Showing results for "The Skull" in Hard Science Fiction

Four students discover a manuscript, The Book of Skulls, which reveals the existence of a sect, now living in the Arizona desert, whose members can offer immortality to those who can complete its initiation rite. To their surprise, they discover that the sect exists, and is willing to accept them as acolytes. But for each group of four who enter the rite, two must die in order for the others to succeed.

Hyperorganised and formidable, Eve Starkey defeated her boss, the louche magical adept and billionaire Rupert de Montfort Bigge, in a supernatural duel to the death. At least, she has reason to hope he's dead. But though she's now in charge of the Bigge Corporation, she's not free of him yet. Through the fecklessness of her brother Imp, combined with the intricate feudal law of a tiny Channel Island, it would appear that unbeknownst to her, she was married to Bigge - and that proving his death and releasing herself from his arcane bindings will take years and cost millions. 

Imagine a future where the fate of humanity is ruled by the vile and unforgiving government. Executions of the poor become daily occurrences in order to make more room for the wealthy and the children of a new generation. A questionable agenda has been given to a dark, unforeseeable future, and the hope of the people rests in the unsure success of a starship named the Horizon. The search for humanity's new home has begun.