From the back cover

“Humans are no longer one species,” Ryl continued, idly rolling the wine in her glass. “Some of us regressed a million years and leaped into a future that might have been, becoming Metas. On Earth, the Rhesus plague deleted a huge chunk of genetic diversity in mankind, taking with it a very special gene. As you reach out to the stars, to explore new worlds, to seek the sanctuary planet, Gaia, you will meet other species and situations that telepaths can’t deal with. A dangerous toy, Dim5 travel, for it opens you to predators. As a small gift to help you on your journey, to warn you when the path to be trodden is perhaps not the safest one, twenty-five men and women from the twentieth century were taken, adjusted slightly, and delivered to you. These are the C20s.”

Captain Jassom peered at her. “Alright, Meta, you called them gifts. Why gift them to us?”

“They’re early warning devices.” The Meta downed the last of her wine, and meeting his eyes, added grimly, “Believe me, you’re going to need them.”

Welcome to a world where humanity’s deadliest enemy is not a plague or warmongering alien species, but an insidious adversary that attacks from within.

Welcome to the Ark Ship.

Author’s notes

Published by Double Dragon in 2004 and now out of print, Ark Ship was the science fiction story that had been developing in the recesses of my mind for some two decades. It’s technically three stories that each should have been around 120,000 words, rolled into one novel because at the time, I wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested in buying a series. A couple of publishers have since approached me to redraft these contiguous stories as separate novels. The idea is incredibly appealing if somewhat self-indulgent. Maybe when I retire from my role as a science communicator writing about current events that generated the idea for this story.