Chapter 1
8 July 2140
The view from the lunar shuttle heading for a landing on the east coast of North America still felt unreal to Selene Genji. Born in 2158, a lieutenant in a fleet that wouldn't exist until 2171, veteran of the multiple conflicts known as the Universal War that would rage through the 2170s, and witness to the death of the planet Earth on the twelfth of June, 2180, she had trouble at times believing that Earth still existed. That somehow the massive forces unleashed by the destruction of Earth had warped space and time itself to hurl her back to the year 2140, giving her a chance to try to alter the past that had led to that awful event.
If, that is, she could survive long enough to make enough changes while not knowing which changes were needed, her eyes and glossy skin betraying the fact that she was a genetically engineered "alloy" containing alien DNA in her mostly human genome. Alloys weren't supposed to exist until the late 2150s. But to some humans in 2140, the mere fact of her being partly alien was enough to mark her as a horrible threat that had to be eliminated.
A lot of those humans would be waiting when the shuttle landed.
Lieutenant Kayl Owen of Earth Guard, one of his hands tightly grasping hers, shook his head as the panel "window" in their compartment went blank, preventing any more outside views. In place of that, the window displayed warnings to cooperate with the security personnel waiting to screen all passengers when the shuttle returned to Earth at the minor spaceport named Wallops. "How do you suppose they figured out we're aboard this shuttle?"
"I'm more worried at the moment about getting off it without being killed. We have to assume shoot-on-sight orders are still in place when it comes to me," Genji said.
"They've targeted me as well," Kayl said.
"What if you put on your uniform?" she suggested. "Wouldn't they hesitate to fire at you if they knew you were an Earth Guard officer?"
He shook his head once more. "No. Whoever is waiting for us down there won't be Earth Guard. Probably soldiers and spaceport security. Soldiers fired on me while we were on Mars, remember? They know I'm officially a renegade Earth Guard officer, helping the dangerous alien scout they think is laying the groundwork for an invasion by the Tramontine."
"How long do the Tramontine have to demonstrate peaceful intent?" Genji asked in frustration. "Since their ship arrived in orbit about Mars, they haven't done anything aggressive."
"You haven't done anything aggressive, either," Kayl said. "That hasn't stopped some people from thinking you're a deadly threat."
Genji felt the shuttle shudder slightly as it entered thicker atmosphere. They were probably only a few more minutes from landing. "If I'm trapped here, Kayl, you need to move on. Find a way to remain free and try to carry out the mission."
"I'm not leaving you," he said.
"We may not have a choice! It's not just about trying to save the Earth! I love you, and I don't want you to die."
Kayl nodded to her, his expression solemn. "And I love you, and you're not going to die. Not as long as I'm around."
"The mission, Kayl! We have to save the Earth!"
"I understand," Kayl said. "When we land, let's scope out the security and see what options we have." He turned to speak to the fourteen-year-old girl sharing their compartment. "Krysta, remember what you promised Lieutenant Genji. When we tell you to drop, you get on the ground fast, and stay there until police come along. We don't want you hurt."
"Why do they want to hurt you?" Krysta asked, her voice plaintive.
"That's complicated," Genji said. Why had they yielded to Krysta's pleas to bring her with them to Earth? After rescuing Krysta from the abusive "husband" who'd bought her when she was eleven, they should have turned her over to a child welfare organization at the lunar colony named Hamilton. "Just do as we say so you'll be safe."
What would they be facing when the shuttle landed? How many foes, how much backup, how many bots and drones?
Her primary specialty in the Unified Fleet had been, or would be, close combat. She'd chosen that so she could battle the fanatics of the Spear of Humanity, trying to kill as many as possible of the sort of people who'd murdered her mother. But she'd never been able to kill enough, and eventually the Spear had won, if destroying the world could be considered winning.
An eye for an eye hadn't worked to win the future. It wouldn't work now to convince people in 2140 that she was trying to save the Earth and everyone who lived on it.
But, if she died here, only Kayl would be left to try to carry on, to try to complete the mission she'd given herself and he had agreed to give everything to try to accomplish. And if Kayl died as well . . .
One way or another, one of them would have to survive.
"Five minutes until landing at Wallops," the cheerful voice of the shuttle's announcing system informed them. "The security level at Wallops is Code Red One. Please comply with all security instructions to ensure the safety of you and your fellow passengers. Local time at landing will be 1700. The weather is comfortable with scattered clouds and light winds. Everyone is reminded that failure to cooperate with all security instructions could unnecessarily endanger you or your fellow passengers."
Lieutenant Kayl Owen hadn’t exactly turned his back on a successful career in Earth Guard. Before encountering Lieutenant Selene Genji, he had been on a one-way road to nonpromotion and dismissal from the service, not because he couldn’t do his job, but because senior officers in Earth Guard had tarred his father with responsibility for the loss of the cruiser Sentinel ten years ago. Since his father had died along with most of Sentinel’s crew, and an independent investigation had absolved him of responsibility for the disaster, those senior officers had to be content with blaming Kayl in his place.
But then he had been sent to investigate a piece of wreckage that had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, and he'd found a living survivor aboard it. A survivor named Selene Genji, who had turned out to have alien DNA among her genome. Suddenly, Selene Genji officially ceased to exist, all contact with her forbidden. Worried for her, Kayl had found means to communicate with Genji, convincing the stunned refugee from the future destruction of Earth that it was 2140.
He still didn't know what he would have ended up doing if he and Lieutenant Genji hadn't both been put on a sabotaged ship on its way to a catastrophic entry into Earth's atmosphere. After two more attempts to kill them both, he'd thrown himself wholeheartedly into helping her.
And ended up falling in love with the part-alien woman from the future who was trying to save a world that kept trying to kill her.
But the path they'd been on to try to save the planet looked like it might have hit a dead end. If the security forces at Wallops were expecting them and prepared for them, managing another escape might be impossible. And with shoot-on-sight orders still in effect, no one would listen to them before opening fire once they'd been identified.
The shuttle grounded. In other passenger compartments and the main passenger deck where hundreds of people were seated, the rest of those aboard the shuttle would be grumbling about diversions and delays as they prepared to debark.
Owen stood up, gazing at Selene. "We'll make it through somehow."
"Sure we will," she said, smiling.
They both knew they were lying.
Copyright © 2025 by Jack Campbell. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
