As the play begins, Valentine is preparing to leave Verona for Milan so as to broaden his horizons. He begs his best friend, Proteus, to come with him, but Proteus is in love with Julia, and refuses to leave. Disappointed, Valentine bids Proteus farewell and goes on alone. Meanwhile, Julia is discussing Proteus with her maid, Lucetta, who tells Julia that she thinks Proteus is fond of her. Julia, however, acts coyly, embarrassed to admit that she likes him. Lucetta then produces a letter; she will not say who gave it to her, but teases Julia that it was Valentine''s servant, Speed, who brought it from Proteus. Julia, still unwilling to reveal her love in front of Lucetta, angrily tears up the letter. She sends Lucetta away, but then, realising her own rashness, she picks up the fragments of letter and kisses them, trying to piece them back together. Meanwhile, Proteus'' father has decided that Proteus should travel to Milan and join Valentine. He orders that Proteus must leave the next day, prompting a tearful farewell with Julia, to whom Proteus swears eternal love. The two exchange rings and vows and Proteus promises to return as soon as he can. In Milan, Proteus finds Valentine in love with the Duke''s daughter Silvia. Despite Julia''s love, Proteus falls instantly in love with Silvia and vows to win her. Unaware of Proteus'' feelings, Valentine tells him that the Duke wants Silvia to marry the foppish but wealthy Thurio, against her wishes. Because the Duke suspects that his daughter and Valentine are in love, he locks her nightly in a tower, to which he keeps the only key. However, Valentine tells Proteus that he plans to free her by means of a corded ladder, and together, they will elope. Proteus immediately informs the Duke, who subsequently captures and banishes Valentine. While wandering outside Milan, Valentine runs afoul of a band of outlaws, who claim they are also exiled gentlemen. Valentine lies, saying he was banished for killing a man in a fair fight, and the outlaws elect him their leader. Meanwhile, in Verona, Julia decides to join her lover in Milan. She convinces Lucetta to dress her in boy''s clothes and help her fix her hair so she will not be harmed on the journey. Once in Milan, Julia quickly discovers Proteus'' love for Silvia, watching him attempt to serenade her. She contrives to become his page – a youth named Sebastian – until she can decide upon a course of action. Proteus sends Sebastian to Silvia with a gift of the same ring that Julia gave to him before he left Verona, but Julia discovers that Silvia scorns Proteus'' affections and is disgusted that he would forget about his love back home, i.e. Julia herself. Silvia deeply mourns the loss of Valentine, whom Proteus has told her is rumoured dead. Not persuaded of Valentine''s death, Silvia determines to flee the city with the help of Eglamour, a former suitor to Julia. They escape into the forest but when they are confronted by the outlaws, Eglamour flees and Silvia is taken captive. The outlaws head to their leader (Valentine), but on the way, they encounter Proteus and Julia (still disguised as Sebastian). Proteus rescues Silvia, and then pursues her deeper into the forest. Secretly observed by Valentine, Proteus attempts to persuade Silvia that he loves her, but she rejects his advances. Furious and mad with desire, Proteus insinuates that he will rape her ("I''ll force thee yield to my desire"). At this point, Valentine intervenes and denounces Proteus. Horrified at what has happened, Proteus vows that the hate Valentine feels for him is nothing compared to the hate he feels for himself. Convinced that Proteus'' repentance is genuine, Valentine forgives him and seems to offer Silvia to him. At this point, overwhelmed, Julia faints, revealing her true identity. Upon seeing her, Proteus suddenly remembers his love for her and vows fidelity to her once again. The Duke and Thurio arrive, and Thurio claims Silvia as his. Valentine then warns Thurio that if he makes one move toward her, he will kill him. Terrified, Thurio renounces Silvia. The Duke, impressed by Valentine''s actions, approves his and Silvia''s love, and consents to their marriage. The two couples are happily united, and the Duke pardons the outlaws, telling them they may return to Milan.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Watson visits his friend Holmes at Christmas time and finds him contemplating a battered old hat, brought to him by the commissionaire Peterson after it and a Christmas goose had been dropped by a man in a scuffle with some street ruffians. Peterson takes the goose home to eat it, but comes back later with a carbuncle. His wife has found it in the bird''s crop (throat). Holmes makes some interesting deductions concerning the owner of the hat from simple observations of its condition, conclusions amply confirmed when an advertisement for the owner produces the man himself: Henry Baker. Holmes cannot resist such an intriguing mystery, and he and Watson set out across the city to determine exactly how the jewel, stolen from the Countess of Morcar during her stay at a hotel, wound up in a goose''s crop. The man who dropped the goose, Mr. Henry Baker, clearly has no knowledge of the crime, but he gives Holmes valuable information, eventually leading him to the conclusive stage of his investigation, at Covent Garden. There, a salesman named Breckinridge gets angry with Holmes, complaining about all the people who have pestered him about geese sold recently to the landlord of the Alpha Inn. Clearly, someone else knows that the carbuncle was in a goose and is looking for the bird. Holmes expects that he will have to visit the goose supplier in Brixton, but it proves unnecessary: the other "pesterer" that the salesman mentioned shows up right then, a cringing little man named James Ryder whom Holmes prevails upon to tell the whole sordid story, by first mentioning that Ryder is probably looking for a goose with a black bar on its tail, a remarkable bird that "[laid] an egg after it was dead". Of course, Holmes has already deduced most of it. Ryder, believing he was being pursued for the theft, fed the carbuncle to a goose being bred by his sister Maggie Oakshott. He was to have that goose as a gift, but lost track of which one it was. Thus, when Ryder cut open the goose and found no gem, he went back to his sister, who had provided the Alpha Inn geese, and asked if there was more than one goose that had a black bar on its tail. She said there were two, but he was too late: she had sold them all to Breckinridge at Covent Garden. Breckinridge already sold the geese to the Alpha Inn, and the other goose with a black bar on its tail found its way to Henry Baker as his Christmas fowl. Ryder and his accomplice — the countess''s maid, Catherine Cusack — contrived to disguise the crime to frame John Horner, a plumber who worked at the same hotel as Ryder and had previously been imprisoned for robbery. Holmes, however, does not take the standard action against the man, it being Christmas, and concluding that arresting the clearly anguished Ryder will only make him into a more hardened criminal later. Ryder flees to the continent and Horner will be freed as the case against him will collapse without Ryder''s perjured testimony. Holmes remarks that he is not retained by the police to remedy their deficiencies.

