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Web of Life



Audio Book


Synopsis:

Sally Buds had scarcely arrived on Earth before she is called back into service. She is, of course, Earth’s only real expert on the evil Masters on New Ontario, but now there may be trouble coming from this side of the fold! A Japanese ship representing the Asian Economic Alliance is now heading towards the fold and UN Command fears that they may be trying to forge an alliance with the Masters. This time Sally’s crew includes a battalion of soldiers armed with deadly weapons. But, as before, the mission turns out to be different than expected. Trapped and a realm that makes no logical sense and defies physics, Sally’s crew encounters an intelligence beyond human reasoning and a beast which stalks them mercilessly seeking revenge for a crime they can’t imagine.


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Episodes:

Episode 27 Preview of Splashdown and Wrap-up

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:15:35 +0000

This episode includes two bonus chapters from Splashdown and readings from our listeners concerning Web of Life.  Thank you all for listening!

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Episode 26 Light Returns

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:26:20 +0000

As the crew begins their long journey home, injuries old and new begin to heal and relationships are rebuilt.  And, finally, Sally's own homecoming can be addressed.

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Episode 25 Darkness Comes

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:23:35 +0000

As Sally prepares her crew for the coming of night on the Roanoke, it becomes clear that Ian will not be enjoying the celebrations.  For him, return to night means return to humanity.  But, what will he be willing to do to avoid it?  And what is behind Maxwell's new found interest in him?

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Episode 24 Redemption

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 03:55:11 +0000

As Sally tries to convince Ian not to remain in the alien environment when they leave for Earth, she contronts Rachel, who apparently has a novel way of dealing with Swipe once and for all, but Sally must help.  But this final act of mercy may come at a significant cost.

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Episode 23 Showdown

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:05:22 +0000

As Rachel and Burns begin their unauthorized flight to the Kyoto, they do so firmly convinced that Maxwell will destroy them if Sally doesn't buy them more time.  But they have Swipe to contend with, too, and Rachel's final attempt to make things right will involve facing him.  And this time she resolves to do it right.

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Episode 22 The Ultimate Strategy

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 22:02:32 +0000

While Burns and Poole return the the ship, Poole makes a new discovery concerning Swipe's plans, which makes her plans not only necessary but urgent.  But, will Sally or the Colonel cooperate?  But, while pleading her case, another attack begins on the Roanoke, this one small but decisive.  Now the final battle must begin and nothing is as it seems.  How far will Sally go to protect her ship, and is she right in doing so?

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Episode 21 The Price of the Rescue

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:32:43 +0000

Ian's attempt to rescue the helpless sky jumper requires him to go through the fold to do so.  But, once on the other side, things become difficult for him.  Worse, in his absence, the Roanoke becomes blind without his insight.  Or does it?  When Ian's steady stream of useful information is replaced, Rachel questions its source.  Now the nature of their enemy become apparent.

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Episode 20 Rainbow

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 07:42:11 +0000

Ian and Burns are commissioned to recover the missing crew members, but their efforts are made more difficult by adverse weather conditions outside.  And, while Rachel assists the recovery efforts, she sees an opportunity to her own advantage.  And while Sally ponders how and when they can return home, Jackie shows her her most recent painting and everything changes.

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Episode 19 Fanatical Frenzy

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:38:11 +0000

Crystal Nelson's group finally makes their move and attempts to capture Ian, but Ian is not as easy to deal with as they might have thought.  Meanwhile, Jackie is astonished at the recent fruits of her creativity and Sally's all important discussion with Pruit concerning the fold is cut short by the greatest spectacle of all!

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Episode 18 Insight

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 02:19:07 +0000

As Ian continues to process his new view of the universe, he decides to put some of it into words, which draws Angela's attention.  Within hours, he writes the equivalent of several novels.  Pruit, who is finally released from his brace is in a position to begin to understand what he has discovered, and it is startling!  Sally must moderate the importance of what they are discovering about the mysteries of the universe with how they can apply it to their immediate needs.  And Rachel propositions Berns for one last mission, which could get them both killed.

