keep out of United Earth Systems territory. However, Rowan’s health is deteriorating, and only advanced human medicine can save her. Docking in the felinezoid sector and boarding with old friends, Ryan searches desperately for medical facilities outside of the human-controlled parts of the station. Prejudice against clones makes the task harder, as well as obsessive and dangerous foes intent on retrieving Rowan for the studio, or killing her, whichever is easiest. Meanwhile, back on the set of Angel Black, the truth about the clones’ existence comes to light. Working in secret, they begin recruiting outside their show’s cast, and even their own enemies, as they plot rebellion. The light-years-long arm of the law is treading closely on all the clones’ heels and they will have to step carefully in their battle to be free.

Freedom's Law

The Earth is struggling to rebuild itself from the excesses of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Brad, a Doctor of General Applied Technologies colloquially known as a Tinker, travels the Dark Lands--areas without electricity--helping the people bootstrap themselves back from the edge of civilization. All until he finds the plague in the town of Guelph. Now Brad and his assistant Carla struggle to save the lives of the rapidly succumbing townspeople, while a cold war battle between Novo Gaia and the United Grid Regions plays out over the quarantine and the lives of the people in the Dark Lands. The political theater is leaving Brad with a mounting toll of dead victims. Will Brad and Carla be able to stop the plague, or will the contagion escape, infecting a world that is in no condition to survive another catastrophe?

Stephen B. Pearl

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