OPERATION VANISHED: The plane is down somewhere off the North Carolina coast. No sign of wreckage or of survivors can be spotted. A group of this country''s leading biochemists (including the brilliant, beautiful Dr. Stella Thayer) were aboard the flight. Consequently, sabotage cannot be ruled out as a cause of the disaster.That is the official report...The top-secret settlement - a fully functioning subterranean colony - is hidden somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. It is equipped with all the essentials for basic, long-term existence. Its inhabitants are a group of this country''s leading biochemists (including the brilliant, beautiful Dr. Stella Thayler), and it will soon become the scene of the most bizarre, the most world-shaking scientific experiment in history - Project Nevermore...

PROGRAMMED FOR DESTRUCTION In a way, they were the same, the man and the machine. Both had been ordered to do one thing - kill. The robot had been created to wreak revenge on the humans who had brutally conquered its planet. The man was the product of years of training by an Earth that had set out to take over the Universe. Now the two faced each other in the icy reaches of the galaxy. The robot, with its calculating machine of a brain, its impenetrable force shield, its deadly laser beam. The man, with the kind of nerve that refused to admit the odds against survival...

The alien spaceship landed in a cornfield. Its crew died rapidly, leaving only one survivor - a baby, conceived on an unknown world, carried in its mother''s womb across space and delivered even as the mother died on a hostile Earth.But the alien woman had given birth to more than a child. With her last act she had bequeathed to the Earth that hated her and her kind decades of turmoil and strife that would come close to tearing the whole planet apart.

Someone is thinking about Margaret. "I wondered about Margaret, and what she would do next. I didn''t care unless she went the route of drugs. They make her try and get at me sometimes, and that can be bothersome. She is so terribly afraid of me."Who so casually draws Margaret to the brink of hysteria - then, just as casually, tries to walk away?Her subconsciousness does, when it becomes a living, breathing personality with an ego all its own - setting the stage for a remarkable transformation scarcely envisioned by the science of man.

"My lover, my protector, my friend, my doctor, my brother - they''re all killing me."Peter Roos cannot help knowing the thoughts of those around him. A rare physical condition has given him that power. Now he has "heard" about the government''s secret plan to give up control of America to the military - to build an underground city for themselves in the event of a nuclear attack. Unfortunately for Roos, the government knows he knows. And the project''s sponsors - including his senator brother - have no choice.They must get him out of the way - permanently!

She was consumed by two passions - her husband and her medical research. Or was it first her work and then her husband?At twenty-eight Anne had made a scientific breakthrough that would be a financial miracle for her employers. But was it safe yet to use the serum on humans? Anne found the answer - after her perfect marriage and her courage had been tested by inward conflict and the politics of power.

Man reached for the stars - and failed to keep the Earth in his grasp. With the western United States devastated by drought, the survivors huddle in squalid concentration camps in the east.And still the dream won''t go away. In high orbit, an artefact is found that may be man''s first contact with aliens. The only woman who can decode it has found her future in the past, in the remote Indian territories of the Pacific Northwest. But in which direction does the planet''s survival lie?

They came to his deathbed. Four dutiful children. Each the victim of a different mother. Each mother the victim of a tragic accident, unsolved murder, mysterious disappearance.As he sank away they glowered their hatred. It was a hatred he expected, and his revenge was well-planned.He left a multimillion dollar legacy, bearing a ghoulish price tag. They could pay with their sanity, or their psyches, or their souls, they would be part of an experiment, something to do with brain waves. It would be a great service to science, they were told. Just one last little joke on his kids, and they swore they could hear him laughing - all the way to hell.

The more man learns, the more dangerous he becomes. The greater the civilization, the greater the chaos it eventually unleashes...If you discovered the secret of immortality, to whom would you give it? To the scientists, the politicians, the military? To the Americans? The Russians? The Chinese?If you weren''t after power or money or fame but really wanted to increase human happiness, what would you do with your secret? Go underground? Run away? Pray that you might outlive civilization and be given the chance to start it all over again?And if the authorities found you, what would they do?Here is a chilling, provocative and unforgettable novel about the present and the future of mankind.

