First published 2011
A meteorite tears into the Johannes Kepler, leaving the spacecraft crippled in deep space. First Engineer Holtz declares the crew doomed, but Lieutenant Donald Chase refuses to accept death as inevitable. The ship bleeds air and power while the crew faces the growing certainty that they will never see Mars or Earth again. Chase must find a way to repair critical systems with limited resources and time running out. The other crew members lose hope as their situation deteriorates, but Chase pushes forward against impossible odds. His determination becomes the crew's only chance for survival. The lieutenant knows that giving up means certain death for everyone aboard. He battles both the damaged ship and his crew's despair in a race to reach Mars safely.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, space-opera, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: against-all-odds, determined-hero, found-family
Setting: Mars, Earth
Period: 20th-century
138 pages · Kindle Edition · Gateway