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Episode 17 Insight and Strategy

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 04:03:27 +0000

With the rope man as Ian's new friend, he somehow cures Captain Yoshiro of his madness.  But is Ian himself compromised as he now has a direct mental connection with the aliens that he seems to be enjoying richly?  And, as Swipe begins to plot another attack on the Roanoke, Jackie gets a shocking new insight.

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Episode 16 The Captains Return

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:10:06 +0000

Rachel is placed in charge of the treatment of Sally and Ian, who are locked in quarantine along with a frantic Captain Burns and Private Hicks.  But, while arguing about the quarantine procedures with the soldiers, Ian wakes up enough to instruct them to lower the gravity control.  The Rope Man appears!  Now all have to face the unknown life form and hope they do better than the Japanese.  And, apparently, Ian has a unique way to help.

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Episode 15 Skirmish

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 02:22:53 +0000

While preparing to neutralize the attacking mining drones, Rachel takes Jackie inter her confidence.  Together they discover a critical detail concerning the nature of their enemy, Swipe, and realize that Col. Maxwell's current strategy would be suicidal.  Then, joining the war room, Rachel and Jackie have front row seats in the first battle between them and Swipe.  And, all the while, Sally's shuttle is in the line of fire.

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Episode 14 The Web and its Grip

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:33:20 +0000

Upon Returning to the Roanoke, Rachel is detained and interrogated along with Yoshiro, by a determined Maxwell, who has come to believe that much of what has happened is still an elaborate deception by the AEA.  But the mysterious video that Felx discovered gives Rachel other ideas.  Seeing the form that the aliens can take gives her insight into their nature and she begins to form a picture.  But the beings Rachel describes seem very different than the beast that threatened the crew.  This now appears to be something else.  But the beings are curious about both it and them and they are pumping Sally for answers in ways that strain her very sanity.

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Episode 13 Conflict Without and Within

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 03:54:20 +0000

The battle begins now, fought in the alien sky.  The enemy, now known as Swipe isn't playing by the rules, however.  Caught unaware, Felx goes through great lengths to retrieve the key to the F.O.G Light, but in doing so, Jackie turns out to be more helpful as a consultant than either Felx or Maxwell could realize.  In the mean time, Sally and Ian have vanished, and where Sally is turns out to be a complex question.

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Episode 12 It Begins

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 21:07:43 +0000

While Sally and Ian begin their trip to the edge of the bowl, Burns plans to make aviation history by being the first pilot of an airplane designed to fly with no gravity.  And, while Sally is off the ship, Jackie is surprised to begin a new friendship.  But then, while Burns's mission yields interesting results, disaster strikes and the war begins.

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Episode 11 Past Provocation

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 03:52:04 +0000

While making up her mind about whether or not to join Ian on his exploratory flight, Sally confronts Benson concerning his true motives in starting the brawl in the mess hall and discovers some difficult truths about Maxwell.  She also has a final showdown with Rachel and learns the terrible secret she's been hiding and how it relates to the Japanese ship.

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Episode 10 Strained Relationships

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:59:09 +0000

Sally finds herself at odds with Private Nelson and her prayer meeting, which has taken on dark fanatical characteristics.  What is worse, Jackie's strange behavior finally takes on a dangerous extreme and a brawl breaks out among the military crew.  But, even as Sally fears chaos and mutiny to be imminent, Ian has an interesting proposal that she must consider.

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Episode 9 The Web

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 19:48:32 +0000

As Ian prepares to implement his plan to navigate the strange environment, Sally has her work cut out for her in finding who her friends are.  Back on the Kyoto, Rachel Poole continues her mysterious work, but also apparently discovers that the deaths on the Kyoto appear to be completely accidental.  But is her loyalty in question and does she have ulterior motives?  Following the crew's return to the Roanoke, Captain Yoshiro is interrogated, and he tells a chilling tale.

