Survival 1: 2 — Steve Elliott

Survival: Sar is a recent orphan who has the good fortune to fall in with a group of other young survivors. All of them are fleeing from the dreaded Glor - a race of all conquering aliens. True, human civilization has been mainly destroyed, and humanity almost wiped out, but Sar begins to question this situation. Are the Glor truly aliens? And, if not, what madman has released them to prey on humanity? As time passes, Sar begins to realise his latent talent as a psychic, and he, along with his companions, uncovers a mysterious artefact which he believes may provide the answers to all of his questions. However, the final truth, when he discovers it, is almost too incredible to believe. Despite this, Sar decides on the most daring of all adventures, and challenges his friends to accompany him.Hide and Seek: Sar and his friends have embarked on an historic trip to outer space. Well, in theory, anyway. In actual fact, it's the alien spaceship, Sky Seeker, who seems to be dictating their destination. Not surprisingly, everyone is finding it difficult to reconcile themselves with the concept of a transport vessel that can think for itself. They spend the intervening time exploring the physical and imaginative wonders around them until they find themselves landing on Sky Seeker's home planet. Their first contact with an alien civilization proves to be problematic, because they encounter murderous resentment from a minority of the citizens who feel that the strangers from Earth have no right to be in possession of Sky Seeker. That aside, the six friends are tasked with the mission of unlocking the mysterious disappearance of Sky Seeker's original pilot. This entails a return to Earth, where the ruling government will definitely not be happy to see them. What follows when they return to Earth is a mad rush to escape the clutches of a pursuing army and the machinations of a power-mad General, all the while trying desperately to find the missing pilot. To further complicate matters, Sneak is beginning to offer Knife absurdly exaggerated poetic compliments, but mixes them with equally exaggerated insults, making everyone doubt his sanity and wonder what he hopes to achieve by engineering such a schizophrenic scenario. No one seems to know, especially the very confused Knife.