In Search of Kronos: Colonel Landry Space Adventure Series, #4

IN SEARCH OF KRONOS 

Six starcrafts were  being assembled .  .  .

What is your estimated time to complete construction on the crafts? Landry asked Rheinhardt  .  .  .

Another two weeks before we can set off.  That includes time to recruit competent commanders and skilled astrogators. And for preliminary testing, of course.

Of course, Landry thought. In the early days of interstellar travel it had been not unheard of for a starcraft to explode into oblivion upon entering quantum drive as the result of hastily assembled star drives. Especially when the craft was piloted by a bunch of greenhorns like the fellows that would be following the Aurora to the former Federation rim planets.

If you’re satisfied, Mr. Rheinhardt, I think we can be going now.

I’m very satisfied. 

Cohen only grinned slightly in his usual quietness. They  strode across the tarmac toward their aircar. It was Cohen who caught something from the corner of his eye.

Look out! Behind us!

Landry and Rheinhardt whirled to see another aircar–  pilotless and automated–soaring to hit their own aircar broadside.

Take cover! At Landry’s signal, they all ran and flung themselves behind the shelter of a rectangular work shed some six meters away. They hit the ground just as the expected explosion reverberated and battered their hearing—the detonation of the device which someone had installed in the attacking aircar.

Landry looked around the shed to see the gnarled frames of metal which had been their own aircar and the attacker. Both vehicles were twisted together into a single blazing mass. The workers over at the construction site watched on in gaping-mouthed wonder.

Landry remarked, President Andrews is afraid we might actually find Kronos. 

There is no Kronos, Cohen said.

I know you keep saying that, Mr. Cohen. But I’m really beginning to wonder.

EXCERPT FROM

IN SEARCH OF KRONOS

PRAISE FOR IN SEARCH OF KRONOS AND THE COLONEL  LANDRY  SERIES

IN SEARCH OF KRONOS

This is thinking person’s Science-Fiction. Don’t get us wrong. There is plenty of fast-paced action and adventure just like in the three earlier Colonel Landry novels. But with  emphasis on contemplation. There are aspects to the book that will be a little too cerebral for some readers. But still deserving of Five Stars as far as we’re concerned. As usual, well done, Mr. Smith! Keep it up. Western Regional Science-Fiction Digest

We can’t but continue being amazed at how each book in the Colonel Landry series creates an entirely different world. We are used to seeing an author come out regularly with a new books under different titles and covers but with parallel plotting between and following the same tired formula fiction (I won’t use any names here). Not so with this author. Each book is distinctive and unique. This story does revisit the old search for master computer theme from Golden Age Sci-Fi. But the author breathes fresh originality into it. Recommended.  Northern California Science-Fiction Book Review

Much less in this novel of what his critics call gratuitous sex," nor the literal gut-spilling violence we saw in the last novel, Final Battle. As usual, In Search of Kronos exhibits deft plotting, creation of memorable characters, and is again remarkable for the author’s unique narrative voice. A good addition to the Colonel Landry series." Montreal Science Fiction & Fantasy Today.  

"This new novel In Search of Kronos doesn’t hit you with a two by four with not so subtle political commentary like the last one, Final Battle. We’ve  heard that the author has even gotten some hate mail over that one. As he remarks in his Foreword, this new novel is geared more to having fun Sci-Fi adventure like an old weekend Flash Gordon or a 1966 Friday night Star Trek episode. The author did achieve this objective and a quick and enjoyable read." Miami Science Fiction Regency Digest

FINAL BATTLE

Exciting and absorbing tale combining elements of military Science-Fiction and espionage, well-plotted and unforgettable. Western Regional Science-Fiction Digest

Colonel Landry and other central characters return in this third installment of the series. This time the author combines military sci-fi, spy story, drama, and suspense to great advantage. This book, like the others in the series, is very different but just as good. Northern California Science-Fiction Book Review

The author’s suggestion that the political right may be used as a tool of the liberal left is certainly not a new idea but nonetheless intriguing.  Montreal Science Fiction & Fantasy Today.

With many authors in the sci-fi arena, or anywhere else for that matter, if you’ve read one book by an author you’ve read them all. Mr. Smith is one of the few writers who can create entirely new worlds with every book. Each Colonel Landry novel is distinctively unique with very little redundancy or cross-plotting between them. Miami Science Fiction Regency Digest

FERAL PLANET

". . . a  riveting premier Science-Fiction novel . . . Western Regional Science-Fiction Digest

Eminently readable sci-fi with a well thought-out plot line . . . Montreal Science Fiction & Fantasy Today

. . . a must read for all enthusiasts of Science-Fiction and fantasy, and represents a significant modern revitalization of the classic Space Opera genre. Northern California Science-Fiction Book Review

Exciting and thought provoking . . . an extremely well-crafted and gripping sci-fi novel that immediately holds your attention from page one and stays with you even after the end. Science-Fiction and Fantasy Quarterly Gazette

DOME OF SLAVERY

We have all been looking forward to release of the second Colonel Landry book and the wait was worth it. Seldom have we seen such effortlessly flowing simple prose, nor a tale so gripping and suspenseful or better told. Western Regional Science-Fiction Digest

Thought provoking and nothing less than riveting. Mr. Smith appears determined to spearhead the old classic space opera into a modern sci-fi genre with his own stylish twists. Northern California Science-Fiction Book Review

"I for one missed the presence of  Maya, Veronica, and Tiger Jones from Feral Planet. The author gives some of the background on that in his Foreword to the book. And although I am glad to hear those characters will return in the later books, this story was nothing the less without them. Intriguing and captivating fiction." Montreal Science Fiction & Fantasy Today.

