A few modifications had been made to the Siyane in the months since the Metigen War ended. For one, the cockpit had been rearranged a bit. Caleb’s chair received an upgrade, hers moved to the left, and they occupied their seats as equals. Many of the sensors and scientific equipment received upgrades as well and now included a number of new features.
They had even made room for Caleb’s bike down in the engineering well. It turned out Division secured it after Volosk’s murder as part of the crime scene, at first as evidence then later for safekeeping. And who knew? They may need it. On a planet’s surface, perhaps. Or on a space station….
Oh, and there was Valkyrie.
It hadn’t taken long for the combined processing power of three Artificials enhanced by the neural imprints of some damn clever humans to result in a host of technological leaps. The list of ways they were changing the world was long, but most relevantly for the Siyane was the radical miniaturization of quantum boxes and hardware circuitry. What once filled a large room now fit between the interior walls and bulkhead of a small ship.
Abigail had protested the final stage in her loss of Valkyrie, contending she needed the Artificial to assist in the rebuilding of Meno, and in the rebuilding of a human brain. But while quantum communication was able to span the universe—this universe—in an instant, it could not penetrate the portal. Alex needed Valkyrie with her where they were going.
A rather expensive compromise had been reached: a complete copy of Valkyrie was constructed and an image of her neural net flashed to the new machine.
From the time the new Artificial was activated, it and Valkyrie began diverging, and in a matter of weeks they could no longer be considered the same in any meaningful way. Valkyrie professed no misgivings about the situation, explaining that she intended to view her mirrored copy like a sister. In fact, she was somewhat enamored with the notion of having a sibling; as Alex was an only child it would be a wholly new experience for her.
Caleb grasped Alex’s hand in his, and she stood to join him at the viewport. After a moment she halfway faced him, eyes dancing in delight to match his own. “Ready to see what’s out there, Mr. Solovy?”
“Hell, yes, Mrs. Marano. Beyond ready. Show me this supposed ‘adventure.’”
“Knowing we won’t die simply by going through doesn’t take the adventure out of it?”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her closer for an ardent, tantalizing kiss which ended far too soon, then murmured against her lips. “No, it does not. Now let’s do this.”
She reluctantly disentangled from his embrace to ensure all the systems were in order. “Valkyrie, how about you?”
“You are taking me to explore other universes. I am ready.”
“Okay, then.”
The aliens had asserted no one should ever come looking for them—but she had never agreed to that particular term of surrender.
She reached down and sent the gamma signal.
The ring exploded outward to fill with the still mysterious, luminescent plasma. Around it the patrolling ships reacted the next instant, rushing to take up a defensive formation.
Her hand slid across the HUD to the thrusters. With a touch she gunned the impulse engine to full power and accelerated into the portal.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for reading TRANSCENDENCE. Sharing the story of Aurora Rising with you has been a tremendous honor and privilege.
Hearing from readers, whether it be through email, social media or reviews, has been a joy and a terrific encouragement on those tough writing days.
Now I have one request: consider reviewing Transcendence and telling others about Aurora Rising. Reviews are the lifeblood of an author’s success. They help to influence potential readers and shape a book’s reputation, and just a few words go a long way. Share the books on social media or in your favorite forums, or simply tell your friends about them. You have my sincere thanks.
A complete list of my books and where to find them can be found at www.gsjennsen.com/books.
Visit www.gsjennsen.com to explore concept art and other media and get the inside scoop on Aurora Rising. Subscribe to the website to stay up-to-date on all the latest news and be the first to know about special announcements and new book releases.
You can always email me at [email protected] with questions or comments, or find me on a variety of social media platforms:
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I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the world of AURORA RISING.
*
Find G. S. Jennsen’s books on Amazon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When she was two years old, G. S. Jennsen informed her parents that she would be learning to read now. When she was four, she brought the dinner-table conversation to a screeching halt by inquiring as to what they knew about the nature of infinity. The rest is history. A long, convoluted history that wound across the United States and back again—and back again—through a shocking variety of windowless libraries, windowless corporate boardrooms and windowless engineering labs.
