Eve becomes the first person to ever set foot on an alien planet, a pioneering move for humanity. It all goes sideways in a heartbeat and Eve quickly finds herself in a struggle for survival on Primis, a planet that seems intent on killing her. A triumphant achievement for SpaceFirst and her fellow astronauts accelerates into a race against time, predators, and the elements.
Back on Earth, Ray is the SpaceFirst AI tasked with determining who is trying to sabotage the company and why. Ray encounters his nemesis, Ares, and the two become entangled in a high-stakes conflict of deception and willpower. Ray's detective work uncovers a web of conspiracy, including powerful politicians and a rogue environmental group, that want to monopolize the galaxy's future colonization for their own profit. Ray must fight both real and artificial battles not just for SpaceFirst's survival, but his own as well.
Eve and Ray, astronaut and AI – intense struggles light years apart that will determine mankind's future.
Eve becomes the first person to ever set foot on an alien planet, a pioneering move for humanity. It all goes sideways in a heartbeat and Eve quickly finds herself in a struggle for survival on Primis, a planet that seems intent on killing her. A triumphant achievement for SpaceFirst and her fellow astronauts accelerates into a race against time, predators, and the elements.
Back on Earth, Ray is the SpaceFirst AI tasked with determining who is trying to sabotage the company and why. Ray encounters his nemesis, Ares, and the two become entangled in a high-stakes conflict of deception and willpower. Ray's detective work uncovers a web of conspiracy, including powerful politicians and a rogue environmental group, that want to monopolize the galaxy's future colonization for their own profit. Ray must fight both real and artificial battles not just for SpaceFirst's survival, but his own as well.
Eve and Ray, astronaut and AI – intense struggles light years apart that will determine mankind's future.
"AT LEAST THE FIRST FOOTPRINTS on the Moon weren't immediately washed away by a thunderstorm."
Through the glass hull of the spacecraft, I watched the rain flood my tracks, the first ever made by a human on an alien planet. The sharp outlines of my boot prints dissolved into a puddle of nothingness.
The implant buried into my head behind my right ear transmitted the comment to my fellow astronauts, Colt and Guion. They sheltered from the rain in their own spacecraft, the spherical outlines of their ships blurry through the heavy downpour.
That's why we recorded it on video, said Colt. His words returned through the implant directly to my brain, a convenient invention from our SpaceFirst engineers. Proof, he added.
And at least Buzz Aldrin got to step out of his ship and make his own prints. Unlike us, said Guion.
"Aw, is someone upset he didn't get to go outside and play yet?" I teased. Guion might have been the rookie astronaut of our trio, but over the past couple of months I'd gotten to know him at least to the point where a little light mocking seemed okay. Even though he was about my age, he seemed older, married with a couple of kids. Colt, on the other hand, had been my teammate since the day we'd shown up on the campus of SpaceFirst.
You know my girls each sent a stuffed animal to take care of me on this trip. I have to take pictures of me with their toys here or end up in big trouble when I get home. Can't let them down, said Guion. We'd met his five- and seven-year old daughters, along with his wife, when they visited the SpaceFirst campus right before Guion began training.
I wouldn't want to disappoint those girls, either, said Colt. They might not let you come home.
A bolt of lightning crackled barely a half-mile away, followed immediately by a concussive burst of thunder. My craft rocked and I held out my hands to maintain balance.
"That was close," I said.
Gladys, my ship's AI, responded through the implant. Seems like that storm appeared out of nowhere.
Are we in danger?
Let's hope not.
Very reassuring.
Be brave. You're the first person to ever step onto an extrasolar planet. You'll be okay with a little lightning.
I wasn't convinced, but I didn't tell Gladys that. "Let's wait out this storm before we try another walk," I said.
Roger that, said Colt.
Gives me a chance to study the storm a little, said Guion.
My thoughts shifted to clear skies. Just a few minutes before, I'd prepared to exit onto Primis, a brand-new world. At least to us.
The memories overwhelmed me for a few moments and carried me back a half-hour earlier.
