This is the first solo book by Rodger Olsen. After the worst plague in history, the world is not rebuilding itself. Everyone knows that meddling with God's ways is what killed everyone, so around the world, the shell shocked and terrified survivors have driven the world back into the dark ages. With help of an unlikely ally and plain old sneakiness, Emperor Burton Adams is trying to get the Empire of Texas back into the modern world without getting lynched by his own citizens for trying. The Star Of India, a short novelette is also included. This is the story of a how the old world dies, and how a very few of the wiser and faster people manage to survive. Mr. Olsen writes in a style very compatible with his occasional collaborator, Leo Frankowski. His heros struggle more, but the sense of adventure and the love of technology comes through strong. This is the second book we have published from Mr. Olsen, and we look forward to another one in early 2006. The Code Of The West 1. Don t kill no one who don t need killing. 2. Don t steal unless your children are hungry. 3. A man don t lie unless he is fishing. 4. A man protects woman and children. 5 Your word is your measure. If it s bad, so are you. 6. Do not insult or injure others, and do not allow them to do it to you or yours. 7. A man don t ever pass up a good chance to shut up. 8 . A man don t pick on the little guy. 9. A man minds his own business. 10. A man don t complain and don t need to Explain. 11. A man s word is his law. 12. Blessed be Samuel Colt, for he made all men equal. I live in Lake Elsinore, a town in California that, until recently, had only two stop lights - and one was a spare. It was rural. There was a town ordinance specifying that you could not vote unless you could prove that you owned a shotgun, a pickup truck, and a dog. I moved here because, unlike most California towns, this one was still free. If you drove around the lake, you would pass a mansion, a small house, a big mansion, and a 1952 Airstream trailer on blocks, side by side. This was refreshing in a state where many subdivisions had rules about what color curtains you could put in your windows and would fine you if you didn’t curl up your garden hose neatly in your back yard. Unfortunately, we got a Wal-Mart last year. Heaven never lasts. Like Leo Frankowski, I married a Russian Bride. We spend part of each year in our apartment in Russia, and I love it. It’s like taking a magic carpet to a Wild West town with buildings from the 1930’s, people from the 1950’s, and gangsters straight out of the bad Hollywood movies of the 40’s. Men fight, cuss, sing songs in loud voices, and tell dirty jokes without apologizing. Women flirt with the men, dress like females, and talk to each other about how foolish the men are. It’s a social heaven. My background is a varied one. Like most authors, I have had more jobs than I can list on this page. I have a masters degree in Clinical Psychology and I practiced psychology on and off for 15 years, until I turned honest. I worked mostly with children, abused, neglected, abandoned, adopted, and imprisoned. When personal computers came out, I built one from an 8008 and a teletype machine. It was love at first sight, and I soon bought a commercial model and began writing games for my children. I decided to get back part of the money that I "wasted" on the computer by selling my games. Within two months, I had established Aardvark Software, and was writing computer games full time. I created and published many of the early adventures and shoot-em-up games for TRS-80, Commodore, and IBM. I wrote for computer magazines and published a small magazine of my own. I was surprised to find out that I was creative. Never expected that. When constant piracy put me out of business, I began to work for record labels in Hollywood. I created personal computer departments and software for Capitol Records, EMI, and Warner Brothers. Fun, but highly political. Business cards are done in pencil, and no one ever retires from the music business. I eventually combined the skills from several of my professions and established ADM Software. It develops software to manage drug addiction, alcohol addiction, spousal abuse, and similar court ordered psychological treatment programs. Like most of my staff, I work from an office about 50 feet from my bedroom. The commute is Heaven. The Christmas party sucks. Now that ADM no longer requires much of my time, I write books.