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

Dreaming of freedom from a life of brute servitude, hard labor, and debt to a tyrannical landlord, Papa Santuzzu and his wife, Adriana, push their beloved children to immigrate to La Merica, the Land of Opportunity. In his "wild and giddy imagination," Papa Santuzzu ardently believes in the ease of attaining the American Dream, the promise of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" for all, and rests assured that his children will thrive in this great nation of abundance. Following the painful, yet exuberant, process of the Santuzzu children''s displacement from their homeland and relocation in Papa Santuzzu''s conceived lush "faraway garden," Ardizzone''s novel re-imagines the meaning of such a journey, where every obvious gain entails some unforeseen sacrifice. A loving tribute to Sicilian American culture, In the Garden of Papa Santuzzu resounds with the traditional folklore and songs of Sicily, implanting within our hearts a vibrant and compassionate perspective of the struggles, joys, and proliferation of diasporic communities in modern America. In their earnest exodus to America, the Santuzzu children arduously clear away the weeds and briars in what seems a vast and rugged wilderness, managing to cultivate their own unknown, yet nonetheless beautiful, version of their Papa''s paradisiacal vision—building, at last, a home-away-from home.

In the Garden of Papa Santuzzu

The novel is divided into three sections. The first and third section depict the historical investigation of a fictional Javier Cercas into the life of the fascist Rafael Sánchez Mazas. The second section is a biographical retelling of Mazas''s life. In the first section of the novel, a fictionalized version of the author, also called Javier Cercas and a journalist, interviews the son of Mazas. During the interview Cercas is told the story of how Mazas''s escapes from execution by the Republicans at the end of the Spanish Civil War with the help of a lone soldier. Encouraged by his eccentric girlfriend, a TV fortune teller, Javier begins investigating the incident. Early on, he writes a brief article in his newspaper based on the retelling by Mazas''s son. In response to this Cercas becomes obsessed with finding the soldier who spared the life of Mazas. The second section of the novel takes place during the war itself (1936–1939). The nucleus of this section of the book is Rafael Sánchez Mazas''s life. Cercas presents him as a writer and idealist of the Falange Española and close collaborator of José Antonio Primo de Rivera. The narrative in this section focuses on the particulars of his escape from execution at the end of the Spanish Civil War. When a group of prisoners is taken to the forest to be executed, Mazas is able to flee and hide in the bush. A Republican soldier finds him but decides to spare his life and when asked by another soldier if anyone is there he replies that no one is. Helped by several deserters, Mazas evades the retreating Republican forces and eventually returns to Falangist custody where he became an important propagandist for the Francisco Franco regime. In the third section in the novel, after having written the biography in the second section, the Cercas character is still curious about the story of Mazas''s escape. Following a series of leads, Cercas comes in contact with an old man named Miralles. Miralles had fought for the Republicans in the civil war and later became a member of the French Foreign Legion responsible for heroic feats during the Second World War. Cercas discovers him sequestered in a retirement home in his old age. Cercas comes to believe that Miralles was the soldier who saved Mazas from execution. However, Miralles will neither confirm nor deny having been the soldier to save Mazas. The fictional Cercas ends the novel with a monologue questioning the historical explanation which he had investigated and the nature of heroes.

