THE LAST EVENT: Echos and Secrets

by Michael Christopher

It's 3816. In an unevenly civilized, yet widely accessible Milky Way Galaxy, political frictions and violence still linger, and planetary raiding, political subterfuge, even war, sporadically rear their ugly heads. Lethal predatory beings can still be encountered lurking in the shadows throughout the galaxy.Within the Terran Solar System lives the Tilden family. Nancy Tilden is a leading neurophysiologist who pioneered the diagnosis and treatment of interdimensional tunneling sickness and a magnet of admiration throughout the Terran Solar System. Nancy is the loving Mom of three wonderful, if not occasionally challenging, school-aged daughters, and dedicated wife of one Dave Tilden, Professor of Ancient Food Stuffs and Food Preparation. The Tildens are residents of the equatorial space elevator, Quito Tower, one of two such magnificent structures, antipodes on Terra's equator.The Last Event follows a year in the life of the Tildens. 3816 is a terribly significant year in so many ways. The story centers on two key events. One is Dave’s preparation for the elite triple event for the upcoming Galactic Gaming Guild’s penultimate athletic competition halfway across the galaxy. The other is Nancy’s shattering personal transformation, the result of an encounter during an unavoidable, and entirely unexpected, near-Jovian salvage mission that she accompanies as a medical team leader. Her transformation catapults her from work-a-day Mom to ephemeral entity grasping to maintain the essence of her inner self, while clinging to the desperate hopes of adapting back into her family life.Funny, cynical, sometimes serious, occasionally tragic, this tale leads to a stunning rescue mission within the ancient depths of the long-forgotten Los Alamos research facility. Costly victories come to those who deserve them most, accompanied by the strengthening of the loving bonds within a struggling family that finds itself crashing head-long into the life-changing events of a threatening Terran civil war.

313 pages, Paperback

Published November 21, 2023