This story was extensively abridged in 2020 under the title of "The Siege of Ellipsus Station." It's inspiring message of overcoming impossible odds is perfect for today. The printed version will be abridged soon.A WORLD IN ITSELF. The enormous Ellipsus transfer space station is filled with glittering casinos, shopping districts, and resorts; drawing eccentrics and strange peoples from every part of the oppressive medieval empire. It's a reckless and volatile mix of exploration and research teams placed alongside massive cargo ships and tourist liners. A TERRIFYING HIDDEN MENACE. When a deadly alien parasite on route to the fighting rings escapes into a victim, the exponentially multiplying and growing threat forces the station into a lockdown. Tourists, heroes, and those with deadly secrets of their own, band together in the overpowering invasion to fight for their lives-even as a backwards savant controlling an armada of battleships races to blow up the station so it can not spread to other worlds. NOW THE SITUATION IS HOPELESS. And yet, the direst of times will push those trapped inside towards paths of greatness that will challenge the brutality of the Tezzerachy empire, itself. The ordeal refines them all, for better or worse-up to the surprising climax.
About the Author: K. Paul Thompson moved to the magnificent state of Idaho when she was young, and her life began when she saved up enough to buy her own best friend-her horse. Her youth was spend drawing and painting, riding in a junior posse to the tune of "Hawaii Five-O" (horses love to lope to the beat), and photographing fashion by forcing anyone that looked promising to be a model. For the last thirty-five years, she has labored in advertising and illustration in Denver, San Bernardino, and Seattle, learning much from the brilliant writers she worked with. Married in 1994, she brokered a move back to Idaho with her husband, grabbed hold of the sagebrush with both hands, and determined to never leave again. She still has her saddle in the garage. Ellipsus Station is the first novel written by K. Paul Thompson in the "Persistor Manuscripts". The second is "Pothliman, Empire of Monsters". The third is on its way. A note from the author: I wrote what I like to read; and that's the early science fiction authors from the 1940s into the 1960s: Pohl, Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein, among others. Many bus rides commuting to work faded away, replaced by the epic conflicts contained in those books. They were pure escapism, infused with the "individual can-do" attitude from the WWII years, or the improbable "if-we-all-work-together-there-will-be-a-bright-future" optimism that continued into the Star Trek era. If a story teaches me something new about science along the way-that's icing on the cake.