Soldados de Salamina

Platform 13 of King''s Cross Station in London has been closed for years. Changes to the platform always result in failure for mysterious reasons. The reason is that the platform hides a gump, described as an "opening that opens once every nine years for nine days". The gump leads to the Island, a mythical paradise filled with both normal and magical creatures. Shortly before the Gump opens, the Queen gives birth to a baby boy. The three nurses for the baby prince are overcome with homesickness and wish to visit London when the gump reopens. They are given permission to do so and bring the Prince with them. On the ninth day, however, the prince is kidnapped by a "beastly" woman named Mrs. Trottle who is desperate for a child. Nanny Brown, Mrs. Trottle''s nurse as a child, is horrified by the kidnapping. Mrs. Trottle threatens to call police if Nanny dares to tell anyone and decides to name the baby "Raymond". The nurses only discover the prince is gone when it is too late. To rescue the prince, the king and queen organize a group who will venture into London the next time the gump opens. The group consists of a giant, a "slightly batty" fey, a wizard, and a young hag named Odge (who joined because she was the same age as the prince would be and felt a sense of kinship to him as a result). When the gump opens, the rescuers are directed to the Trottle house by the ghosts that live in Platform 13. There they see Raymond Trottle, who has grown up to be fat, lazy, and very spoiled. They also meet the household servant, a boy named Ben. Ben is the exact opposite of Raymond and immediately feels comfortable with the group and befriends Odge. The group begins to observe Raymond and after some time arranges for him to meet them in the park where they arrange for various magical creatures to perform a show for him. Though Raymond is unimpressed by the magical performance, he is delighted to discover that he is really a prince and agrees to return to the Island. Odge tries to convince Ben to come to the Island as well, but he refuses as Nanny (who raised him) is very ill and in the hospital. Raymond mysteriously vanishes the next day however, and the group discovers that he told Mrs. Trottle of the plan. Believing that strangers intended to kidnap her child, she took him into hiding at a fancy hotel with several bodyguards. The group hatch a plan to take Raymond back, but everything falls apart when Ben is knocked out and nearly killed by one of the bodyguards. Given the choice of taking Raymond or rescuing Ben, the group chooses to save Ben. Raymond is abducted later by a swarm of harpies that the king and queen send and is successfully brought to the Island. Heartbroken, the group returns to the island except for Odge, as she would prefer to stay with Ben. Shortly before the gump will close, Nanny dies and leaves a note for Ben. It reveals that Ben was really the kidnapped prince, however Mrs. Trottle had discovered shortly after abducting him that she was pregnant. Odge rescues Ben from some cruel men Mrs. Trottle hired to take Ben to a nasty boarding school. They leave for the gump and return to the Island just in time. Ben is reunited with his parents and Odge is invited to live in the castle with him.

