Copyright (C) 2004 by David Baumann, Jon Cooper, and Mike Dodd. THE RUNAWAY ASTEROID THE STARMAN SERIES by Michael D. Cooper MUTINY ON MARS THE RUNAWAY ASTEROID JOURNEY TO THE TENTH PLANET DESCENT INTO EUROPA THE LOST RACE OF MARS DOOMSDAY HORIZON (The seventh book, THE STARLIGHT MANEUVER, and other volumes are in preparation.) The short stories— The Flight of the Olympia, The City of Dust, SETI, A Matter of Time, and Return to Europa— are available in the first five issues of the Inter*Stellar, the fanzine for the Starman series. A novelette outside the main storyline, The Lost Tomorrow, is serialized in “The Starman Chronicles.” All items may be ordered through the Starman web site at www.StarmanSeries.com. David Foster Number Two THE RUNAWAY ASTEROID by Michael D. Cooper Artwork by Nick Baumann A David Foster Starman Adventure Copyright (c) 2004 David Baumann, Jon Cooper, and Mike Dodd all rights reserved ABCDE “A Baumann-Cooper-Dodd Enterprise” The Starman Team dedicates this book to Fred Woodworth a rare and gifted individual who practices generosity in a world of acquisitiveness, courage in a world of indifference, honesty in a world of opportunism, and personal responsibility in a world of buck-passing; an artist and craftsman few in this era know how to appreciate; who has done as much as any and more than most to advance the cause of series books; and whose genius has abundantly proven that the books deplored by librarians of a previous age are treasures that shaped several generations and made their readers better people. To Fred Woodworth of Tucson, Arizona, the series book world owes a debt that can never be repaid. Acknowledgments The Starman team wishes to thank STEPHEN AVERY for coining the term “greegles.” Though these remarkable beings will probably not reappear for several books, their place in the Starman series is an essential part of the saga. TOM NARWID, amateur astronomer, for supplying the photograph which we used for the endpapers. The scene was taken through his backyard telescope in Cottonwood, Arizona. KEVIN ANETSBERGER for preparing Tom’s spectacular, multi-colored original photograph for publication by reducing it to two colors. The number of fans of the Starman series is growing each day, and we appreciate the contributions many of them have made to the project. Their assistance, encouragement, and technical support have helped to improve the storyline and scientific accuracy of the Starman adventures. Introduction The Starman Team dedicated its first book, _Assault On Mars_, to Joseph Greene, the late author of the Dig Allen series which was the inspiration for the Starman series. A complimentary copy was sent to his son Paul, who was moved by the tribute. We then asked Paul to write an introduction to _The Runaway Asteroid_. The following is his response--surely one of the most unusual introductions in any book anywhere, and one we are privileged to share with our readers. Dear Dad, A most remarkable invention is weaving the world together in a way we never anticipated while you were on Earth, and it netted your writing. Fans of your books for juveniles, The Digby Allen series, were able to connect to each other, share their enthusiasm for your novels, and were inspired to continue the voyage. Led by Jonathan Cooper, the intrepid mastermind of the creative crew, they made a commitment to write their own vision of the future. Thoughtfully, they credit you as having shoulders broad enough for them to stand on and see the centuries beyond. The invention that has made this possible is called the internet. There seems no need to explain what it is here, but...