* * * * *
Ready when you are, Eve, Guion had said over our implant comms network while I'd stood poised at the closed hatch of my ship.
"Thanks, Guion. Here I go."
All readings are green, Gladys had said. I'd glanced at the status display readouts on the left forearm of my suit to validate.
All systems looking good, said another voice. I'd smiled. My long-time teammate knew my habit of checking and double-checking.
"Thank you, Colt. I'm ready."
With a deep breath I'd reached out my right hand and toggled the hatch. The display asked to confirm since I'd directed it to open the door on a planet that wasn't Earth. I'd pushed the prompt with my forefinger once again.
The hatch had unsealed, pushing outward and sliding to the right along the exterior of the sphere.
I'd leaned forward, bracing my hands against the doorway. The two other craft belonging to Colt and Guion formed the points on a triangle with my own, resting serenely on the surface of Primis. Their pure white hulls and glass habitation spheres had brightly reflected the sun, straight overhead. An alien sun.
The moment had hit me hard, even though I'd tried to downplay it in my head. No human had ever set foot on a surface other than Earth, except for the Moon and Mars. The initial step onto the soil of an alien world light years from home belonged to me.
I'd thought of thousands of things to say, my first words sure to be quoted. The problem is, most of them seemed corny or unworthy of the moment. I don't know how Neil Armstrong did it.
I'd scanned the immediate area through my clear glass helmet. A half-dozen golf ball-sized drones, released by Colt and Guion from docking ports on the exteriors of their hulls, had flown at station-keeping around my ship, their cameras recording the first moments. The sky had provided a pale blue and white watercolor background.
I'd stared back at the drones.
You've got this, Gladys had said in a quiet voice. She could read my vitals and understand my nervousness.
I don't know what to say, I'd replied.
Just move forward. It'll come to you.
With a deep inhale I'd released my grip.
My feet had landed softly in the slightly lighter gravity and I'd taken an extra few steps, like an Olympic gymnast who didn't stick the landing. I'd pivoted and looked back at the outline of my footprint in the damp soil. A drone arced around me.
"We did it," I'd said. "The first step of many to come."
The applause I'd imagined in my head had been instantaneous. Or maybe Gladys had subtly played an audio trick on me. It didn't matter anyway. The recording of this moment wouldn't get back to Earth for a few hours.
I'd stepped away from my craft toward the others and stopped in the middle of the triangle.
"How's it look?" I'd asked.
No change. I think you're good to go, Guion had responded.
This was the moment I'd dreamed about. And the source of nightmares.
I'd tapped buttons on my forearm control pad to slow the flow of oxygen in my suit. With both hands I'd twisted the helmet off its collar seal. The gas escaped from my suit in a low hiss. I'd pulled the helmet upward and off.
At this point in the bad dream, I took a deep breath and some unknown chemical combination in the alien atmosphere caused me to gag and my eyes to bug out. I'd scramble to put my helmet back on as my teammates rushed from their craft in a futile attempt to save me.
In the real world outside of nightmares, the clear, refreshing mix had filled my lungs, just as our readings indicated. Slightly less nitrogen than Earth's, but overall fit for humans. I'd inhaled deeply and craned my head back as far as it would go. The warmth of Primis's sun had washed over me and the fresh air smelled like it had always been that clean. It felt odd to breathe a pure atmosphere untainted by human activity.
"Wow," I'd said as I cradled my helmet under my arm. "You guys should join me."
You know the drill, Colt had said. You get an hour to yourself. And also to make sure you don't drop dead from anything unexpected.
I'd smiled and shook my head. "Coward."
Just following the rules, he'd replied.
"As the Mission Commander I could order you to join me."
Because you're lonely? Give me a break.
I'd laughed, the sound filling the small meadow, and set my helmet on the ground. "Fine. I'm going to walk around a bit, then."
Besides, said Guion, we need to make sure things are safe before letting these stuffed animals have the run of the place.
Yeah, we wouldn't want a stuffed carnivore to suddenly appear, said Colt.