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Episode 8 Transition

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 03:59:53 +0000

As the crew of the Roanoke shifts into a common habitat ring, optimism begins to return.  Ian plans an unorthodox mission to map the environment and Sally tends to her new patient, who is now identified as a war criminal.  But, back on the Roanoke Rachel's secrets build as she finds it increasingly difficult to hide from the others what she is doing on the haunted ship.  And, while Sally discusses their situation with Pruit, she makes an extremely unwelcome discovery in her medical kit.

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Episode 7 The Enemy Ship

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:36:33 +0000

Now that their own ship is stabilized, Sally leads a crew to investigate the Kyoto.  Terror meets them literally at the door.  Most of the crew are dead and they appear to have died in some terrible and creative ways.  It is also clear that they were attempting to defend themselves from something that could see them from afar.  Perhaps it was their captain, who is the only official survivor.

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Episode 6 The Nature of the Problem

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 01:30:13 +0000

The ship and crew are stabilized, but the mystery is no closer to being solved.  It also does not help that, as Jackie awakens after her injuries, she recognizes that one of the faces in her tortured dreams belongs to Rachel Poole.  What can that mean?  Although, as the investigation continues, it is Poole's assertion that the environment they find themselves in is artificial.  But they are not alone.  The Japanese ship is soon spotted, and Sally intends to finally get some answers.

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Episode 5 The Tempest

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 08:14:14 +0000

Following the confrontation with Maxwell, Sally devotes herself to ship's business.  The Kyoto is nowhere in sight and the mysterious trail appears to be growing colder.  But, while she is in the process of seeking answers from Rachel Poole, the impossible happens!  The ship strikes a wall of air and all but breaks up.  When the dust settles, they find themselves in a realm that makes no sense.  They see no stars, but rather a blue sky lit by a sun.  And some of the crew do not react well to the mystery.

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Episode 4 Conflict and Judgment

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:22:49 +0000

Sally's uneasy relationship with Col. Maxwell grows worse as they prepare to enter the fold.  Waiting on the other side could be a dangerous enemy or nothing at all.  But more questions arise as Dr. Poole seems to know more about the Japanese ship than she should.  And Jackie's new dark art takes on a grotesque extreme.  Is this cabin fever or does she really see something out there in the dark ahead of them?

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Episode 3 The Ship

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 03:58:43 +0000

Sally and her crew have an uneasy welcome to the Roanoke, as it is clear that there are two very different command structures on board.  Finally meeting the mysterious Colonel Maxwell, Sally must take the upper hand right away to ensure that she will have control of the weapon installed on the ship.  And, in the darkness of the outbound journey, Jackie's strange sadness begins to errupt into nightmares.

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Episode 2 Preparations

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:01:23 +0000

With only six days to prepare for a mission that will take her away for two years, Sally has her work cut out for her.  One of her most significant trips takes her to England where she meets with Ian Merryfield, an excellent pilot and her best friend, though the decission to take the mission may well depend on his wife Angela.  Once in space, they prepare to depart from Stepping Stone Station, but notice trouble already.  A mysterious structure has been added to the Roanoke with no explanation and the tight lipped Lt. Colonel Felx, sent to greet them, will not discuss it.  Finally, Jackie senses a great sadness in the dark of night beyond the station.

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Episode 1 - The New Mission

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:54:42 +0000

Sally has only just arrived home, but now she is needed again.  She has no idea what to expect when the U.N. Space Commissioner calls her into his office for a hushed meeting, but when she hears that a Japanese ship may be on its way to New Ontario, she knows her homecoming will be short-lived.  This time she will be commanding a military ship, which apparently includes a mysterious and possibly problematic second in command.  With a short deadline, she must begin to assemble her crew and return to service.

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