Quantum (Phillips)

High above the windswept plains of Kazakhstan, three astronauts on board a Russian Soyuz capsule begin their reentry. A strange shimmer in the atmosphere, a blinding flash of light, and the capsule vanishes in a blink as though it never existed. On the ground, evidence points to a catastrophic failure, but a communications facility halfway around the world picks up a transmission that could be one of the astronauts. Tragedy averted, or merely delayed? A classified government project on the cutting edge of particle physics holds the clues, and with lives on the line, there is little time to waste. Daniel Rice is a government science investigator. Marie Kendrick is a NASA operations analyst. Together, they must track down the cause of the most bizarre event in the history of human spaceflight. They draw on scientific strengths as they plunge into the strange world of quantum physics, with impacts not only to the missing astronauts, but to the entire human race.

Eight months after the astounding discoveries made at Fermilab . . . Particle physics was always an unlikely path to the stars, but with the discovery that space could be compressed, the entire galaxy had come within reach. The technology was astonishing, yet nothing compared to what humans encountered four thousand light-years from home. Now, with an invitation from a mysterious gatekeeper, the people of Earth must decide if they're ready to participate in the galactic conversation. The world anxiously watches as a team of four katanauts suit up to visit an alien civilization. What they learn on a watery planet hundreds of light-years away could catapult human comprehension of the natural world to new heights. But one team member must overcome crippling fear to cope with an alien gift she barely understands. Back at Fermilab, strange instabilities are beginning to show up in experiments, leading physicists to wonder if they ever really had control over the quantum dimensions of space.

Everyone knew time travel was impossible. Then reality intruded. A dying man stumbles into a police station and collapses. In his fist is a mysterious coin with strange markings. He tells the police he's from the future, and when they uncover the coin's hidden message they're inclined to believe him. Daniel Rice never asked for fame but his key role in Earth's first contact with an alien civilization thrust him into a social arena where any crackpot might take aim. When the FBI arrives at his door and predictions of the future start coming true, Daniel is dragged into a mission to save the world from nuclear holocaust. To succeed, he'll need to exploit cobbled-together alien technology to peer into a world thirty years beyond his own. The third book of the Quantum series goes far beyond extra dimensions of space to expose the curious paradoxes of time in a wild ride along the edges of scientific knowledge.

Twenty-three intelligent species. One ancient mystery. And two humans thrust into the middle. Daniel Rice hasn't felt right since his return from a dystopian future. Curious dreams repeat with detailed precision. A voice-or something-seems to be calling him. His problem isn't medical, it's not even scientific, and it's driving his wife crazy. Nala is worried, and she's not the type to pace the halls while her overly analytic husband procrastinates. Earth's scientific power couple is soon halfway around the world to consult with alien android, Aastazin. Zin is no doctor, but he has friends in high places. Next stop, a thousand light years from home where an alien megacity shaped in a six-petaled flower hosts species from dozens of worlds. But there is more going on at this gathering place than meets the eye-aggressive security bots, an ancient mystery, and a pending vote that could shun humanity from the greatest collection of civilizations the galaxy has ever known.

Chaos. Where the universe ends, and reality begins. Everyone knows that Chitzas are masters of spatial compression, routinely exploring distant places across the Milky Way in their wedge-shaped scout ships. But rumors abound of even greater accomplishments. Some say these intrepid explorers have reached beyond the galaxy. When a distress signal is received from deep space, making sense of the emergency becomes a personal matter for Daniel Rice. His wife is onboard that ship. Has it been destroyed? No one knows, but searching for survivors won't be Daniel's only problem. The distress signal comes from a region so remote that light itself has not had time to reach our eyes. The Chitzas may have ventured beyond the cosmic horizon. Compelled to seek the truth, Daniel must follow the Chitzas' path across vast reaches of space to a mysterious planet in an unusual galaxy. What he learns will take him even further from home-to a place ruled by chaos.

Forget everything you know about reality. The quantum world doesn't play by those rules. Daniel Rice is a government science investigator whose specialty is solving seemingly intractable problems through scientific inquiry. But Daniel's intellectual strength is sorely tested by the bizarre realities he finds in the quantum world. Extra dimensions of space trap the unwary, probability replaces cause and effect, and time isn't what anyone imagined. The other side of the mirror is a place full of dangers, but it's also somewhere a dedicated scientist can uncover secrets that connect humans with something greater.