The Secret of Platform 13

Chances is broken up into parts, the first part looks at the blackout in New York City and how this affects the main characters. The second is focused on Gino Santangelo and later includes his children Lucky and Dario. The third part examines the life of Carrie Berkley and later her son Steven. The blackout, a real event that Collins describes in some detail affects all the major characters either directly or indirectly. *Lucky Santangelo was in Costa Zennocotti''s office, trying to convince Costa not to let her father Gino Santangelo return to America, she does not know he is in a plane circling the city. When the blackout occurs she is trapped in an elevator between floors with Steven Berkley. The two end up talking and when they are rescued from the lift Lucky goes back to Steven''s apartment for breakfast and a change of clothes. *Steven Berkley, a District Attorney, was in his friend Jerry Myerson''s office working on an indictment for Enzio Bonnatti. He ends up trapped in the elevator with Lucky. *Gino Santangelo was in a plane returning from a seven year tax exile in Israel when the blackout occurs. His plane is diverted to Philadelphia when in a hotel, a flight attendant tips the press that he is back in the country. *Dario Santangelo is trapped in his own apartment after his male lover takes his keys, gun and knife. Dario is forced to phone Costa in order to escape alive. *Costa Zennocotti stays in his office after the blackout, not willing to walk down all the stairs and Dario calls him and says that he needs something "arranged". Costa calls Sal, a freelance enforcer to take out the boy but ends up double crossing him and kidnapping Dario. *Carrie Berkley drives to Harlem in her Cadillac Seville to meet a blackmailer, during the blackout she is targeted by a gang of youths who assault her and strip her of her jewellery. She is arrested when she is in the area of the riots and looting but her husband, Elliot Berkley, bails her out. The next day, dressed more conservatively, she takes a cab back to Harlem having received another call from the blackmailer. Gino''s story begins in 1921 but backtracks to narrate details of when Gino''s parent''s, Paulo and Mira Santangelo emigrated to New York City from Italy in 1909 when Gino was three. From an early age Gino takes to a life of crime, stealing a car at the age of fifteen and ending up in a juvenile home. ===Epilogue===

Chances

The novel The Snake’s Skin is about entire universe, where the space is complete and united. The scene takes place at the entire planet: the West and the East; Russia, Europe and finally Robakidze’s motherland – Georgia. Here one may also find an imaginary world of American billionaire living in his villa at Mediterranean Sea along with various prominent artists. There is only one tense in the The Snake’s Skin – present, but it includes past and future as well. The main thing is reality, but myths and legends are part of this reality. The way of thinking is not only particularly human, but at the same time metaphysical and idealistic. The personages of the novel do not live in the particular time period, or represent persons with concrete nationality. The author describes generalized citizen of the world that gets transformed into a particular person or in other words, returns to his roots (actual father, motherland), oneself, and the God. This is an adventure of Archibald Mekeshi’s soul taking place throughout the centuries.

The Snake''s Skin

Ballard''s 9th novel is set in the year 2114 AD, several generations after an ecological collapse has rendered North America virtually unlivable. Most of the population was evacuated to Europe and Asia. The bulk of the novel takes place when a European steamship, the SS Apollo, sails to America to try to discover the cause of increased radioactive fallout in England. In typical Ballardian fashion, each of the crew members has a secret agenda, and is basically a pawn of their own psychological yearnings, whether for destruction or glory. Most of the Apollo''s crew are descended from expatriate Americans - the protagonist is a young man who grew up in the American Ghetto in Dublin, for instance - and have become mostly assimilated into European society, but still feel some vague draw to the abandoned continent to the west. In the novel, the Soviet Union dammed the Bering Strait in the 1990s, thus changing global weather patterns by reversing the normally clockwise currents in the Pacific Ocean. Although the Russians were able to grow grain as far north as the Arctic Circle, a massive drought began east of the Rocky Mountains. West of the Rockies, the opposite problem was true. Further, much of coastal Asia freezes over. Though the plot is a straightforward adventure yarn - quite unusual for Ballard - the book is actually a subtle parody of American culture. For instance, the final President of the United States is the former governor Jerry Brown of California, who was a promising face in American politics at the time of the novel. His small, ironic role in the novel represents both the triumph and ultimate failure of west coast liberalism of the late Cold War era: when faced with a massive ecological crisis that threatens (and indeed ultimately destroys) the nation, Brown''s solution is to build a large youth center, a twice-life-size fiberglass replica of the Taj Mahal, and then abandons the country so he can devote himself to self-improvement. The novel states that Brown dies at age 114 in a Buddhist Monastery in a glaciated Japan. Eventually the Apollo Expedition comes across survivors from the previous expedition thirty years earlier. One of these survivors - clearly insane - has taken to calling himself "President Charles Manson," but none of the Apollo''s crew get the reference because the Manson killings occurred 120 years earlier in a completely different world. In the end, it is implied that Europe needs America, if only as a place where the darker elements of the Western mindset can be allowed to play themselves out without inconveniencing decent people. There is a kind of rebirth that re-establishes something akin to the old order, allowing insanity to be sublimated out in small doses to everyone, rather than bottled up in one person where it proves to be really really dangerous. Possibly for the first time ever, nuclear weapons are used for a constructive purpose, and the ''New World Order'' that arises from the events of the book contains both the promise of a better future, and the understated vague promise/threat of phantasmagoric horrors to come, though presumably in smaller doses.