She has been a corporate attorney, software developer, freelance editor and is now a full-time author. She lives in Colorado with her husband and their two furry, four-legged children. There are many windows in her home, half of which look out on the Rocky Mountains.
Her first novel, Starshine, was published in March 2014 by Hypernova Publishing.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Map of Colonized Worlds
Dramatis Personae
Aurora Rising Synopsis
__________________
PART I: RICOCHET
1: Seneca
2: Earth
3: Nystad
-- Seneca
4: Sagan
5: Earth
6: Krysk
-- Seneca
7: Sagan
8: Space, Central Quadrant
9: New Cairo
10: Pandora
11: Earth
12: Pandora
__________________
PART II: BLINDSIGHT
13: Pandora
14: Earth
15: Pandora
16: Ogham
17: Pandora
18: Romane
19: Earth
20: Seneca
21: Elathan
22: Earth
23: Space, NC Quadrant
24: Earth
25: Earth
___________________
PART III: EMERGENT
26: Earth
27: Earth
28: New Babel
29: Earth
30: Earth
31: Space, NC Quadrant
32: Earth
33: Scythia
-- Seneca
34: Earth
35: Scythia
36: Siyane
37: Earth
38: Earth
39: Seneca
40: Krysk
____________________
PART IV: RISE
41: Space, NC Quadrant
42: Siyane
43: Earth
44: Krysk
45: Space, NC Quadrant
46: Krysk
47: Space, NC Quadrant
48: Krysk
49: Space, NC Quadrant
50: Romane
51: Space, NC Quadrant
52: Romane
53: Space, NC Quadrant
54: Earth
55: Earth
-- Seneca
-- New Babel
-- Earth
56: Earth
-- Space, NC Quadrant
57: Seneca
-- Earth
-- New Babel
<
br /> 58: Earth
59: Earth
____________________
EPILOGUE
-- Earth
-- Atlantis
-- Siyane
____________________
Author’s Note
About the Author
Transcendence Blurb
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Map of Colonized Worlds
Dramatis Personae
Aurora Rising Synopsis
__________________
PART I: RICOCHET
1: Seneca
2: Earth
3: Nystad
-- Seneca
4: Sagan
5: Earth
6: Krysk
-- Seneca
7: Sagan
8: Space, Central Quadrant
9: New Cairo
10: Pandora
11: Earth
12: Pandora
__________________
PART II: BLINDSIGHT
13: Pandora
14: Earth
15: Pandora
16: Ogham
17: Pandora
18: Romane
19: Earth
20: Seneca
21: Elathan
22: Earth
23: Space, NC Quadrant
24: Earth
25: Earth
___________________
PART III: EMERGENT
26: Earth
27: Earth
28: New Babel
29: Earth
30: Earth
31: Space, NC Quadrant
32: Earth
33: Scythia
-- Seneca
34: Earth
35: Scythia
36: Siyane
37: Earth
38: Earth
39: Seneca
40: Krysk
____________________
PART IV: RISE
41: Space, NC Quadrant
42: Siyane
43: Earth
44: Krysk
45: Space, NC Quadrant
46: Krysk
47: Space, NC Quadrant
48: Krysk
49: Space, NC Quadrant
50: Romane
51: Space, NC Quadrant
52: Romane
53: Space, NC Quadrant
54: Earth
55: Earth
-- Seneca
-- New Babel
-- Earth
56: Earth
-- Space, NC Quadrant
57: Seneca
-- Earth
-- New Babel
58: Earth
59: Earth
____________________
EPILOGUE
-- Earth
-- Atlantis
-- Siyane
____________________
Author’s Note
About the Author
Transcendence Blurb
Transcendence: Aurora Rising Book Three Page 42