Star-crossed to Star Dust

It was a backwater time of warfare funded by the electronic printing press's creation of money out of thin air (counterfeiting). It was a backwater time of television addiction (bread and circuses). It was the era of starships (snafu in outer space).

Excerpt number one:

Victor asked, "Why did the Human Republic fall?"

"I thought we covered that: lowest form of life capable of literature--" Then it hit him, his all-time favorite pet theory for the fall of the Human Republic: "The day the Human Republic turned to monetary inflation--the creation of money out of thin air--that was the beginning of the end. Counterfeit money is counterfeit information: too much false information and human society develops a bad case of vertigo--it doesn't know up from down, right from wrong, its ears from its elbows.

"But what do I know? If it's words of wisdom you seek, then I'm the last person in the world you should be talking to, literally and figuratively."

Before falling asleep, Victor wondered, "Why did they maroon you on this planet?"

Mole stared at the ceiling, what he could make of it in the dim light. He said, "I grew weary of hidden surveillance cameras and microphones. But most of all I got tired of cowering in the shadows; I got tired of being afraid to speak my mind.

"So, one day I got drunk at a place called the Space Opera Bar and Grill, and decided I'd buck political correctness, peer pressure, bullying, tyranny ... you name it."

"There I was," continued Mole, "loaded to the blowholes with booze, rambling on about free markets, liberty, and that most forbidden of all words--capitalism."

Victor rumbled, "I thought 'God' and 'religion' were the most forbidden of all words."

"I stand corrected," Mole said without hesitation, saying afterward, "Speaking of God and religion would no doubt have gotten me killed instead of marooned, but even so, I still dared to speak of capitalism and its offspring, liberty."

Excerpt number two:

"Perhaps it's time to turn off the television set and face reality, while we still can, before we're addicted to the thing. Television in moderation is fine, but to get addicted to the thing is just plain awful."

Victor confessed he'd never thought about television addiction. Mole showed a haggard look before speaking:

"Years, perhaps even decades of your life frittered away: it can happen if you get yourself addicted to television."

"Like being marooned?" Victor asked.

"Something like that."

Ultimately, they finished their subspectrum transceiver five months later than planned due to the partaking of entertainment long lost to the rest of humanity.

* * *

With 1 Corinthians 7:3-4 in mind, the starry cover image shows bikini-clad Padparadscha (a rabbit-eyed orthodon) playfully flexing her curvaceous muscles on her wedding night, shortly before her husband (not shown) embraces her.

* * *

While rabbit-eyed orthodons interbreed with humans amid the life-spawning stars of the Milky Way, an alien civilization plots to render orthodons and humans extinct. The plot boils down to liberty (love) versus tyranny. The story begins in earnest on war-destroyed planet Earth, population: 00,000,000,002.

* * *

Check any and all sample chapters (if available) for more information.