"A greatly entertaining book on its face and, of course, as anyone can see even without the author’s references in his Foreword to Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Orwell’s 1984, Mr. Smith’s Dome of Slavery is an obvious allegory for the sinister specter of  government run amok. As the author quotes  Baron Acton, ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely . . .’ Science-Fiction and Fantasy Quarterly Gazette

Other Books By Bryan Smith:

Feral Planet: Colonel Landry Series, 1

Dome Of  Slavery: Colonel Landry Series, 2

Final Battle: Colonel Landry Series,  3

Bryan Smith

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IN SEARCH OF KRONOS

Colonel Landry Series, 4 

PHOENIXE PRESS

www.phoenixepress.net 

© Copyright 2016  by Gerald Bryan Smith. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Publishers Note:

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real person, places, or events is coincidental.

E-Book published by Phoenixe Press in May 2016

A different version of this book was previously published  under the title The Master Entity © Copyright 2010 by Gerald Bryan Smith. 

Phoenixe Press is an imprint of the author, Gerald Bryan Smith, www.phoenixepress.net; Phoenixe Press and the Phoenixe logo are registered trademarks of the author.

Front cover image by www.fotolia.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Creative Influences

The author gives sincere grateful acknowledgment for the creative influences of the following Science-Fiction/fantasy grand masters and other sci-fi celebrities in alphabetical surname order:

Poul Anderson (my favorite The Enemy Stars and Call Me Joe, 1957 novelette inspiring 2009 film Avatar, uncredited); Piers Anthony (Xanth series); Isaac Asimov (I, Robot); James Blish (for City and short story adaptations of original l966-1969 Star Trek  television series episodes); Robert Bloch (Psycho, The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch); Ray Bradbury (my favorite, Fahrenheit 451); John Brunner (Born Under Mars); Jack Campbell (Lost Fleet series); Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey, basis of 1968 Stanley Kubrick film); Pen Densham (co-producer of the revived Outer Limits television series airing 1995-2002); Phillip K. Dick (The Man In the High Castle, source of current streaming min-series; Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sleep, basis for 1982 film Blade Runner); Gordon R. Dickson (The Genetic General); Harlan Ellison (my favorite, his script for the 1964 Outer Limits episode Demon With A Glass Hand starring Robert Culp); Philip Jose Farmer (Riverworld series); Jack Finney (The Body Snatchers, filmed three times); Harry Harrison (Make Room! Make Room!, basis for 1973 film Soylent Green); Frank Herbert (Dune); Robert A. Heinlein (my favorites The Puppet Masters and Starman Jones); Aldous Huxley (Brave New World); Stephen King (my favorite The Stand); Dean R. Koontz (Demon Seed, basis of 1977 film); Stanley Kubrick (for 1971 film A Clockwork Orange); Stanislaw Lem (Solaris, basis of 2002 film); George Lucas (of course for Star Wars franchise);  Richard Matheson (his classic sci-fi vampire novel I Am Legend, filmed three times); the late Leonard Nimoy (of course, famous Mr. Spock of Star Trek); Alan E. Nourse (Rocket to Limbo); Andre (Alice Mary) Norton (her time travel series including The Time Traders inspired the 1966-1967 television series The Time Tunnel, uncredited); George Orwell (1984); H. Beam Piper (The Cosmic Computer); Frank M. Robinson (my favorite, The Power); Gene Roddenberry (producer of original Star Trek television series, 1966-1969); Rod Serling (producer of Twilight Zone television series, 1959-1964); William Shatner (for Tek War series ghost-written by Ron Goulart); Robert Silverberg (The Gate of Worlds); Clifford D. Simak (my favorite, Way Station); E.E. Doc Smith (Lensman series); Joseph Stefano (producer of original Outer Limits television series, 1963-1965); Mark Stern (co-producer of the revived Outer Limits television series airing 1995-2002); Theodore Sturgeon (wrote script for famous 1967 Star Trek episode Amok Time); Jack Vance (The Dying Earth); Jules Verne (From The Earth To The Moon, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea); A.E. Van Vogt (Black Destroyer, inspiration for 1979 film Alien (uncredited), co-authored with Harlan Ellison 1971 story The Human Operators, credited in script for 1999 episode of revived Outer Limits series); Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (Slaughterhouse-Five); and H.G. Wells (The Time Machine, War Of The Worlds).

In terms of economy of writing style, the author credits Ernest Hemingway–the rightly acknowledged father of the modern American novel (my all-time favorite, The Sun Also Rises). With regard to the more colorful prose style occasionally appearing in the Colonel Landry series, the