Calling the area a meadow seemed generous. The grass, or thatch, or ground cover, whatever it was, stood short and extremely green. I knew Colt was anxious to get his hands on it and the other plant life around us. He wouldn't admit it, but he was probably more excited than me for the Primis mission. He would spend the next several months back on Earth analyzing samples and publishing papers and everything else biology nerds do. He and his fiancée, Eileen, had set their wedding day for a month after our return, and I'd wished her good luck in getting him away from his lab. Low shrubs fanned out from the so-called meadow. I'd picked my way through them toward a water source we'd mapped before landing.
Primis was the nearest habitable planet to Earth and it seemed to me it'd be extremely coincidental if it also harbored intelligent life. Maybe some bugs and small animals, but certainly nothing like an alien. Odds were that intelligent alien life existed somewhere in the universe, just not so close to home.
I'd threaded through the shrubs, picking my way and making my own path. The marginally lighter gravity caused me to adjust my gait and I hoped I didn't look as awkward as I felt. The ground felt soft, giving way under my feet a little too much and I had to be extremely careful to avoid face-planting in front of the drones. Only a few kinds of plants here, Colt, I had said. You might have to go a little farther afield to get some different samples.
I'll do my best, he'd said. A planet this size has a lot of different climate zones with plenty of variety.
You're about twenty yards from the water, Guion had said. Can you see it yet?
"No, but I can smell it. Like it's stagnant and it has something rotting in it."
Weird, he'd replied. He was our meteorologist, there to study the climate and environmental patterns. Our initial surveys recorded plenty of storms on Primis and I didn't think there'd be much chance of stagnant pools.
I'd grunted, not really wanting to get into a conversation about rain. I liked Guion just fine, but he could fill hours with his thoughts on any topic related to weather. I'd heard him go on for a whole evening about hurricanes. More than once.
The thin stalks of the shrubs had brushed against my boots as I'd navigated through the patch and drawn up near the pool of water. It'd appeared more like a bayou than a pond or lake, and wider than a stream. Tufts of shrubs had poked up at intervals where the water must have been shallower. I'd gazed toward the horizon, where the green plain receded without interruption.
After several moments of surveying my surroundings, I'd drawn my observations across the water and back toward where I stood. "Looks like some clouds headed our way," I'd said, the first hint of something not going according to plan.
Outstanding. Guion's voice had been excited. Minutes later I'd double-timed it back to the meadow and scooped up my helmet as the storm barreled down on us quickly. I'd scooted through my spacecraft's hatch and secured it against the wind.
* * * * *
My thoughts returned to the present with its dark skies. Only a minute after ducking back into my habitat, the rain started, and I contemplated my disappearing footprint through the glass. Another lightning stroke hit even closer.
What happens if our ships get blasted by one of those? asked Colt. I don't know if Guion detected the note of worry in Colt's voice, but I did.
Nothing good, said Guion, his message punctuated by another crackle of lightning. I set my helmet on the bottom curve of the sphere. The section of our spacecraft for the crew consisted of a large glass sphere, great for zero-g, but not as convenient when planetside. I blinked at the flickering lightning bolts. Heavy drops of rain pelted the thick glass and the other two ships only became visible when a flash lit up the sky.
Whoa, said Guion. I didn't like the sound of that.
"What?" I immediately asked. As the person in charge of the mission, I needed to know right away if something was wrong.
I'm just getting readings on this storm cell. It's huge. And it's going to get a lot worse with more lightning.
"What should we do? Try and ride it out?"
My ship buffeted from the strong wind of the stormfront. My feet shifted and once more I struggled to maintain my balance.
I don't know. There's a lot of electricity in the air.
"Colt?"
Hey, I'm just a biologist, not a guy who can tell you what this'll do to our electromagnetic drive. Your boyfriend's the guy to ask on that topic.
I ignored Colt's high school jab, but he was right. Lewis would know the answer, but he was back on Earth. Each ship had an EMD that generated an electromagnetic field, which then allowed it to manipulate the space and time components of Einstein's famous equations. Lewis had become an expert on the EMD before he became the first human being to travel to another star system. Currently, months after his mission, he still recovered at home on the SpaceFirst campus, nursing his injuries and radiation sickness. I sure could've used him on Primis.