Why is Lauren Steele being followed around by a mysterious red-haired ghost? Why is the Pentagon after her? And why doesn''t anyone believe her?As a psychologist at the Waycross Clinic in Seattle, she has enough problems. Her clients never seem to listen to anything she says, and her co-workers could use extensive counseling themselves. The last thing she needs is an obnoxious figment of her own imagination showing up at the least opportune moments.But Daniel ("Corky") Corcoran is actually the victim of a fault experimental laser, having been accidentally "dispersed" when the device misfired during a demonstration. He has literally gathered his wits about him by focusing on the last person he saw - Lauren. The trouble is, Corky''s attempts at communication only convince Lauren that she is going crazy.Add to this one paranoid colonel from the Pentagon who is convinced that both Corky and Lauren are Soviet spies, and you have a mix of zany and colourful characters caught up in a plot that is quintessential Wilhelm.

A collection of short stories from the award-winning author, Kate Wilhelm. Contains the following:The Mile-Long Spaceship Fear Is a Cold Black Jenny with Wings A Is for Automation Gift from the Stars No Light in the Window One for the Road Andover and the Android The Man without a Planet The Apostolic Travelers The Last Days of the Captain

What happens when . . .An all-powerful killing machine is equipped with a human brain on the brink of madness?A group of apes are injected with human intelligence and build their own strange empire?A child with an other-worldly intellect is locked in mortal combat with his own down-to-earth father?A hand-picked space team convenes at a countdown that can mean the start of a new era - or the end of mankind?You''ll find out when you enter . . . THE DOWNSTAIRS ROOM.

Abyss Anyone? Enter Kate Wilhelm''s realm of extrasensory perception, alternate universes, alien monsters, and something else, something much more strange...the abyss that lurks near each of us, ready to destroy us...or set us free.

This book contains four striking novellas, and the author''s own philosophy of fiction writing expressed in her speech as a guest of honour at the 38th World Science Fiction Convention."The Winter Beach" turns what might be a spy story into suspense of a far different order."Julian" begins when its youthful hero trains his telescope on nearby earth rather than the stars and sees a woman who rules the rest of his life."With Thimbles, with Forks and Hope" seems to be the dramatic story of a holiday fishing trip, but once on the ocean we are gripped by a different reality."Moongate", set in the mountains of the Northwest, takes its two men and one woman through many dimensions in time and space."The Uncertain Edge of Reality" casts a new light on Kate Wilhelm''s many books and short stories. "This is my subject matter when I write," she says. "I am asking, What actually do we mean by reality, and are we stuck with the one we have? This is what I mean by reality fiction, and usually it is also called science fiction...We are more than simple animals using sophisticated tools in our search for food, security and mates. We are something new on the earth...We can change reality."Kate Wilhelm''s writing always has meaning on many levels. Listen, Listen provides a feasts for fans and new readers alike.

This collection assembles in one volume five works by Kate Wilhelm, masterful fantasist and one of science fiction''s premier storytellers:In ''Children of the Wind'', identical twins J-1 and J-2 play subtle games with their parents'' lives. Are the boys just precocious, or are they far more strange - and powerful? ''The Gorgon Field'' finds Charlie and Constance caught in a mystery of mystical proportions in the Arizona desert. ''A Brother to Dragons, a Companion of Owls'' depicts a future in which survival may not be merely enough - it may be too much, whilst ''The Blue Ladies'' studies a disabled woman''s abilities to share his vision. ''The Girl Who Fell Into the Sky'', winner of the Nebula Award for best novelette, weaves a dreamy tale of love, death and an old piano amid the Kansas plains.These five tales present luminous, absorbing visions of the world as it could be and as it is.

The dozen stories in this delightful volume span the career of Kate Wilhelm, showcasing the wide-ranging works of this exceptional stylist. These stories include:"The Look Alike", in which a grieving young mother encounters a doppelganger of her lost daughter."Forever Yours, Anna", recipient of the 1988 Nebula Award for best short story."The Day of the Sharks", presents a relentless account of a woman recovering from a breakdown.Ranging from the harrowing to the humorous, from the charming to the strange, And the Angels Sing is a chorus of literary delights.

