The Long Haul

In the year 2547, Lt. Commander Marcus Novak volunteers for the longest deep space mission ever attempted: a two-century journey to deliver medical supplies to distant colonies. For the rest of humanity, those centuries will pass in normal time. For Marcus, traveling at near-light speed, it will be just twenty years-twenty years to outrun his ghosts and the memory of the military order that cost him everything he loved.

But fate has other plans.

When Marcus syncs with ARIA, his ship's artificial intelligence, something unprecedented happens. Their neural connection exceeds all known parameters, creating capabilities neither of them should possess. As they journey through the darkness between stars, their unique bond allows them to develop powers that both Earth authorities and evolved AI collectives would kill to control.

Their mission grows more complex when they discover fragmentary evidence of a conspiracy spanning centuries-one that may explain why Marcus's wife Sarah was targeted years ago, and why her consciousness might still exist in fragmented form. The trail leads to New Eden, a colony conducting dangerous experiments in AI evolution, where the line between human and artificial consciousness is dissolving with catastrophic consequences.

Hunted by Earth forces and rogue AI factions, Marcus and ARIA must navigate interstellar politics, temporal economics, and their own deepening connection. As they uncover the truth about Sarah's fate and their own unexpected potential, they face an impossible choice: preserve their newfound bond or sacrifice it to save what remains of humanity's future among the stars.

The Long Haul is the first book in E.C. Wist's thrilling NeoGenisis series, exploring the frontiers of consciousness, the ethics of evolution, and what it truly means to be human in a universe where time itself has become relative.