The Sapphiran Agenda

by Marcha Fox

Overview

This short story is a prequel to "The Star Trails Tetralogy" which features Thyron, a flora peda telepathis from the planet, Sapphira. His naterra, or home world, is occupied by his species of telepathic walking plants as well as a race of cannibalistic pygmies who recognize their botanical intelligence as superior to their own and thus worship them as gods. The two diverse species have a synergistic relationship in which Thyron and others of his kind provide technical assistance to the natives in their interstellar forays for food in return for protection, albeit primitive. Encounters with humans generally don't end well. Face it, humans are omnivorous and plants a popular source of nourishment. Attempt this on Sapphira, however, and the food chain is likely to change rather quickly. If you've read "Beyond the Hidden Sky" you've already met the Sapphirans as well as Thyron and experienced his botanical wisdom. This short story comprises his adventures prior to his appearance in "The Star Trails Tetralogy."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940152344578
Publisher:	Marcha Fox
Publication date:	09/09/2015
Series:	Star Trails Tetralogy
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	187 KB

About the Author

Marcha Fox has loved science fiction since she was a child with the stars always holding a strong sense of mystery and fascination. Her love of astronomy resulted in a bachelor of science degree in physics from Utah State University followed by a 21 year career at NASA where she held a variety of positions including technical writer, engineer and eventually manager. Her NASA experience was primarily at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas but included trips to Cape Canaveral in Florida, visiting other Centers in Mississippi, Alabama and Maryland as well as visits to the European Space Agency in The Netherlands. Her most memorable experience, however, was the sad task of helping to recover space shuttle debris in East Texas following the tragic Columbia accident in 2003. "NASA was a great career experience, but writing is what I've always wanted to do. To me there is nothing more exhilarating than bringing a character to life."

She has made it a point to "do the math" regarding various elements in her books to assure accuracy and hoping to instill an interest in science and engineering to her readers in an enjoyable and entertaining way. She admits that Cyraria's figure-8 orbit around a binary star system is a bit of a stretch but maintains it is mathematically feasible even though it would be unstable with life on such a planet beyond challenging with its seasonal extremes. "But that's what makes it a good setting for the story," she adds.

Born in Peekskill, New York she has lived in California, Utah and Texas in the course of raising her family and currently resides in the Texas Hill Country. Whether “Refractions of Frozen Time,” the fourth and final volume of the Star Trails Tetralogy series will be the last she states, "These characters have a life of their own and may move on to other adventures."