The Grove of Tau Ceti

by Tobby Hagler

Demeter's not herself anymore.

Once the pride of humanity’s interstellar fleet, the ESS Demeter is on a final voyage to Tau Ceti, where the promise of a new alliance awaits. But something stirs deep within the ship’s rootwork, hidden and ancient, unfolding.

When psychic interference from a nearby alien moon plunges Demeter into strange silence, an unsettling truth the ship’s organic systems may no longer be under their control.

A telepathic technician haunted by her past must reawaken her abilities to help save Demeter. With the aid of a fellow Druid, a disgraced engineer, and a sentient sapling, the crew fights for survival against an unknown intelligence bent on reshaping them.

With time running out, the remaining crew face an impossible reclaim their home or risk losing the galaxy.

370 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 22, 2025

About the author

Tobby Hagler is a software engineering director and speculative-fiction author whose stories explore the intersection of technology, humanity, and the unknown. He lives with his wife and their three dogs in the Carolina Midlands, where he finds inspiration beside a quiet pond in a nearly unhaunted forest.