Billion Dollar Boy

by Charles Sheffield

Published 1 March 1997
Shelby Crawford Jerome Prescott Cheever V is one of the richest young men of the twenty-second century. His life on Earth has been spent in idle luxury, until a careless mistake strands him on a mining colony in the Messina Dust Cloud, twenty-seven light years from Earth. Stuck among the miners for at least six months, far from his fortune and hordes of servants, Shelby must learn to survive in space - and to fend for himself. His new life is full of dangers and surprises, but it may also reveal the true shape of his destiny.

Putting Up Roots

by Charles Sheffield

Published 15 August 1997
Abandoned by his actress mother, Josh Kerrigan tries to settle down on his uncle's farm. But farming on Earth is no longer profitable, so Josh soon finds himself en route to the planet Solferino in the Messina Dust Cloud, twenty-seven light-years from home. Josh has his hands full on Solferino, struggling to understand a whole new ecosystem while keeping an eye on his autistic cousin, Dawn. Life gets even more complicated, however, when Dawn makes contact with a mysterious alien creature. The experts all say there is no intelligent life on Solferino, but what if they're wrong? Josh is about to find out.