Quadrail
5 primary works • 7 total works
Book 1
It all starts when a man comes to deliver a message to Frank Compton - only to fall dead at his feet. What follows is a suspenseful thriller that only Timothy Zahn, a master of hard science fiction adventure, could have written. More than two hundred years from now, the Ouadrail transportation system run by the enigmatic Spiders connects civilizations throughout the galaxy. Someone is threatening the entire system and the worlds it serves with a military force that could wreak interstellar havoc. Worse yet, a more subtle and sinister threat lurks: the Modhri, whose unique coral is prized throughout the galaxy, but which has properties that may create addiction - or worse. Compton, a sharp investigator, lost his job with Earth's security forces when he exposed a corrupt scheme that had roots in high places. Enlisted by the Spiders to find out who's trying to take over the Ouadrail, he's got his hands full. Beings of many races are gunning for him, trying to keep him from discovering a far-flung conspiracy that could destroy every civilization in the galaxy.
Book 2
Former government agent Frank Compton had foiled a plot to enslave the galaxy in "Night Train to Rigel." In this sequel, Compton goes up against the Modhri, an ancient telepathically linked intelligence waging a secret war against the galactic civilizations linked by the Quadrail, the only means of intra-galactic transit.
Book 3
Ex-government agent Frank Compton must keep an extraordinary little girl safe from the malevolent group intelligence seeking to enslave the universe in the explosive third installment of Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn's Quadrail series
Frank Compton is glad he's finally back on his home planet of Earth-galaxy-hopping aboard the Quadrail on his continuing mission to prevent the Modhri group mind from ruling the universe is exhausting business-but hadn't expected to find a young woman waiting for him in his New York apartment with a loaded gun in her hand. Ignoring her demands that he rescue her 10-year-old sister, the former Western Alliance Intelligence agent sends his unwelcome guest packing-only to find himself under arrest the following day for her brutal murder.
Released on bail and determined to do the right thing, Compton makes tracks for the world of New Tigris. But a captive child is not all that he discovers there: Little Rebekah may also hold the key to the ultimate defeat of the Modhri. Suddenly, keeping one small girl safe is the most important-and dangerous-task Compton has ever undertaken. And with the Modhris' mind-slave "walkers" everywhere, there may be no safe place for an "abomination" and her protector to hide.
Frank Compton is glad he's finally back on his home planet of Earth-galaxy-hopping aboard the Quadrail on his continuing mission to prevent the Modhri group mind from ruling the universe is exhausting business-but hadn't expected to find a young woman waiting for him in his New York apartment with a loaded gun in her hand. Ignoring her demands that he rescue her 10-year-old sister, the former Western Alliance Intelligence agent sends his unwelcome guest packing-only to find himself under arrest the following day for her brutal murder.
Released on bail and determined to do the right thing, Compton makes tracks for the world of New Tigris. But a captive child is not all that he discovers there: Little Rebekah may also hold the key to the ultimate defeat of the Modhri. Suddenly, keeping one small girl safe is the most important-and dangerous-task Compton has ever undertaken. And with the Modhris' mind-slave "walkers" everywhere, there may be no safe place for an "abomination" and her protector to hide.
Book 4
Ex-government agent Frank Compton must halt a murderous plague that threatens to turn the galaxy-spanning Quadrail into a ghost train in the fourth installment of Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn's acclaimed Quadrail series
The Chahwyn created the Spiders to keep their intra-galactic transportation system, the Quadrail, safe and running smoothly, and contracted ex-security agent Frank Compton to protect its integrity. So far, Compton and his half-human, half-Chahwyn partner, Bayta, have had their hands full keeping this essential link between occupied worlds open and preventing the evil collective intelligence called the Modhri from using it to spread their mind-controlling infection. But now a new threat has boarded, one that troubles even the Modhri.
