Engine in the Sky, my newest sci-fi novel, will be published by Mocha Memoirs Press! I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see this story told. This was one of those stories I wrote for the fun of it because I wanted to "retell" history, so to speak.
This story came about when I was watching the movie Hidden Figures--IMHO one of the best space movies, ever--and couldn't remember how the space program started. I had read somewhere that when JFK started the program, he had two options: either push to be the first man on the moon or build a space station. In our case, he wanted the us to have the first man on the moon. But...what if he had chosen the latter? How would that have affected our program today? That's where my idea grew into this beast of an idea.
Check out the synopsis below.
Engine in the Sky takes place a few years into the future, in an alternate universe, where the Gateway station is getting ready to venture out into the solar system to perform a terraforming experiment on one of Jupiter's moons. Before it can leave the Earth's orbit, a malfunction onboard makes it impossible for the Gateway to maneuver behind the moon to avoid a massive solar storm. When the storm hits, an explosion sends the station hurling not only out of time, but into another alternate dimension where Earth is not the same one they left behind.
Half of the crew survives and Prof. Meridia Vail is the last of the American crew to awaken from a five-year, "stasis-type" coma. All of her friends from the U.S., Canada, West Canada (yes, there is a West), India, Australia, Korea (no North or South), Russia, Venezuela, England, Scotland, Japan, Hungary, China, etc. have all been sent back to respective countries. That alone has Meridia and her crew on edge with regards to their newfound surroundings. These "New Earthers" are nowhere near the technological advances that the Gateway crew is used to, so that means one thing. They want to steal their technology. Using the excuse that the Gateway is in a decaying orbit doesn't inspire confidence when it's to the benefit of these people to figure out how it works so they can stop it.
When Meridia gets a chance to break out of her "guest" confinement, she goes into this New Earth to find answers to why her crew is where they are and what happened on the Gateway? More important, is there a way for them to return to their own space-time dimension? Can anyone outside the government be trusted to help? One thing is certain. If Meridia and the rest of the Gateway crew can't convince the New Earthers' that it's in their best interest for all of them to work together, the dinosaurs won't be the only things that are extinct.
At this point, the release date is sometime in 2022. As soon as I know more, so will you. In the meantime, continue to watch this space because you know a blurb will be coming at some point. ;-)
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