Hello America

The book is narrated in the first person, in the manner of a coming-of-age story, or Bildungsroman. The protagonist, tracing his life from early childhood, is Omon Krivomazov, born in Moscow in the post-World War II years. In his teenage years, the realization strikes him that he must break free of Earth''s gravity to free himself of the demands of the Soviet society and the rigid ideological confines of the state. After finishing high school, he immediately enrolls in a military academy. Omon soon finds that the academy does not, in fact, create future pilots, but instead exposes cadets to a series of treacherous trials, beginning with the amputation of both of their feet, so they can manifest Soviet heroism. This military school pecularities are coming as a reference to a famous Soviet ace-pilot Alexey Maresyev, who despite being badly injured in a plane crash after a dogfight, managed to return to the Soviet-controlled territory on his own. During his 18-day long journey, his injuries deteriorated so badly that both of his legs had to be amputated below the knee. Desperate to return to his fighter pilot career, he subjected himself to nearly a year of exercise to master the control of his prosthetic devices, and succeeded at that, returning to flying in June 1943. In the book, before such intentional "amputation" happens, though, Omon and his friend are whisked out of the academy into a top-secret installation under KGB headquarters in Moscow, where they start preparing for an "unmanned" mission to the Moon - he is told that to substitute for researching, building and launching an automated probe, the Party prefers people, trained for "heroism", to fulfill the tasks nominally performed by machines, such as rocket stage separation, space vehicle course correction and so on. Soon Omon indeed seems to be launched to the Moon, strapped into a seat inside a Lunokhod, which he is meant to drive like a bicycle on the lunar surface, as the last piece in the space mission puzzle, in order to deliver a radio beacon to a specific point and activate it. This he does, even though his protection against the vacuum and the interstellar cold, once he leaves the confines of the hermetically sealed Lunokhod, consists of a cotton-filled overcoat and "special hydrocompensatory tampons" stuffed up his nose. However, when it comes the time for him to shoot himself after placing the beacon, as ordered, the gun he was given for that purpose misfires, and he finds himself not on the Moon at all, but in an abandoned subway tunnel, where he had been driving his Lunokhod all along, carefully ignoring all signs which might have given him a clue as to his real whereabouts. He tries to escape, is given chase, but manages to find his way into the "normal" world again, coming up into one of the stations of the Moscow Metro. One of Omon''s "teachers" explains the idea behind the charade. The idea is that even if the fact that the Soviet Union is a champion of peaceful space exploration holds true only inside a person''s head (namely, the hero''s; no one knows of him or his mission apart from its organizers), this is not much different from it being the reality. The reality, when it concerns subjects not capable of being experienced, is in fact only a perception formed in people''s consciousness, and can be manipulated to the extent that the question of "true" version of events becomes meaningless (this idea juxtaposes with the conspiracy theories concerning the moon landing by the United States astronauts, even though the latter is never mentioned in the novel). The book met with a significant success in the early post-Soviet cultural landscape and continues to be reprinted with the later works by Pelevin.

Omon Ra

The narrator has made his way to his usual haunt on a rainy day, the Café de la Régence, France''s chess mecca, where he enjoys watching such masters as Philidor or Legall. He is accosted by an eccentric figure : I do not esteem such originals. Others make them their familiars, even their friends. Such a man will draw my attention perhaps once a year when I meet him because his character offers a sharp contrast with the usual run of men, and a break from the dull routine imposed by one''s education, social conventions and manners. When in company, he works as a pinch of leaven, causing fermentation and restoring each to his natural bend. One feels shaken and moved; prompted to approve or blame; he causes truth to shine forth, good men to stand out, villains to unmask. Then will the wise man listen and get to know those about him. The dialogue form allows Diderot to examine issues from widely different perspectives. The character of Rameau is presented as extremely unreliable, ironical and self-contradicting, so that the reader may never know whether he is being sincere or provocative. The impression is that of nuggets of truth artfully embedded in trivia. A parasite in a well-to-do family, Rameau has recently been kicked out because he refused to compromise with the truth. Now he will not humble himself by apologizing. And yet, rather than starve, shouldn''t one live at the expense of rich fools and knaves as he once did, pimping for a lord? Society does not allow the talented to support themselves because it does not value them, leaving them to beg while the rich, the powerful and stupid poke fun at men like Buffon, Duclos, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire, D''Alembert, Diderot. The poor genius is left with but two options : to crawl and flatter or to dupe and cheat, either being repugnant to the sensitive mind. If virtue had led the way to fortune, I would either have been virtuous or pretended to be so like others; I was expected to play the fool, and a fool I turned myself into.

