Incipient Tetrad (Paperback or Softback)

From Best Selling Author, Hugh B. Long.

Together for the first time, are four incredible short stories! Each a powerful and evocative tale, and each, so different.

1. The Yggdrasil Codex
2. Let Sleeping Draugs Lie
3. I'll Buy You The Moon
4. Crime & Punishment
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"The Yggdrasil Codex"

In this life there are a great many profound questions that have yet to be answered: Are we the first intelligent life in the universe? Why are we here?

Man continues to ask these questions, apparently to deaf heavens. But what if someone, or something, did answer?

In the short story The Yggdrasil Codex, two University researchers stumble upon an incredible secret encoded on ancient Scandinavian runestones. Their discovery leads them into the world of modern code-breakers and ultimately leads to a revelation with galactic consequences!

"Let Sleeping Draugs Lie"

It's Erik Ragnarsson's first summer raiding season. With his new ship Ottar, and his very own crew, Erik sets out for glory and wealth.

A freak storm blows them off course and when they make landfall, things are not as they seem.

Erik and his foster brother, Arndt, must work together to battle fellow crew, and a great evil stalking the island!

"I'll Buy You The Moon"

A selfless girl sacrifices everything, struggling to survive in a gritty dystopian future in order to fulfill her little sister's one dream - to see the Moon.

Most people would agree that there are limits to what you can own; owning other people is forbidden, at least in the modern world. But what about everything else? We can own the land, the minerals underground, as well as the sea (within a set number of miles of sovereign territory). But what about the sky? Or even the moon?

In a dystopian future, Mega Corp has covered the globe in a shell, blocking the entire view of the sky. In this world, two sisters share a simple dream - to see the moon in the night sky.

Warning - make sure you have a box of Kleenex or tissues while reading this story!

"Crime & Punishment"

For thousands of years society has imposed various punishments for what they define as crime. Laws and their enforcement are the foundations of a stable civilization.

So what constitutes a crime? And for the most heinous crimes, what's an appropriate punishment?

In the short story, Crime & Punishment, the lives of two individuals collide: The first, a devious criminal called Vargr, and the second, an ordinary man named Charles Wilson.

Canadian born Hugh B. Long, who also writes under the pen name Eoghan Odinsson, is an award winning journalist and author. Graduating from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland with his Masters of Science degree, he subsequently taught for the University, and was a dissertation advisor for graduate students. In addition to his academic background, Hugh holds a Black Belt in Chito-Ryu Karate, and has taught Martial Arts in Canada and the USA. He has just returned from a 10-year stretch working in the Washington D.C. area, and is now back in his native Ottawa Valley where he lives with his wife, son and three dogs. Hugh is a proud Professional Member of the Canadian Authors Association.