Althea is the source of piezo-temporal crystals, which distort time and make interstellar space-flight possible. The planet is uninhabited, and the Company has a monopoly. Everyone has a secret, and with such a small wintering party, life can be pretty boring until everything goes terribly wrong. On Althea, staying alive is half the battle.
Louis Shalako is the founder of Long Cool One Books and the author of twenty-three novels, numerous novellas and other short stories. Louis studied Radio, Television and Journalism Arts at Lambton College of Applied Arts and Technology, later going on to study fine art. He began writing for community newspapers and industrial magazines over thirty years ago. His stories appear in publications including Perihelion Science Fiction, Bewildering Stories, Aurora Wolf, Ennea, Wonderwaan, Algernon, Nova Fantasia, and Danse Macabre. He lives in southern Ontario and writes full time. Louis enjoys cycling, swimming and good books.