OPERATION VANISHED: The plane is down somewhere off the North Carolina coast. No sign of wreckage or of survivors can be spotted. A group of this country''s leading biochemists (including the brilliant, beautiful Dr. Stella Thayer) were aboard the flight. Consequently, sabotage cannot be ruled out as a cause of the disaster.That is the official report...The top-secret settlement - a fully functioning subterranean colony - is hidden somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. It is equipped with all the essentials for basic, long-term existence. Its inhabitants are a group of this country''s leading biochemists (including the brilliant, beautiful Dr. Stella Thayler), and it will soon become the scene of the most bizarre, the most world-shaking scientific experiment in history - Project Nevermore...

PROGRAMMED FOR DESTRUCTION In a way, they were the same, the man and the machine. Both had been ordered to do one thing - kill. The robot had been created to wreak revenge on the humans who had brutally conquered its planet. The man was the product of years of training by an Earth that had set out to take over the Universe. Now the two faced each other in the icy reaches of the galaxy. The robot, with its calculating machine of a brain, its impenetrable force shield, its deadly laser beam. The man, with the kind of nerve that refused to admit the odds against survival...

The alien spaceship landed in a cornfield. Its crew died rapidly, leaving only one survivor - a baby, conceived on an unknown world, carried in its mother''s womb across space and delivered even as the mother died on a hostile Earth.But the alien woman had given birth to more than a child. With her last act she had bequeathed to the Earth that hated her and her kind decades of turmoil and strife that would come close to tearing the whole planet apart.

Someone is thinking about Margaret. "I wondered about Margaret, and what she would do next. I didn''t care unless she went the route of drugs. They make her try and get at me sometimes, and that can be bothersome. She is so terribly afraid of me."Who so casually draws Margaret to the brink of hysteria - then, just as casually, tries to walk away?Her subconsciousness does, when it becomes a living, breathing personality with an ego all its own - setting the stage for a remarkable transformation scarcely envisioned by the science of man.

"My lover, my protector, my friend, my doctor, my brother - they''re all killing me."Peter Roos cannot help knowing the thoughts of those around him. A rare physical condition has given him that power. Now he has "heard" about the government''s secret plan to give up control of America to the military - to build an underground city for themselves in the event of a nuclear attack. Unfortunately for Roos, the government knows he knows. And the project''s sponsors - including his senator brother - have no choice.They must get him out of the way - permanently!

She was consumed by two passions - her husband and her medical research. Or was it first her work and then her husband?At twenty-eight Anne had made a scientific breakthrough that would be a financial miracle for her employers. But was it safe yet to use the serum on humans? Anne found the answer - after her perfect marriage and her courage had been tested by inward conflict and the politics of power.

Man reached for the stars - and failed to keep the Earth in his grasp. With the western United States devastated by drought, the survivors huddle in squalid concentration camps in the east.And still the dream won''t go away. In high orbit, an artefact is found that may be man''s first contact with aliens. The only woman who can decode it has found her future in the past, in the remote Indian territories of the Pacific Northwest. But in which direction does the planet''s survival lie?

They came to his deathbed. Four dutiful children. Each the victim of a different mother. Each mother the victim of a tragic accident, unsolved murder, mysterious disappearance.As he sank away they glowered their hatred. It was a hatred he expected, and his revenge was well-planned.He left a multimillion dollar legacy, bearing a ghoulish price tag. They could pay with their sanity, or their psyches, or their souls, they would be part of an experiment, something to do with brain waves. It would be a great service to science, they were told. Just one last little joke on his kids, and they swore they could hear him laughing - all the way to hell.

The more man learns, the more dangerous he becomes. The greater the civilization, the greater the chaos it eventually unleashes...If you discovered the secret of immortality, to whom would you give it? To the scientists, the politicians, the military? To the Americans? The Russians? The Chinese?If you weren''t after power or money or fame but really wanted to increase human happiness, what would you do with your secret? Go underground? Run away? Pray that you might outlive civilization and be given the chance to start it all over again?And if the authorities found you, what would they do?Here is a chilling, provocative and unforgettable novel about the present and the future of mankind.

