Rachel Peng, cyborg liaison to the Washington D.C. police, is trying to catch another killer, but this time the murders are personal. Two of her OACET siblings died on her watch, and Rachel can't remember how. Fighting against grief and her fears that their deaths were her fault, Rachel has to catch a skilled arsonist who has visions of a master race with no space for anything he considers less than human . . . and she's sure he's not working alone.

Three thousand years ago, the Deep appeared without warning. This alien life form was quickly put to service teleporting people and cargo across great distances, which allowed mass colonization throughout the galaxy. It has also allowed Lancaster, the organization which controls access to the Deep, to grow wealthy and powerful. Cross Lancaster, and you are forced to travel between planets using standard faster-than-light technologies. Nobody wants that!

Tembi Stoneskin is having a very bad day. A Witch in service to the Deep, she spends her days disarming bombs in shipping stations. On her way home to Lancaster, the Deep shows her the aftermath of a weapons test powerful enough to slice a moon in half. While the Deep is a vast intelligence, it is a terrible communicator, and relies on its Witches to translate humanity's requirements into thoughts, moods, and impulses that it can understand. Tembi is a young Witch, but she is a skilled translator and she has learned to...]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2021 09:31:25 +0200 https://classics.library.land/k-b-spangler/574464-spanish_mission.html https://classics.library.land/k-b-spangler/574464-spanish_mission.html

Hope Blackwell, the world's second-worst psychic, is tired of dealing with both the living and the dead. Between wrangling the ghosts of the Founding Fathers, medical school, and dodging the paparazzi, she's got her own problems (and that last attempt on her life left her more shaken than she'll admit!). So she packs up her friends and heads to Las Vegas for some high-octane escapism.

Their vacation is cut short when paranormal investigators show up with a story about ghost ships in the nearby Sonoran Desert. A desert is a strange place to search for pirates, but Hope knows all too well that the dead are everywhere. She tags along to make sure nobody will run into trouble if they find a homicidal ghost or two.

Hope wasn't expecting the long-dead Spanish nun, or her pack of vengeful chupacabras. And they are just the beginning—this desert is full of ancient secrets, and psychics must beware.