Universe Eventual

The fate of Earth's first colony rests on the shoulders of a pair of misfits: Theo Puck, a rogue hacker with a gift for speaking to machines, and Selena Samuelson, a brash but talented pilot with a dark secret in her past. Earth went silent over a decade ago. No contact, no resupply. If something doesn't change, the colony will go extinct. The only way to restore communication with Earth is the ancient colony ship Chimera. Two centuries of disrepair has taken its toll on her - the shipboard AI that allows travel between distant stars is lost in unending sleep. She must be woken and the ship rebuilt for a desperate return journey to Earth. The mandate to repair and crew the Chimera seems like a game to Theo - one he isn't invited to play. Angry at having been overlooked, Theo hacks his name onto the list of those selected to crew the Chimera, a decision he soon regrets. A brutal murder changes everything: Theo must make it to the Chimera or his family will suffer terrible consequences. Piloting an ore trawler is the only life Selena has ever known until an industrial accident strands her aboard the Hydra, the orbital station responsible for rebuilding the Chimera. After a chance encounter, AI suggests that Selena might have a far larger role to play in saving the colony than she - or anyone else - ever imagined. Theo and Selena's futures become intertwined as they carve out places for themselves in the crew that will navigate the Chimera back to Earth. However, behind the scenes, a brilliant sociopath has set events in motion that could not only destroy their lives but doom their colony as well.

The people of Stephen's Point have put years into rebuilding the Chimera, their last hope for a return to Earth. As preparations continue, the ancient ship sleeps, bound by her strict protocols. Theo Puck finds himself drawn to the mysterious girl from the rim, Selena Samuelson, convinced that she holds the secret to waking the Chimera. Meghan Ziczek watches as Theo and Selena grow closer, but the fulfillment of her own dreams of leadership give rise to a growing respect for the outsider. Marcus, too, wants the Chimera woken. But unlike Meghan, his leadership has nothing to do with saving Stephen's Point - his hatred for Selena is nearly equal to the desire to control Theo. Will his dark impulses overwhelm them all? When an exchange ship suddenly bursts through from Fractal Space, celebration erupts. Contact with Earth has been reestablished, the colony is saved from the brink of starvation...or are they? Instead of much-needed food and supplies, the exchange ship is full of nothing but the dead - a gruesome and horrifying delivery. With Earth's fate called into question, Stephen's Point descends into chaos. Tasked with fulfillment of the rebuild and return mandate, Chief Moorland will stop at nothing in her quest to wake the Chimera and prepare the ship's young crew. But can anything prepare them for what they might face at Earth? In the explosive new chapter to the Universe Eventual series, Helios will leave you breathless.