The Otherness Factor

Arlene F. Marks has been writing since the age of 6, and she has no plans to stop. A veteran teacher of the craft, she has authored two popular literacy programs for the classroom. Her short stories have appeared online and in print, notably in an anthology of reimagined fairy tales, Grimmer Tales Volume One. She is also the author of the Sic Transit Terra space opera series (from Edge Publishing) and Adventures in Godhood, her first of several recent releases from Brain Lag Publishing. The Stragori Deception, the next instalment of Sic Transit Terra, will be released later this year. Arlene lives with her husband on the shore of beautiful Nottawasaga Bay, where she spends time exploring imaginary worlds, collecting interesting-looking owls, and dreaming of one day having a tidy, well-organized office. thewritersnest.ca

"I know where the Angel of Death plague originated, and so does every other 'patient' who left Thrygg that day…"Fourteen years ago, Thryggian scientists permitted a mass escape of test subjects from their laboratory on Thrygg, including Abner Dedrick, the youngest member of the powerful Forrand-Dedrick family on Earth. These patients all thought they'd been receiving an unapproved longevity treatment. In fact, they'd been infected with a bio-engineered virus and their escape was the first step in a horrific experiment.Now the day of reckoning is approaching. The plague unleashed on the galaxy by the Thryggians has finally been brought under control and they're on trial for this and other scientific crimes. The viral strain Abner was carrying has wiped out an entire Human colony. Only his young daughter Lania and his voice log - a damning piece of evidence if brought before the tribunal - have survived. Aboard the Earth ship that rescues Lania is Ixbeth Minegar, a lone alien who becomes convinced that Lania is part of a prophecy that could spell life or death for Ixbeth's entire race.The Thryggians are not going down quietly. They've broken planetary confinement and are determined to find and eliminate any evidence against them, even if it means entering Earth space and destroying Earth ships. Fortunately, the one carrying Abner Dedrick's log has an alien or two up its sleeve…