My feet shuffled as a gust caught my ship and it lifted off the ground on one side. It settled back quickly but a million thoughts crossed my mind, pictures of the hulls and sphere of the craft cartwheeling across the alien plains, like tumbleweeds before a spring wind. Lightning hit the ground less than a hundred yards away, the clap of thunder making me think it might crack the glass of my sphere.
"That wind is too strong," I said. "Lightning's too close. We've got to get out of here."
Are you sure? asked Guion. We don't know what this storm will do to the EMD.
I didn't want to panic, and I didn't want to be questioned by the new guy. "It's either that or we sit here at the mercy of the storm. Do you think we can ride it out based on what you're seeing outside?"
My tone might have been a little harsh and his reply seemed subdued. I don't know.
He just wants to get his pictures out there with the teddy bears, Colt said in a teasing tone, a blatant attempt to ease the tension we all felt.
"Not the time, Colt. And not going to happen right now. Sorry, Guion."
If I don't get those pictures, I'm going to make Colt tell my girls why. Should be easy for him. I hear he's been disappointing females his whole life, said Guion.
Ouch, replied Colt. I'm going to tell Eileen you said that. She'll probably uninvite you to the wedding.
Great. Then we'll both be in trouble.
While they ribbed each other, I pondered our options and another bolt of lightning made my decision for me. "Gladys, plot us a coordinate in orbit, outside the atmosphere, where we can jump to. Send it to the other AIs and let's get out of here. Now."
Gladys didn't even take the time needed to reply. In the space of a half-second she computed the jump points for our ships, communicated them to the other AIs, and spun up our EMD for an instant departure. I felt the familiar crackle of energy and –
White light burst all around me. The blink-out and blink-in of instantaneous EMD travel that I'd become familiar with turned into a latticework of electrical discharge. I watched helplessly as the sparkling tendrils coalesced into a ball and burst outward.
Abrupt silence.
"Gladys?" My throat barely seemed able to choke out the word and my ears adjusted to the quiet. I strained to breathe.
I'm here. Barely.
I felt the sphere shift beneath me. "Where are we?"
Gladys took a few seconds to reply, and when she did, I wished I hadn't asked.
I don't know.
Eve is the first person to set foot on the planet, Primis, but her joy in the occasion is cut short when a terrific storm blasts their ships and she and her fellow astronauts, Guion and Colt, have to jump away at speed. Sadly they don’t move fast enough and finish up under water in an unknown location. Eve and Guion are able to get the habitable parts of their ships to the surface but Colt’s is wedged at the bottom. Guion goes back to earth for help and Eve ventures into the depths to try and dislodge Colt’s ship but gets into difficulties herself. On earth meanwhile Chris, owner and chief exec of their company SpaceFirst, instructs its controlling AI, Ray, to find out why their arch enemy, the AI Ares, went rogue and who is trying to sabotage the company. Suspicions centre on competitor DeepSky and politics is clearly a factor, especially when the Fed ban all space flights and jeopardise the rescue.
Even though this is a follow up novel we soon find out who the major players are and the various characters come over well. This applies not only to the humans but also to the various AIs who represent one of the charms of the story. For example, while Eve herself is well drawn, a skilled and brave commander of her small team, when Guion has left to fetch help and Colt is imprisoned under the ocean, she is only able communicate at length with Gladys, the ship’s computer. Gladys, as one might expect from the name, shows feminine empathy and does her best to help Eve discover their whereabouts so the rescue team can find them. Meanwhile the sarky and cynical Ray on earth, who has his own thoughts about the situation, demonstrates his own form of bravery.
The plot moves along briskly with much excitement (will Eve and Colt get rescued?) and numerous odd twists not least in Ray’s final battle with Ares. I did find the banter between Ray and Chris and the others a bit much as time went on but it does serve to fill in a lot of the back story and Ray is genuinely funny. It's also a clever means of telling us all about the science involved without it being an info dump, so all is forgiven. A most entertaining and exciting read.