Volume 1
Science Fiction
Date Published: 10-01-2024
To the people of Earth, it is generally agreed that there is no sight more extraordinary than that of their human cousins on the distant colony of Aranae jumping onto the backs of giant spiders and riding off as if going to a picnic.
To the people of Aranae, it means freedom. But for The Provenance, their Earth rulers, one of their colonies entertaining thoughts of liberty makes them uncomfortable.
In the first three Spiderboy adventures comprising Volume 1, we follow the sixteen-year-old runaway, Haley as she discovers for herself the meaning of freedom.
1. Haley’s First Spider Bite.
Billionaire’s daughter Haley Morgan joins forces with an unlikely ally in an escaped convict on a quest to track down and apprehend a dangerous outlaw while at the same time dodge the spiderboy search party sent to catch Haley and return her home. And as in all young-woman-joins-up-with-escaped-prisoner stories, things are bound to get out of hand.
2. Malady in Savoy.
Continuing her quest, Haley takes a job as a showgirl in the city of Savoy where she becomes the object of mistaken identity, gets caught up in interstellar intrigue and falls for a roguish fugitive agent from Earth. Shape-shifting does have its drawbacks.
3. Along Came a Spider.
Haley endures a marathon battle of survival with a monstrous Trap Door spider that is determined to pin the girl on its venom-laced fangs.
HE FIGURED HE HAD only two, three hours tops to live out
here on The Frying Pan. Jabez Loomis squinted at the binary suns overhead and
could almost make out the accretion disc as the larger yellow sun’s matter was
being sucked up by its white dwarf partner. Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to
bring that skimmer down over such a desolate and barren landscape as the Flats,
but the opportunity for escape presented itself, and Loomis did not let it pass.
And being the impulsive type, where exactly he brought down the skimmer and
kill his guards was secondary to his regaining freedom. He looked out over the
intense whiteness of the alkali flats surrounding him and thought perhaps he
had acted too hastily. Whether you call it the “Frying Pan” or the “Flats,” this
is not where you want to be at midday in summer on Aranae.
Miles away, a mountain range guarded the border of the dry lake.
Loomis was sure there might be settlements in that direction, maybe Salt Lick.
A small spaceport was in Salt Lick. Loomis judged his chances of seeing if a
scoot or another skimmer might come down nearby, which would point him in the
right direction. Maybe hire a scoot and get off world. Take his business
elsewhere. He might be in for a long wait. Space travel to and from Aranae was
restricted like so many other regulations imposed on them by Earth. He’d steal
a craft but didn’t know how to fly one. At any rate, Loomis didn’t want to
stick around. Seeing himself frying on this alkali skillet didn’t appeal to
him, nor did the thought of the law catching up to him—again.
Loomis shuffled over the Flats towards the mountains, hefting
a backpack bearing the emblem of the Grandville Penitentiary stitched into its
fabric. The number 801149 was stenciled in black over his heart on his
dirty yellow jumpsuit. Behind him, about fifty yards back, a wrecked desert
skimmer lay in the trench it had carved out in the salt when it went down. On closer
inspection, one would find three twisted bodies in the smoldering wreckage.
Loomis knew that the wispy pillar of smoke was a beacon for miles around in
every direction to anyone with a pair of eyes and a trace of curiosity—just the
sort of attention he wanted to avoid.
Loomis quickened his pace, thought better of it, and slowed down.
Better pace yourself. Don’t wear yourself out so fast. He peered at the horizon
to his left, unsure what that black speck might be in the distance. Heat waves
rising from the hardpan distorted its shape, but it did seem out of place in
this wasteland. One would expect salt in abundance, but anything black in appearance
out here was worth looking into. Loomis shifted his path toward the speck and
couldn’t help but pick up his pace despite the scorching suns that bore down on
him.
About the Author
Glenn Thomas’s life path has been a meandering one, setting new life goals at various points along the way, gaining knowledge in art, photography, filmmaking, driving commercial vehicles, and ultimately, writing both screenplays and prose. As a self-described “high-functioning daydreamer,” Glenn often finds contentment in self-imposed isolation, in conversations with an eclectic array of characters and personalities in universes of his creation. Once in a while, he writes their stories into scripts and novels to share with the world.
From a young age, those who spent time with Glenn quickly recognized his remarkable gift of daydreaming. According to his first-grade report card, his teacher, Mrs. Haslett, wrote, “Glenn is on cloud nine.” With that ringing endorsement from one of his earliest admirers, Glenn has made his circuitous path to this time and place to make some practical use of this often-misunderstood gift. With a nostalgic smile to his past, Glenn created his film production company, Cloud 9 Filmworks, shortly after completing film school in 2005, which has now expanded in 2024 to Cloud 9 Press to oversee his books.
Glenn lives in the Los Angeles area, and when he’s not writing, he works as a driver for a major motion picture studio where the real money’s at. His first self-published work was a series of short science fiction stories called The Spiderboys of Aranae, released in 2015 and revised in 2024. Also, in 2024, the first book in a science fiction series titled The Stars Rain Down debuted. Set in the same universe as Spiderboys, SRD has strong connections with the earlier work, and fans of one book will enjoy the other.
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