This revised, expanded and enhanced second edition of The Spiritic, published in 2013, is now available in three illustrated volumes In Volume I - Sky Fiend, we journey from Numork, major homeworld of the Cronal Tura galaxy, to rescue abducted biologist and sports hero Dr. Rom Quanadeen, held captive in the distant Jupolian star system, a once peaceful traderation of five homeworlds, thrown into war-torn chaos by Raak-Kaal, an academic from planet Radok, infected by a lethal, yet sentient alien bacterium, Esadov. Said to be a millennium old, from a starless universe, Cimmeria Bori, and nearing bacterial fission, the Borian bug nurses a hatred for bipedal organics and plans to multiply and infect the known worlds with its millionfold progeny. A rebel space academy officer, Captain Calan Lora, from the star system's major homeworld, Jupol, has other ideas - he needs allies. He sends a seized enemy ship through a wormhole steeped in fear and myth to dupe the Numorkians in the Cronal Tura that they face an invasion from Radok. After its 'hostile' ship crashes on Numork, Lora's team abducts rainforest biologist and star marathon runner, Dr. Rom Quanadeen, along with her pilot and research ship. Numork tasks Kru Sigor, a retired military hero turned reclusive desert sculptor, to lead a rescue starship, Ruconicca, in hot pursuit. Locked in a ship's cabin, Rom, half Numorkian (human emigre from mid-21st century Earth) and half Sed-Genal (indigenous forest-folk) is haunted by nightmares of a tribal ancestor, Suvana, unaware that a birthmark on her hip, now raw upon awakening, is known to old-time Seds as a spiritic - a mark of destiny. Are mystical forces at work? The spiritic is envisioned by a Karpinian monk, Tark-Zirk, he of the second sight, on Karpinia, a homeworld neighbor to Jupol. He sends his temple novice, Junaid, on a perilous mission to seek the alien who bears the mark - and save the galaxy, yet he laments to his god, Lord Karpinia, 'Such an innocent of only 19 summers. How can the fate of our worlds rest on his untried shoulders, Lord?' GOOD QUESTION...
