The Moon and the Desert

Glenn Armstrong Shepard had his sights set on going to Mars as a flight surgeon, but a training accident on the Moon left him crippled. Now he has a new plan: to be fitted with bionic prosthetics and come back even stronger. Fate and the Space Force have other plans, and Glenn is grounded. Another doctor—his ex-fiancé—takes his place, and Glenn will have to fight to prove he can be an astronaut once more.  When a mysterious illness takes the life of one of the crew returning from Mars, Earth must mount a rescue using an experimental, high acceleration spacecraft. The g-forces will be punishing, and no ordinary human could survive it—but Glenn Shepard is no ordinary human. This mission is his chance to finally live his dream. . . . About Stellaris: People of the Stars, co-edited by Robert E. Hampson: “[A] thought-provoking look at a selection of real-world challenges and speculative fiction solutions. . . . Readers will enjoy this collection that is as educational as it is entertaining.”—Booklist “This was an enjoyable collection of science fiction dealing with colonizing the stars. In the collection were several gems and the overall quality was high.”—Tangent