Splashdown

This episode contains a sample chapter of Infinity Machine.  It also shares some reader's letters and discussion and includes the drawing for the original manuscript. If you like this series, yo ucan now buy the books in an ebook form on both Amazon and Barns and Nobel.  It is also available through Smashwords.  Please find me on facebook under through the fold to get continued updates on future postings! Thank you all for listening! Paul J. Joseph

Sally and her crew return to Earth to implement the plan that sounds crazy.  And in an unlikely spot in an urban neighborhood a miracle takes place.

Ian awakens to new challenges as the ship nears Earth.  But are Sally's unusual plans for their return to Earth too paranoid or is she the only voice of reason?  As the clock ticks on, decisions become more critical.

As Sally begins her long journney home, she has time to contemplate the question of the fate of the Ultrablitz.  As she begins to explore the story of the mission, a critical clue comes to light.  But does she have the right to interfere with history?

Sally and her crew are now on course for Earth, but they have a long and difficult journey ahead of them.  Worse, they are now only beginning to explore who they may trust and who they shouldn't.  And facing them is the memory of a longer journey that is yet incomplete.  It is to this that Sally must find a solution.

Sally and Ian are reunited in the field of debris that is all that remains of the ultrablitz.  But there is one more battle that must be  completed before they can safely leave Baltan territory.

Sally's standoff with Dr. Beasley leads her to discover that her situation isn't as bleak as she first thought.  But then all hell breaks loose as Ian carries out his deadly mission on the Ultrablitz.

Diego alone explains the plans to help Sally and Jackie escape the city, and he explains them only as they are about to be put into motion.  The plan is insane, but it's all that's left.  But, even as they approach the finish line, one critical detail is missed.

Sally confronts Diego after finally becoming fully alert and aclimated to the present.  She questions his loyalties, but admires his discoveries.  She also becomes aware of a machine he has restored which opens up a new world for their species and another.

Sally begins an operation that may prevent the dreaded blight from taking hold of one of her patients.  But the stranger returns in the middle of the operation, bringing mahem.  And then Sally wakes up to discover which reality was which.  Now they must flee the city if they can do so in time.

While Sally struggles to survive Earth's attack on Baltan and save as many people as she can, she is confronted with a stranger with a familiar face and an impossible tale.

Sally's efforts to prevent the attack on Baltan prove less than successful.  Instead of avoiding the bloodshed, she must now witness it.  And she has a front row seat!  Meanwhile, several hundred years ago in another world, a different battle occurs, resulting in no deaths at all.

Still stuck at the train station, Sally now tries to enlist the help of the very people who sent her on her mission.  But they are not as she remembered, and they have different lives now.  In the midst of this an old mystery is revisited concerning the loss of an ancient ship at sea.

Sally arrives on Baltan six years before she was captured, but she arrives the very day of the infamous attack.  With no time to lose, she makes her way towards the central tower.  But everyone from the train conductor to her former secretary on Earth do not believe a word she says.

Sally is led through the city to a place she didn't know existed for the purpose of carrying out her sentance.  But will the strange attempt at time travel work or prove fatal?

Sally's trial opens and more details of Earth's supposed atrocities are revealed and no obvious attention is given to her defense.  But the sentance the court imposes on her is anything but conventional and it may not even be possible.

Sally's deposition in preparation for her trial is made more difficult by the impending mystery of Mercy Collins' strange involvement with the Ultrablitz.  The unfolding story proves that their problems are bigger than they would appear.

Details emerge concerning what the Ultrablitz first saw when it's journey was concluded, but more questions emerge with each revelation.  Meanwhile, Sally waits for her trial to begin and gets an unexpected visit from Ian.  He now knows why the multicraft's systems did not fail when the other systems did.  His new plan is a long shot and could be deadly even if it works.

As Sally prepares for her trial, she and Jackie compare notes on what the mysterious alien found onboard the ship might have looked like.  We also learn more of Travis's original mission and what happened when they engaged their mysterious funnel initiator.

Sally and Ian continue to explore the Ultrablitz's past in an attempt to understand the notorious Funnel Initiator.  But in the middle of a critical discovery, Sally is taken back into custody to await trial on Baltan.  And, while Diego is describing alien technology, Rachel Poole makes another appearance, giving Ian a critical clue.