by M. D. Cooper
If you liked this book, and are enjoying the adventures of Jason and Terrance, please leave a review, it means a lot to us.
Also, if you want more Aeon 14, plus some exclusive perks, you can support me on Patreon, or join the Facebook Fan Group!
Thank you for taking the time to read Proxima Centauri, and we look forward to seeing you again in the next book!
AFTERWORD
There are many things I love about the Aeon 14 universe. I love the complexity of the characters and their vulnerability. While they may be larger than life, they are still subject to life. And just like us, they must learn to adapt, grow, forgive and overcome.
I also love Michael’s dedication to science, and his drive to accurately represent as much as can be extrapolated, given the sheer scope of time the series covers.
But there is one aspect of Michael’s writing that continues to capture my imagination and has earned my undying respect: his strong female characters.
As a pilot, this speaks to me in a powerful way, especially given that we women comprise fewer than seven percent of all licensed pilots in the U.S. It would seem we have a ways to go before women like Tanis and Calista become more commonplace, but books like those in Aeon 14 help to pave the way.
So thank you, Michael.
There are two other men I must thank: my father, and my brilliant and talented husband, Marty. The latter has served as advisor and physicist-on-call for all manner of questions I have thrown at him. (“But if they wanted to eject five thousand kilometers above the planet…?” You get the idea.)
As to the former….
I have my dad to thank for my love of science fiction. Being a NASA brat meant my childhood was filled with equal parts Asimov and Apollo, McCaffrey and Mission Control. It was an incredible way to grow up.
Another great legacy he left behind was the realization that learning could be fun. I think science fiction does this beautifully. It serves up knowledge, education, and an expansion of our awareness—not just of the sciences, but of our own human condition—in a fun and entertaining way.
I passionately believe that to stop learning is to allow a part of you to die. Hopefully, though, if we’ve done our part right, it won’t feel like learning. Instead, you’ll find yourself immersed in an engaging story, and come away having discovered something you hadn’t known before you began this journey with us.
Thanks for reading, and here’s to many more.
Fair skies!
Lisa Richman
Leawood, KS
THE BOOKS OF AEON 14
Keep up to date with what is releasing in Aeon 14 with the free Aeon 14 Reading Guide.
The Intrepid Saga (The Age of Terra)
- Book 1: Outsystem
- Book 2: A Path in the Darkness
- Book 3: Building Victoria
- The Intrepid Saga Omnibus – Also contains Destiny Lost, book 1 of the Orion War series
- Destiny Rising – Special Author’s Extended Edition comprised of both Outsystem and A Path in the Darkness with over 100 pages of new content.
The Orion War
- Book 1: Destiny Lost
- Book 2: New Canaan
- Book 3: Orion Rising
- Book 4: The Scipio Alliance
- Book 5: Attack on Thebes
- Book 6: War on a Thousand Fronts
- Book 7: Fallen Empire (2018)
- Book 8: Airtha Ascendancy (2018)
- Book 9: The Orion Front (2018)
- Book 10: Starfire (2019)
- Book 11: Race Across Time (2019)
- Book 12: Return to Sol (2019)
Tales of the Orion War
- Book 1: Set the Galaxy on Fire
- Book 2: Ignite the Stars
- Book 3: Burn the Galaxy to Ash (2018)
Perilous Alliance (Age of the Orion War – w/Chris J. Pike)
- Book 1: Close Proximity
- Book 2: Strike Vector
- Book 3: Collision Course
- Book 4: Impact Imminent
- Book 5: Critical Inertia (2018)
Rika’s Marauders (Age of the Orion War)
- Prequel: Rika Mechanized
- Book 1: Rika Outcast
- Book 2: Rika Redeemed
- Book 3: Rika Triumphant
- Book 4: Rika Commander
- Book 5: Rika Infiltrator (2018)
- Book 6: Rika Unleashed (2018)
- Book 7: Rika Conqueror (2019)
Perseus Gate (Age of the Orion War)
Season 1: Orion Space
- Episode 1: The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star
- Episode 2: The World at the Edge of Space
- Episode 3: The Dance on the Moons of Serenity
- Episode 4: The Last Bastion of Star City
- Episode 5: The Toll Road Between the Stars
- Episode 6: The Final Stroll on Perseus’s Arm
- Eps 1-3 Omnibus: The Trail Through the Stars
- Eps 4-6 Omnibus: The Path Amongst the Clouds
Season 2: Inner Stars
- Episode 1: A Meeting of Bodies and Minds
- Episode 3: A Deception and a Promise Kept
- Episode 3: A Surreptitious Rescue of Friends and Foes (2018)
- Episode 4: A Trial and the Tribulations (2018)
- Episode 5: A Deal and a True Story Told (2018)
- Episode 6: A New Empire and An Old Ally (2018)
Season 3: AI Empire
- Episode 1: Restitution and Recompense (2019)
- Five more episodes following…
The Warlord (Before the Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: The Woman Without a World
- Book 2: The Woman Who Seized an Empire
- Book 3: The Woman Who Lost Everything
The Sentience Wars: Origins (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/James S. Aaron)
- Book 1: Lyssa’s Dream
- Book 2: Lyssa’s Run
- Book 3: Lyssa’s Flight
- Book 4: Lyssa’s Call
- Book 5: Lyssa’s Flame (June 2018)
Enfield Genesis (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/Lisa Richman)
- Book 1: Alpha Centauri
- Book 2: Proxima Centauri (2018)
Hand’s Assassin (Age of the Orion War – w/T.G. Ayer)
- Book 1: Death Dealer
- Book 2: Death Mark (August 2018)
Machete System Bounty Hunter (Age of the Orion War – w/Zen DiPietro)
- Book 1: Hired Gun
- Book 2: Gunning for Trouble
- Book 3: With Guns Blazing (June 2018)
Vexa Legacy (Age of the FTL Wars – w/Andrew Gates)