Rameau''s Nephew

In the midst of the economic decline — following drought and the end of slavery — in the province of Bahia in Northeastern Brazil, the poor of the backlands are attracted by the charismatic figure and simple religious teachings of Antonio Conselheiro, the Counselor, who preaches that the end of the world is imminent and that the political chaos that surrounds the collapse of the Empire of Brazil and its replacement by a republic is the work of the devil. Seizing a hacienda in an area blighted by economic decline at Canudos the Counselor''s followers build a large town and defeat repeated and ever larger military expeditions designed to remove them. As the state''s violence against them increases they too turn increasingly violent, even seizing the modern weapons deployed against them. In an epic final clash a whole army is sent to extirpate Canudos and instigates a terrible and brutal battle with the poor while politicians of the old order see their world destroyed in the conflagration.

The War of the End of the World

Sten, leader of the Mantis Team 13, Empire''s covert ops, is on the way back from Eryx Cluster, when his spy ship is ambushed by Janissary cruiser. After crashing on nearby planet, Team 13 is able to overpower Janissars, capture their ship and return home. The Eternal Emperor is not pleased with results of Sten''s mission, which confirms existence of very rare mineral in Eryx Cluster. The shortest path to Eryx goes right through Lupus Cluster. Also known as "Wolf Worlds", Lupus Cluster is a home of the cult of Talemein, religious dictatorship, whose military half, Janissars, practice piracy to acquire money and ships, and ruthlessly kill any captives who do not immediately and fervently convert. According to Emperor''s analysis, in three years, every "wannabe merchant, miner and explorer" will travel right through Lupus Cluster, where they will be slaughtered en masse by one or other Talamein faction. Emperor will have to send Imperial Guard, which will be a great hit on his public relations, because he gave the worlds to the young soldier Talemein a few thousand years before. Since official action is out of the discussion, the only acceptable solution is unofficial one. Sten receives very simple order: in three years he has to pacify whole Lupus Cluster, by someone who will not shoot at miners when they arrive (i.e. not Janissars). How, it doesn''t matter. He can recruit anyone, but no more than one other member from Mantis. Sten took Alex Kilgour, his best friend and former teammember from Mantis. Sten''s first action is meeting with "moderate" Talamein, ruled by merchant prince Parral and his prophet Theodomir, and offering them mercenary services and unification of Cluster. They accept, secretly planning to kill Sten when he gets the job done. After that, Sten offers help to Bhor, natives of Lupus Cluster. Bhor are race of knuckle dragging Neanderthals, that, when they''re not tearing their competitors in half the long way, they''re doing the same to their competitor''s bank accounts. Being militant and violent beings, they quickly develop a great friendship with Sten and Alex. Sten then begins his campaign by attacking Janissary military center, followed by multiple distraction attacks. His primary objective is to attack Janissary shipyards. Slightly understrength, Sten accepted help of Mathias, Theodomir''s son, who has small group of his followers available. During the attack Parral betrays Sten and orders his ships to retreat, leaving Sten to die on the planet. Luckily, Sten is saved by intervention of Bhor, and he decides to pay Parral a little visit. After Parral''s unfortunately demise from the hands of Mathias, Eternal Emperor personally visits Lupus Cluster and declares prophet Theodomir as legitimate ruler, in spite of the fact that Sten warned Mahoney that he needed more time for situation to settle. Day after Emperor left, Mathias murders his own father, falsely accuses Sten and declared holy war against traitors, unbelievers, and "that heretic Emperor". Sten and Alex escapes, but his mercenaries are captured. Sten asks Mahoney to give him back Mantis Team 13, hoping that he can resolve situation. With the help of his team, Sten infiltrates Lupus Cluster capital, where he frees his imprisoned mercenaries and launches an attack. Eventually, Sten captures Mathias, druggs him and forces him to recant and publicly declare peace. The Eternal Emperor is very pleased with Sten''s action in Lupus Cluster and promotes him to commander of the Gurkhas, Emperor''s personal bodyguards.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

By William Shakespeare

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

By Arthur Conan Doyle

In the Garden of Papa Santuzzu

No Author Listed

Soldados de Salamina

By Javier Cercas

The Secret of Platform 13

By Eva Ibbotson

Chances

By Jackie Collins

The Snake's Skin

No Author Listed

Hello America

By J. G. Ballard

Omon Ra

By Victor Pelevin

Rameau's Nephew

By Denis Diderot

The War of the End of the World

By Mario Vargas Llosa

The Wolf Worlds

By Allan Cole