Lost Species: Episode Ten in the Star Song Series

By Bill Gregg

Lost Species is the last episode of Book One in the Star Song Series. There is a surprising development in the war between the invading Khaozian forces and the Shirrah military based on Hestia. As the story unfolds, we learn about the ancient history of the Shirrah. Dekapods, the intelligent mobile plant creatures of the planet Eden, have almost overnight, joined the Great Family of Shirr and become a race of enlightened beings. The book ends with the first human settlers on Eden assuming roles to govern arriving masses of human refugees from the Khaozian conquest of Earth Two. Tragedy is mixed with hope and determination to meet new challenges in this tale that that mixes metaphysics with speculative science and sets the stage for the next book in the trilogy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bill Gregg
• Release date: Mar 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798215032480

Bill Gregg

I write fiction from some subconscious compulsion rather than a desire for financial gain or adulation. Even though my bookish inclinations led me to a position as the editor of my college literary journal, then to five years work for a small avante-garde publishing house, I didn't pursue my desire to write fiction until later in life. I had poetry published but no stories or novels. Now, after a lifetime filled with amazing experiences, I sit down to write every day. I decided to issue the resulting science fiction and fantasy short stories on Smashwords in case there are readers for my somewhat antiquated and literary style. In addition to shorter fiction, I'm currently publishing a serialized science fiction novel, “Star Song” on Smashwords , with a new 10,000 word installment posted every month.Much of my science fiction shows the influence of my experience in military intelligence with the US Navy's Naval Security Group (NAVSECGRU, now NETWARCOM). During my tour, I flew on numerous reconnaissance missions with VQ-1 (Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One) in the Far East. After that I worked for a few years in publishing, then as a traveling folk musician. Finally, I settled into a career in biotechnology. I retired from scientific work to teach music at a fine arts academy in Upstate New York. All my life I've been an outdoorsman, and my love of nature shows through in all of my fiction. I live in the scenic Finger Lakes area of New York State where I enjoy hiking, gardening, archery, and the company of my beautiful wife and our wonderful dog, Dash.

Book preview

LOST SPECIES

(Episode Ten in the Star Song series)

by Bill Gregg

Lost Species

(Episode Ten of the Star Song series)

By Bill Gregg

Copyright © 2024 by William Richard Gregg

Published by Bill Gregg on Smashwords 2024

Edited by Bill Gregg

Cover Illustration by Storn Cook

Cover Design by yourebookcover.com

First Edition March 2024

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the author, except for the purpose of reviews.

This book is a work of fiction and all names, characters, places, and incidents are fictional. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental.

Doctor Artemis Katsaros sat very still. Beside her, sitting on his haunches, was Vahan, the war dog she had adopted after its original owner had been killed in battle with the Khaozian invaders. Vahan was motionless as a statue except for occasional sidelong adoring glances at his beloved companion. Artemis had come in from a morning’s work and found Temozar deep in trance. Instead of bustling about household tasks, she sat down and remained quiet. Artemis knew from personal experience how important the trance state was to those who were members of the Great Family. She could see that her lover was deep in that mysterious state where his mind lost its identity and fused with the normally hidden consciousness that pervaded the universe, the ineffable mental activity that he called Luminous Darkness.

Artemis gazed at Temozar’s bare torso with a mixture of romantic love, and awe. She was awed by the fact that the man she loved was the first human being in the galaxy to be invited to join the association of living beings known as Mi ti la mi fa - The Great Family of Shirr. The Great Family was the elite order of beings with material bodies who were imbued with the essence of the intelligence of the dark universe. The outward sign of that fusion of physical matter and the dark matter and energy of the hidden reality was the repeating patterns of colored stripes and whorls that replaced a being’s original external coloration.

Temozar, the first human to enter the Great Family, had skin that was colored in stripes and whorls of vivid red, blue, green, yellow, and magenta that ran from the top of his skull to the ends of his toes. Artemis, who had more recently been inducted into The Great Family of Shirr, also displayed those colored stripes on her body. Even though her transformation into a multicolored being was complete, she knew her trances were less frequent and weaker than the profound state that Temozar experienced.

The alien race known as the Shirrah offered the opportunity to experience the great blessings of symbiosis with the hidden essence of the universe to those who were distinguished by one feature; completely natural, unselfconscious and powerful compassion for other living beings. Temozar Abdullah Alkabah was the very first human being to enter into that exalted state. When he was an officer in Earth Extraterrestrial Command, his sense of compassion and justice led him to free a captive Shirrah officer who later became the Empress of the far-flung alien empire. That act led to his conviction for treason by an EEC military tribunal and nearly cost him his life. The victorious Shirrah