When Zirth was a young Xolthie, he lost his father in an aborted mission to Earth to capture more shape-shifting and magical creatures for the their zoo on Xolthus. Before his parent's ship was attacked by pirates he found himself drawn to the hold, entirely fascinated by its strange but frightened occupants. Now he is Head Zookeeper at the long-established tourist destination and life should be good. Unfortunately, Yolaxsus, his bitter 2nd in Command, takes every opportunity to mistreat the specimens.For the captives, there is a small hope. A crashed spaceship has been placed in the zoo for visitors to climb and play in. Put there by Yolaxus' Admiral father to remind her of her transgressions of which she has not yet repented. As each enclosure with its specialised specimens enters into an escape plan, they must decide who gets one of the limited places in the secretly repaired ship.Success depends on keeping Yolaxus out of the way and hoping that Zirth will turn a blind eye.Contributing Authors: Debbbie Richardson, Cat Sheely, Louise Falcioni, Suzanne Newnham, Arlene Liang, Marisol Dunham, Anke Ziergiebel (Dutche), Cassandra Webb and Michaela Paul. I am a writer, editor and publisher for the Secret Society of Words. My interests include reading, writing and discussing speculative fiction and I have a keen interest in new scientific discoveries (astrology, space exploration, cosmology, physics, psychology etc). I like to read about Australia, the political arena and environmental issues. I also love to knit and cross-stitch when I'm not into books, on the computer writing or out kayaking, I'm swimming and golfing.I'm a member of the Eurobodalla Fellowship of Australian Writers (EFAW) evening group and the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild.Our evening group has set up its own publishing enterprise: The Secret Society of Words under which all our novella's are published. They are as follows:"Viv's Last Hoorah," Secret Society of Words, 2019, Cat Sheely, Editor"Murder on the First," Secret Society of Words, 2017, Cat Sheely, Editor"Alien Zoo," Secret Society of Words, 2016.,Cat Sheely and Debbie Richardson, Co-Editors"The Seven Little Goatlings", Secret Society of Words, 2015, Cat Sheely, EditorCat Sheely Short Stories can be found in:"Bush Craft," Eurobodalla Literary Salon Exhibition, 2019"Instinct", Short Story in CEA Greatest Anthology, CEA Publishing, 2017"Blissful Symbiosis", Flash Fiction, in Flights of Fancy Anthology, EFAW 2015"Great Hobbies", in Flights of Fancy Anthology, EFAW, 2015"A Vain Hope', Micro Fiction, CSfG Website 2012""Hobnails in Heaven," Masques, ed. Gillian Polack & Scott Hopkins, 2009."Growing Old," Writers Voice, Quarterly Bulletin of The Fellowship of Australian Writers, Summer Edition #230, p21, Dec 2010."Dragonfly," Winds of Change, ed. Elizabeth Fitzgerald, 2011.