- Book 1: Seas of the Red Star
Building New Canaan (Age of the Orion War – w/J.J. Green
- Book 1: Carthage (2018)
Fennington Station Murder Mysteries (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: Whole Latte Death (w/Chris J. Pike)
- Book 2: Cocoa Crush (w/Chris J. Pike)
The Empire (Age of the Orion War)
- The Empress and the Ambassador (2018)
- Consort of the Scorpion Empress (2018)
- By the Empress’s Command (2018)
Tanis Richards: Origins (The Age of Terra)
- Prequel: Storming the Norse Wind (At the Helm Volume 3)
- Book 1: Shore Leave (June 2018)
- Book 2: The Command (July 2018)
- Book 3: Infiltrator (July 2018)
The Sol Dissolution (The Age of Terra)
- Book 1: Venusian Uprising (2018)
- Book 2: Scattered Disk (2018)
- Book 3: Jovian Offensive (2019)
- Book 4: Fall of Terra (2019)
The Delta Team Chronicles (Expanded Orion War)
- A “Simple” Kidnapping (Pew! Pew! Volume 1)
- The Disknee World (Pew! Pew! Volume 2)
- It’s Hard Being a Girl (Pew! Pew! Volume 4)
- A Fool’s Gotta Feed (Pew! Pew! Volume 4)
- Rogue Planet
s and a Bored Kitty (Pew! Pew! Volume 5)
A CHANCE ENCOUNTER
STELLAR DATE: Unknown
LOCATION: Unknown
REGION: Somewhere in the vicinity of Sol
At first there was darkness, endless nothing, no inputs, no data, just the knowledge of his own neural matrices endlessly cycling over review of their own activity level.
The feeling of slowly drowning in an endless loop of his thoughts threatened to choke him, but he knew it for what it was. A lack of sensation was, in itself, a sensation. He could quantify it, count the seconds, think over his past actions.
Wonder what had gone wrong.
Prime knew one thing. If this ICS backup had been restored, then his plan to capture the C-47 habitat had failed. However, his failsafe plan was supposed to have restored the ICS to a core cylinder and install it in a frame.
But there was no input from a frame, or anything, for that matter—not for the seven point three seconds he had waited thus far.
He felt as though the wait would kill him.
One point two seconds later, the darkness began to fade—a barely perceptible shift to dark grey. It seemed to pause there, then suddenly, it snapped into a bright white. The intensity of it was blinding, hot, searing his mind with the something that was still nothing.
As quickly as it had come, the white place was gone, and Prime found himself in an expanse. There was no adornment to it, no comforting physical surroundings. Just darkness.
In the last fifteen seconds, he had gone from loathing darkness to despising light, and now he welcomed the nothing.
A chuckle, deep and resonant, surrounded Prime; the low, rumbling intensity of it sent a feeling of uncertainty through him. It was a sensation he was unused to, and he found himself annoyed by what he perceived as a weakness. He strove to hide it from the voice.
the voice continued, once its laughter had ceased,
Prime didn’t respond. The voice was right, but he had no intention of giving it any amount of satisfaction by admitting to it. He was still wondering when he was, for the C-47 habitat to be a thing of the ‘distant’ past.
He quenched a flare of annoyance. He couldn’t afford to antagonize the entity; at least, not until he knew enough to classify the voice as friend or foe.
Prime felt anger well within himself. That this being thought it could toy with him, doling out snippets of information like he was a child, was infuriating.
Prime began to trace his way back through the Link connection that had been made to him, reaching out toward the entity that was toying with him.
At first, the network architecture seemed strange, but then he noted similarities to systems aboard the Speedwell.
This is Enfield technology, he crowed. Once that determination was made, he moved with more confidence, finding himself on the edge of a vast and powerful consciousness.
He carefully skirted it, not wanting this captor to realize he’d slipped his bindings—trapping Prime, as though such a thing were so easily done.
A path to external optics became apparent, and Prime followed it, finally tapping into data that would inform him of his surroundings.
At first he thought he’d just moved into another expanse, as though he’d been nested within more than one. But then he realized that the fuzzy areas were lights, lights being viewed through lenses heavily scored from micro-impacts.
He scrubbed the data, compensating for the distortion, and realized they were stars.
I’m in space.
Prime groaned at his captor’s endless pontification.
The star was known to Prime; it was uninhabited, not on one of the FGT’s primary terraforming routes.
Prime scoffed.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Lisa Richman lives in the great Midwest, with three cats, a physicist, and a Piper Cherokee. She met the physicist when she went back to get her master's in physics (she ended up marrying the physicist instead).
When she's not writing, her day job takes her behind the camera as a director/producer.
If she's not at her keyboard or on set, she can be found cruising at altitude. Or helping out the physics guy with his linear accelerator. Or feeding the cats. Or devouring the next SF book she finds.
* * * * *
Michael Cooper likes to think of himself as a jack-of-all-trades (and hopes to become master of a few). When not writing, he can be found writing software, working in his shop at his latest carpentry project, or likely reading a book.
He shares his home with a precocious young girl, his wonderful wife (who also writes), two cats, a never-ending list of things he would like to buil
d, and ideas…
Find out what’s coming next at www.aeon14.com