While the Quadrail is en route to the farthest edge of the galaxy, a murder by poison occurs-then another and another-dark happenings that are not only disturbing but also technically impossible. The system Compton and Bayta have been charged with protecting is in grave danger of derailment, and unless they can get to the deep roots of a sinister conspiracy, chaos will come to the ordered universe.
This tour de force from Hugo Award winner Timothy Zahn rockets the acclaimed Quadrail series to breathtaking new heights. The Domino Pattern is an ingenious amalgam of hard science fiction and locked-room murder mystery that would leave even the great Hercule Poirot bedazzled.
The Chahwyn created the Spiders to keep their intra-galactic transportation system, the Quadrail, safe and running smoothly, and contracted ex-security agent Frank Compton to protect its integrity. So far, Compton and his half-human, half-Chahwyn partner, Bayta, have had their hands full keeping this essential link between occupied worlds open and preventing the evil collective intelligence called the Modhri from using it to spread their mind-controlling infection. But now a new threat has boarded, one that troubles even the Modhri.
While the Quadrail is en route to the farthest edge of the galaxy, a murder by poison occurs-then another and another-dark happenings that are not only disturbing but also technically impossible. The system Compton and Bayta have been charged with protecting is in grave danger of derailment, and unless they can get to the deep roots of a sinister conspiracy, chaos will come to the ordered universe.
This tour de force from Hugo Award winner Timothy Zahn rockets the acclaimed Quadrail series to breathtaking new heights. The Domino Pattern is an ingenious amalgam of hard science fiction and locked-room murder mystery that would leave even the great Hercule Poirot bedazzled.
Book 5
Frank Compton must join forces with his most feared enemies to defeat an ancient civilizations-devouring malevolence in the final installment of Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn's Quadrail series
A dozen sentient species occupy the galaxy, and the Quadrail connects them all. Arriving at Proteus Station under a cloud of suspicion, ex-government agent Frank Compton finds he must answer for the death of six members of the Filly elite, a crime for which he has been falsely accused. Filiaelian captivity, however, is the least of Compton's worries, for his horse-faced alien accusers are guarding a terrible secret that dates back centuries: the Shonkla-raa, a race of super-soldiers believed to be extinct.
Invincible fighters bred for conquest and dedicated to the destruction of the Quadrail, as well as the annihilation of the unsuspecting billions who oppose them, the Shonkla-raa must be stopped at all cost. But to do so, Compton and his beautiful, enigmatic half-human partner, Bayta, will have to ally themselves with the insidious, mind-enslaving Mohdri, the malevolent group intelligence they have sworn to destroy.
Hugo Award winner Timothy Zahn concludes his sensational Quadrail series with a riveting futuristic adventure that combines the best of three popular genres-hard science fiction, mystery, and espionage thriller. Judgment at Proteus is a breathtaking tale of deception, murder, and desperate maneuverings in a secret war that threatens the survival of every living being in the galaxy.
A dozen sentient species occupy the galaxy, and the Quadrail connects them all. Arriving at Proteus Station under a cloud of suspicion, ex-government agent Frank Compton finds he must answer for the death of six members of the Filly elite, a crime for which he has been falsely accused. Filiaelian captivity, however, is the least of Compton's worries, for his horse-faced alien accusers are guarding a terrible secret that dates back centuries: the Shonkla-raa, a race of super-soldiers believed to be extinct.
Invincible fighters bred for conquest and dedicated to the destruction of the Quadrail, as well as the annihilation of the unsuspecting billions who oppose them, the Shonkla-raa must be stopped at all cost. But to do so, Compton and his beautiful, enigmatic half-human partner, Bayta, will have to ally themselves with the insidious, mind-enslaving Mohdri, the malevolent group intelligence they have sworn to destroy.
Hugo Award winner Timothy Zahn concludes his sensational Quadrail series with a riveting futuristic adventure that combines the best of three popular genres-hard science fiction, mystery, and espionage thriller. Judgment at Proteus is a breathtaking tale of deception, murder, and desperate maneuverings in a secret war that threatens the survival of every living being in the galaxy.
