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eBook Category: Science Fiction
eBook Description: [Book 2 of the Sam Boone Series] Communication is never perfect, but in Sam's case it was nearly impossible, especially when he had to deal with races so far apart physically that they didn't even have the same frames of reference. Adding to his difficulties was his agent's unreasonable deadline, the threat of the Hegemony Court applying their draconian justice, and having to ride herd on dozens of disparate races, none of whom spoke the same language. But can Sam find a solution, will he be stranded among his bird-brained hosts, or will he be destroyed along with everything else in the system?

eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: Analog, 1995
Fictionwise Release Date: March 2002

This eBook is part of the following series:

• Bud Sparhawk's Sam Boone Series

43 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [118 KB], eReader (PDB) [45 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [33 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [30 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [76 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [102 KB], hiebook (KML) [98 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [65 KB], iSilo (PDB) [27 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [34 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [62 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [48 KB]
Words: 9428
Reading time: 26-37 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

In 2172 Earth managed to get one cranky and primitive starship a single light-year from home where, coincidence of coincidences, it managed to get itself rammed by a Stellar class cruise ship, which was far outside its approved lanes.

The Greebnean owner of the ship was so anxious to avoid the galactic Hegemony's court system that it gave the human crew a replacement ship from its inventory as payment. "Never to speak of this event," it had pleaded desperately as it clamped the viewer for the instruction manual over the captain's arm--thinking that appendage was the human's primary sense organ, much like its own. "Never to make a claim," it said in closing as it sent the remains of the ruptured Earth ship, the pinnacle of humanity's scientific and engineering genius, into the furnace of a local sun. It wanted no evidence of its transgressions hanging about.

Earth was ecstatic when the crew returned in their new ship, just three weeks later. The gift that had been placed in their hands provided enough engineering and scientific data to build an entire fleet of workable starships. Humanity could start to explore "local" space quickly and economically. Humanity could finally enter the galactic community and fulfill its destiny among the stars.

Much to its chagrin, humanity also discovered that far from being unique, intelligent life was quite common. Nearly all of the niches for life were already filled, as were most habitable planets (and quite a few that were only marginally so, like the Earth.)

The Galaxy was literally brimming with life in its manifold forms. The only thing that had prevented that knowledge from becoming apparent to mankind centuries before was humanity's strange methods of using electromagnetic radiation for communications, something most of their local races had abandoned early on because of the problem of static and the inverse square law. Besides, there were so many other obvious and cheaper methods, such as the phloomb-driven ansible.

Lacking any places to settle and exploit, and lacking capital to enter the markets of the Hegemony, human explorers and entrepreneurs flailed about for years trying to find a niche where they could earn credits and become a part of interstellar commerce, the market in primitive human gewgaws and souvenirs notwithstanding. After all, how many Mickey Mouse hats (the Hegemony's favorite item) could the galactic community absorb? Finally Earth developed its single marketable, and very human talent of negotiation--and began to earn valuable trade credits by sending arbitrators among the galactic community.

Sam Boone was one of the first.