Why is Lauren Steele being followed around by a mysterious red-haired ghost? Why is the Pentagon after her? And why doesn''t anyone believe her?As a psychologist at the Waycross Clinic in Seattle, she has enough problems. Her clients never seem to listen to anything she says, and her co-workers could use extensive counseling themselves. The last thing she needs is an obnoxious figment of her own imagination showing up at the least opportune moments.But Daniel ("Corky") Corcoran is actually the victim of a fault experimental laser, having been accidentally "dispersed" when the device misfired during a demonstration. He has literally gathered his wits about him by focusing on the last person he saw - Lauren. The trouble is, Corky''s attempts at communication only convince Lauren that she is going crazy.Add to this one paranoid colonel from the Pentagon who is convinced that both Corky and Lauren are Soviet spies, and you have a mix of zany and colourful characters caught up in a plot that is quintessential Wilhelm.

A collection of short stories from the award-winning author, Kate Wilhelm. Contains the following:The Mile-Long Spaceship Fear Is a Cold Black Jenny with Wings A Is for Automation Gift from the Stars No Light in the Window One for the Road Andover and the Android The Man without a Planet The Apostolic Travelers The Last Days of the Captain

What happens when . . .An all-powerful killing machine is equipped with a human brain on the brink of madness?A group of apes are injected with human intelligence and build their own strange empire?A child with an other-worldly intellect is locked in mortal combat with his own down-to-earth father?A hand-picked space team convenes at a countdown that can mean the start of a new era - or the end of mankind?You''ll find out when you enter . . . THE DOWNSTAIRS ROOM.

Abyss Anyone? Enter Kate Wilhelm''s realm of extrasensory perception, alternate universes, alien monsters, and something else, something much more strange...the abyss that lurks near each of us, ready to destroy us...or set us free.

This book contains four striking novellas, and the author''s own philosophy of fiction writing expressed in her speech as a guest of honour at the 38th World Science Fiction Convention."The Winter Beach" turns what might be a spy story into suspense of a far different order."Julian" begins when its youthful hero trains his telescope on nearby earth rather than the stars and sees a woman who rules the rest of his life."With Thimbles, with Forks and Hope" seems to be the dramatic story of a holiday fishing trip, but once on the ocean we are gripped by a different reality."Moongate", set in the mountains of the Northwest, takes its two men and one woman through many dimensions in time and space."The Uncertain Edge of Reality" casts a new light on Kate Wilhelm''s many books and short stories. "This is my subject matter when I write," she says. "I am asking, What actually do we mean by reality, and are we stuck with the one we have? This is what I mean by reality fiction, and usually it is also called science fiction...We are more than simple animals using sophisticated tools in our search for food, security and mates. We are something new on the earth...We can change reality."Kate Wilhelm''s writing always has meaning on many levels. Listen, Listen provides a feasts for fans and new readers alike.

This collection assembles in one volume five works by Kate Wilhelm, masterful fantasist and one of science fiction''s premier storytellers:In ''Children of the Wind'', identical twins J-1 and J-2 play subtle games with their parents'' lives. Are the boys just precocious, or are they far more strange - and powerful? ''The Gorgon Field'' finds Charlie and Constance caught in a mystery of mystical proportions in the Arizona desert. ''A Brother to Dragons, a Companion of Owls'' depicts a future in which survival may not be merely enough - it may be too much, whilst ''The Blue Ladies'' studies a disabled woman''s abilities to share his vision. ''The Girl Who Fell Into the Sky'', winner of the Nebula Award for best novelette, weaves a dreamy tale of love, death and an old piano amid the Kansas plains.These five tales present luminous, absorbing visions of the world as it could be and as it is.

The dozen stories in this delightful volume span the career of Kate Wilhelm, showcasing the wide-ranging works of this exceptional stylist. These stories include:"The Look Alike", in which a grieving young mother encounters a doppelganger of her lost daughter."Forever Yours, Anna", recipient of the 1988 Nebula Award for best short story."The Day of the Sharks", presents a relentless account of a woman recovering from a breakdown.Ranging from the harrowing to the humorous, from the charming to the strange, And the Angels Sing is a chorus of literary delights.