The Belt

The discovery of a long lost spaceship transporting an experimental quantum device ignites a system-wide power struggle.

Commander Scott McNabb and the crew of the science vessel, Hermes, are three years into a five-year-long survey of the asteroid belt when they discover a derelict spaceship in orbit around a binary asteroid. The ship contains an experimental quantum device, lost while en route to a research colony on Europa.

Yet once word of the crew’s discovery gets out, they soon realize that ownership of this technology could fundamentally change the balance of power within the colonized worlds, and they now find themselves at the very nexus of a system-wide conflict.

Their fight for survival plays out across the solar system, from the mining outposts of the asteroid belt to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and from the great Martian city of Jezero to the irradiated hinterlands on Earth.

This is an epic tale of humanity’s struggle for survival and meaning in a time when artificial intelligence has finally out-paced our own ability to control it.

The science vessel, Hermes, has been urgently recalled from its mission to survey the moons of Saturn, just as First Officer Miranda Lee receives bad news from home—her mother is dying so she must leave the ship and return to Earth—for good. Commander Scott McNabb is so distraught by her sudden decision to leave that he pays little or no attention to the parameters of the new mission being requested by the Council of Europa.

Big mistake.

Powerful forces on Earth are now moving to resume inter-AI communications, risking the development of an all-out war. But other powers within the System are also mobilizing to prevent them from achieving their objective. Scott and the remaining crew of the Hermes are totally unaware that they are now at the very nexus of an inter-planetary battle—and ultimately heading toward disaster.

As the mission starts to fall apart Scott begins to realize the secrets that the ship’s QI, Aria, has been hiding from them all along. Secrets that could tip the balance of power within the System. He must now put aside all thoughts of Miranda and focus on trying to save his crew—including Aria. Failure to do so could ultimately plunge the entire System into total chaos.

No pressure, then.

Commander Scott McNabb and the remaining crew of the ill-fated Hermes survey ship, journey to Earth to an area formally known as Death Valley, now an irradiated wasteland. Their mission is to connect the quantum intelligence, Athena into the pan-solar communications network, enabling the QIs to rollback control of Earth by The Seven and their AI servants.

But their shuttle is damaged as it enters Earth’s atmosphere and it lands far from their intended location. Worse, it has been spotted by the AI that controls the region, and security drones are now searching the area to find it. With little hope of repairing the shuttle, Scott makes the fateful decision for them to journey through the wasteland on foot, even though some of the crew argue that this would be reckless.

But Scott is driven by a deeper motivation. One forged by the singular desire to find out what happened to Flight Officer Miranda Lee and the child she was carrying. This is because Aria has made him a promise. The QI has assured him that once Athena is reconnected it can then analyze Earth’s vast data-stacks and find her location, and more importantly, find out if she is alive or dead.

Now, nothing else matters to Scott. He is willing to risk everything to achieve the mission and ultimately find Miranda—even if that means risking the lives of his friends.

On the eve of Luca Lee-McNabb’s twenty-third birthday the quantum intelligence, Athena delivers her some bad news. Due to a devastating attack on its infrastructure it can no longer protect her and keep her hidden. She must leave Earth immediately and try to make it to New World One, a gargantuan habitat being constructed out in the asteroid belt.

For Luca, leaving her home means potentially exposing herself to the powerful VanHeilding family, who will stop at nothing to harvest her unique biology. They have created a formidable army of Node Runners, people who can jack-in to the data-grid, corrupt the flow of information and attack the QI network. Not only that, but they are now actively searching for her, hunting her down.

If Luca wants to get to New World One and see her family again then she must dig deep and face her biggest fear — jacking-in to the data-grid and facing down the Node Runners. But by doing so she faces a very real risk of brain death. Yet it is either that, or ending up being dissected in a VanHeilding genetics lab.

The battle for New World One has left Luca physically and mentally traumatized. She has descended into a deep catatonic state from which there seems no way back.

Scott and Miranda are concerned, not just about Luca but also the imminent threat of a new assault on the habitat by a revitalized VanHeilding fleet. They must leave, head for the relative safety of Mars, and hope that they have not left it too late.

Yet Luca is not unique in the system. There is another who possesses elements of her extraordinary biology. One who has been this way before, one who understands her struggle and who could ultimately hold the key to her freedom.

But for Luca to find a way back she must first deal with the demons that now stalk her mind. She must face up to what she truly is - a threat to human civilization.

As the conflict in the asteroid belt escalates, Luca finds herself seeking out the help of Athena, the QI on Earth. Together they hatch a complex plan to end the power of the VanHeilding family.

Meanwhile, resistance to the ongoing power grab by the Xiang Zu Corporation is gaining traction in Elektra, a quadruple asteroid system and the second most populous sector of the Belt. Miranda, Scott, and Cyrus find themselves being dragged into this fightback following rumors that the QI, stolen en route to New World One, has resurfaced in the hands of the rebels.

Yet, for there to be any resolution to the conflict, Luca must ultimately face-off against the army of node-runners arrayed against her on New World One. She knows it will be a fight to the death, there can only be one winner, but is she ready?

The fate of humanity is resting on the outcome.