The Kahst

In the history of the planet Earth there have been at least five really huge mass extinctions, each one wiping clean the majority of complex life, leaving the survivors to start anew. In the history of the satellite Neä, which is a good deal longer than the history of Earth, there have been eight. On Earth we have the Coelacanth, which has survived one of the most complete mass extinctions ever (not just the one that killed the dinosaurs; they survived the bigger one that killed off everything before the dinosaurs). On Neä there is a species that has survived three such extinctions. And unlike the Coelacanth, they are intelligent. And above all else, they know how to survive.

They live in the deeps of the ocean, and are the scourge of fishing boats and research teams the world over. They can hear microwaves, and they can see gamma rays. They do not have hands. They do not need hands.

The Neätans call them kahst.

—Excerpt from Professor Odd: The Slowly Dying Planet NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!

Oh boy, I've been sitting on this one for a while. It's another Professor Odd piece, a scene from the second installment in the series, and I wanted to wait to post it until the eBook was up on at least one of the sites that will be carrying it. Well, Amazon came through first, so here it is! It will eventually be up on Barns&Noble for NOOK, and iTunes.

It's set on Neä, which is actually the moon of a gas giant that orbits a red dwarf star. It's pretty neat stuff. My first real Science Fiction story. And there are flying whales. And robots. Yep.

I don't want to spoil too much about the kahst. Just head on over to Amazon and pick it up. It's only a few dollars/euros/pounds. If you don't have a Kindle, just get the free Kindle app for your smartphone or desktop. It's available in the US, UK, Germany and France Kindle stores (though it's always in English).

One last time, you can buy Slowly Dying Planet over here: [link] And the first episode, The False Student, over here: [link] Ratings and reviews are always appreciated!

You can find more Professor Odd art over here!

More Neä/Niatano-related art: