Skirmishes (Diving Universe #4) and all the Diving Universe Novellas by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Kristine Kathryn Rusch (born 4 June 1960) is an American writer and editor. She writes under various pseudonyms in multiple genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and mainstream. Rusch won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2001 for her story "Millennium Babies", the 2003 Endeavour Award for The Disappeared 2002, and the Sidewise Award for Alternate History for "Recovering Apollo 8" in 2008. She is married to fellow writer Dean Wesley Smith; they have collaborated on several works. She edited The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for six years, from mid-1991 through mid-1997, winning one Hugo Award as Best Professional Editor. Rusch and Smith operated Pulphouse Publishing for many years and edited the original (hardback) incarnation of Pulphouse Magazine; they won a World Fantasy Award in 1989.

Genre: Science Fiction

Diving Universe 04: Skirmishes
The answers Captain Jonathan “Coop” Cooper and the crew of the Ivoire seek lie in the Boneyards. But they must wait for Boss and her team to dive it, explore the wrecks, and piece together what happened in that faraway place. Boss loves the challenge. Thousands of ships, centuries of history, all play to her strengths. In her absence, she trusts Coop to defend the Nine Planets Alliance against the Enterran Empire. But an encounter from Coop’s recent past shows up to haunt him, an encounter he never told Boss about, an encounter that could threaten her future, his life, and the fragile peace between the Alliance and the Empire.

Diving Universe Novella 01: Diving Into the Wreck
Note: The first three books ("Diving Into the Wreck", "The Room of Lost Souls", and "The Spires of Denon") in the "Diving Universe Novellas" made up the first book in the "Diving Universe" book also called "Diving into the Wreck". However, the novellas were written before that novel and are slightly different in content.

The award-winning novella that launched a universe, Diving into the Wreck introduces Boss and her crew for the first time. Boss dives derelict space vessels, for money, yes, but more for their historical value. So, when Boss uncovers the find of a lifetime, she enlists the best divers she can convince to help her pursue it-off the grid and under the Empire's radar. But the more they discover, the less they realize they know-and the more it will cost them all. The Diving into the Wreck novella also appears in a slightly different form in its entirety in the novel Diving into the Wreck.

Diving Universe Novella 02: The Room of Lost Souls
Boss remembers the Room. It haunts her. Her mother died there. Now, a client wants her to go back. She wants Boss to help her uncover the Room’s mysteries. But the truths she discovers might destroy everything Boss holds sacred. The Room of Lost Souls novella also appears in a slightly different form in the novel Diving into the Wreck.

Diving Universe Novella 03: The Spires of Denon
Kristine Kathryn Rusch's novel Diving Into The Wreck spawned a universe so vast that one novel can't contain it. The Spires of Denon doesn't involve Boss or her crew. Instead, this powerful short novel follows Meklos Verr, hired to guard an archeological dig near the mysterious Spires of Denon. There Verr encounters the prickly Gabrielle Reese who heads the dig, and he meets some cave divers who aren't quite what they seem. Verr knows that someone wants to harm the dig, but he isn't sure if the attack will come from outside the tall mountain range or from the group of archeologists within. Verr must figure out the threat before it destroys him, his crew, and the beautiful Spires of Denon.

Diving Universe Novella 04: Becoming One With the Ghosts
The Fleet. In Boss' time, a thing of legend. Long before Boss and her crew found their first Dignity Vessel, long before the Room of Lost Souls claimed its first life, the Fleet used its advanced technology to explore the galaxy. But even in its heyday that technology sometimes malfunctioned. And occasionally, that malfunction exacted an unfathomable price. Winner of the 2010 Asimov's Readers' Choice Award and coming in third place in the prestigious international UPC Contest, Becoming One with the Ghosts tells the story of Captain Jonathon "Coop" Cooper and the crew of the Ivoire-a story that began in Becalmed-and their ill-fated journey out of foldspace. The Becoming One with the Ghosts novella also appears in a slightly different form in its entirety in the novel City of Ruins.

Diving Universe Novella 05: Becalmed
Mae, chief linguist on the Ivoire, heads a diplomatic mission to Ukhanda. Her handling of relations with the Quurzod lead to a battle that causes the Ivoire’s anacapa drive to malfunction, stranding the ship in foldspace. Mae can’t remember what she did wrong on the mission: all she knows is that she’s one of the few survivors. If she doesn’t recall it, she won’t be able to prevent another disaster when the Ivoire escapes foldspace. If the Ivoire escapes foldspace. Because what no one talks about—and everyone fears—is that the Ivoire is becalmed…forever. One of the untold stories in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s award-winning “Diving” universe, “Becalmed” stands alone—yet answers questions long-time readers might have about the history of the Fleet.

Diving Universe Novella 06:Stealth
“Do not finish your work. Do not bring your work. Once life tags move out of an area, that area will seal off. If sealed inside, no one will rescue you. […] The station will shut down entirely in...” Squishy is running out of time. Fifteen... minutes, drones the computer in its androgynous voice, until the station goes critical, and people are still evacuating. Idiots, pausing to save their research before their own skins. Well screw the research, because Squishy is adamant that nobody is going to die today, even if she has to drag every last one of them to the evac point herself.

Diving Universe Novella 07: Strangers at the Room of Lost Souls ****SAMPLE ONLY****
Starbase Kappa. The Room of Lost Souls. An abandoned space station with different names but one certainty: People die there. Still, a soldier can't argue with orders, no matter how bad a place's reputation. Enterran Empire Operations Commander Elissa Trekov's most famous relative died there, so she thinks she knows the Room better than the rest of her team. But when strangers turn up on the so-called abandoned station-strangers who seem to know a lot more about its function than they pretend-she realizes the Room's legendary history only scratches the surface of the dangers lurking within. The latest entry in Kristine Kathryn Rusch's popular Diving series, Strangers at the Room of Lost Souls will appear in a different form in the novel Skirmishes, which will premiere in September 2013.

Diving Universe Novella 08: The Application of Hope
Note: This novella was extracted from Asimov's Science Fiction magazine.
Fleet Captain Tory Sabin is on a single-minded quest to find her father who disappeared 20 years ago when she was only 13. Ever since, she’s driven herself to excel, to achieve Captaincy and to somehow continue the search for her father’s ship lost in foldspace, a twisty, dangerous form of FTL.

Diving Universe Novella 09: Encounter on Starbase Kappa
Note: This novella was extracted from Asimov's Science Fiction magazine.
Captain "Coop" Cooper commands the Ivoire, a space ship that is suddenly sent 5000 years in his future. The science and the history of the Fleet are long lost, but there may be a way back, using the star drive/power source from the long abandoned Starbase Kappa. While there, though, they are discovered by troops from the Enterran Empire, who want the source for themselves.