Shape of Secrets

Seven year old Zane vowed to become a superhero. As a child too smart to fit in, he studied chameleons and muscle groups to learn to alter his appearance.

Now Zane is starting his first job at Penthes Pharmaceuticals, where he finds layers of corporate secrets and learns that knowledge is dangerous. Good thing he excels at blending in.

Once upper management discovers him, life gets more complicated. A sales trip to the South Pacific leaves Zane dealing with an unsolved murder, an unsavory boot camp manager, and new friends with abilities as surprising as his own and with problems far worse.

Zane wants to help them all. First, however, he has a few work-related issues to handle. Someone at Penthes will kill to protect mysteries the company has worked so hard to keep hidden. He needs to figure out who, so he can use his unique talents to stay alive.

Shape of Secrets is the second in a collection of stand alone stories called 46. Ascending. It is available in paperback and for Kindle through Amazon. An earlier version of this book was published in 2012 under the title y1. In Shape of Secrets, the story has been shortened and updated.



About S. R. Cronin


Sherrie Roth grew up in Western Kansas thinking there was no place in the universe more fascinating than outer space. After her mother vetoed astronaut as a career ambition, she went on to study journalism and physics in hopes of becoming a science writer.


She published her first science fiction short story long ago, and then waited a lot of tables while she looked for inspiration for the next story. When it finally came, it declared to her it had to be a whole book, nothing less. One night, while digesting this disturbing piece of news, she drank way too many shots of ouzo with her boyfriend. She woke up thirty-one years later demanding to know what was going on.


The boyfriend, who she had apparently long since married, asked her to calm down and explained how, in a fit of practicality, she had gone back to school and gotten a degree in geophysics and spent the last 28 years interpreting seismic data in the oil industry. The good news, according to Mr. Cronin, was that she had found it to be entertaining and ridiculously well-paying. The bad news was the two of them had still managed to spend almost all of the money.


She was now Mrs. Cronin, and further good news was that they had produced three wonderful children whom they loved, even though, to be honest, that was where a lot of the money had gone. Even better news was that Mr. Cronin turned out to be a warm-hearted, encouraging sort who was happy to see her awake and ready to write. "It's about time," were his exact words.


Sherrie Cronin discovered that over the ensuing decades Sally Ride had already managed to become the first woman in space and apparently had done a fine job of it. No one, however, had written the book that had been in Sherrie's head for decades. The only problem was, the book informed her it had now grown into a six book collection. Sherrie decided she better start writing it before it got any longer. She's been wide awake ever since, and writing away.