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Laika began her life as a stray dog on the streets of Moscow and died in 1957 aboard the Soviet satellite Sputnik II. Initially the USSR reported that Laika, the first animal to orbit the earth, had survived in space for seven days, providing valuable data that would make future manned space flight possible. People believed that Laika died a painless death as her oxygen ran out. Only in recent decades has the real story become public: Laika died after only a few hours in orbit when her capsule overheated. positions Laika as a long overdue hero for leading the way to human space exploration.

Kurt Caswell examines Laika’s life and death and the speculation surrounding both. Profiling the scientists behind Sputnik II, he studies the political climate driven by the Cold War and the Space Race that expedited the satellite’s development. Through this intimate portrait of Laika, we begin to understand what the dog experienced in the days and hours before the launch, what she likely experienced during her last moments, and what her flight means to history and to humanity. While a few of the other space dog flights rival Laika’s in endurance and technological advancements, Caswell argues that Laika’s flight serves as a tipping point in space exploration “beyond which the dream of exploring nearby and distant planets opened into a kind of fever from which humanity has never recovered.”

Examining the depth of human empathy—what we are willing to risk and sacrifice in the name of scientific achievement and our exploration of the cosmos, and how politics and marketing can influence it— is also about our search to overcome loneliness and the role animals play in our drive to look far beyond the earth for answers.

Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space—and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe—in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.

Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging . While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.

As this issue goes to press, the U.S. mid-term elections are only a couple of weeks behind us, which makes the following story seem timely. It’s a tale about the ruthlessness of politics in our age — and how that ruthlessness might lead to something more dangerous…. Ms. Callahan has been contributing to EQMM for many years.

Best remembered for his sensational bestselling novels of the 1930s, James M. Cain may well be one of the most important, yet still misunderstood, of American authors. Among other writers and for certain critics, his reputation and singularity are unquestioned, resting on an extraordinary force of style and view of the human condition that have influenced a host of modern authors. Cain’s unique voice — hard-edged, caustically ironic, and impeccably controlled — was in fact forged through an extensive journalistic training and remains best exemplified in the compressed power of his short fiction.

Here then, timed with a major revival of interest in Cain’s work, is the first book to collect the best of his shorter work — selected short stories and sketches together with one of his finest serials, the novella published at different times under the titles “Money and the Woman” and “The Embezzler.” As taut and brilliant in its way as Cain’s most famous serial, this ingenious example of Cain’s “love rack” fiction has been out of print for many years, but reads as immediately today as when first written more than three decades ago. Equally fascinating, especially when seen within Roy Hoopes’s tracings of the development of Cain’s work, are the entertaining sketches and dialogues Cain originally wrote for journalistic publication — beautiful models of efficiency and concision stamped with Cain’s characteristic irony. We are given ten of his best, out of hundreds he wrote for the and H. L. Mencken’s Together with nine of his finest short stories — including those three Cain classics, “Pastorale,” “The Baby in the Icebox,” and “Dead Man” — this volume comprises both an ideal introduction to the work of this remarkable American author and a mandatory book for all James M. Cain fans.

The chaos and violence of the second American civil war arrives in Mike McNerney’s town when knife-wielding thugs invade his home. He, his wife, and their disabled daughter, take to their camper to find refuge in Canada. Along the way they evade roving criminal gangs and warring militias. They finally reach the border only to find a large encampment of others, desperate to cross over to safety. With their money almost gone, an unscrupulous immigration official offers to usher them through… but will they pay his obscene price?

Author, Paul Clayton, is not the only one worried about a possible, second American civil war… What would that be like? Clayton’s gnat’s eye view, , offers a chilling, more-than-plausible look… at a future that nobody wants!

In Eastern Europe four CIA agents are dead — geopolitical pawns caught in border dispute cross fire. Why were they there? Who sent them? Not even the President knows.

Back in Washington, the Secretary of the Interior dies from an apparent allergic shock. As details emerge, so do suspicions that she was murdered.

Investigating their respective cases, ex — Secret Service agent Joe Reeder and FBI Special Situations Task Force leader Patti Rogers recognize a dangerous conspiracy is in play. When suspects and government contacts are killed off with expert precision, their worst fears are confirmed. As the country edges closer and closer to war, Reeder and Rogers must protect the President — and each other — from an unseen enemy who’s somehow always one step ahead.

The stakes have never been higher, against killers who might be anywhere, and Reeder and Rogers have no one to trust but each other.

03:15, 22nd June 1941◦— Barbarossa is unleashed and Kampfgruppe von Schroif are right there at the cutting edge of the battle for Russia. Thrown into action against the fortress of Brest-Litovsk, von Schroif and his crew drive a new weapon into battle◦— the legendary . However, even with this latest armoured marvel there is hard fighting as the Reds dig in and doggedly defend the island fortress to the last man.

Penetrating, authentic and stunning in its detail, the long awaited prequel to the highly acclaimed “Tiger Command!” is a powerful addition to the series. Based on a true story of combat on the Eastern Front, this atmospheric new novel puts the reader right into the action and unveils the story of how a legend was forged in the heat of the first great battle of the campaign.

Written by Emmy™ Award winning writer Bob Carruthers and newcomer Sinclair McLay and edited by Mark Farr, this much anticipated novel also explores the dark underside of war as von Schroif is faced with the malevolent presence of Oskar Dirlewanger.