THE ENGINEERS

deCordoba needs to know how things work. Clocks, magic rocks, eleven-dimensional interstellar jump drives—things like that.

This is not a healthy trait, not in the year 2289. Survivors of The Fault—a failed experiment that nearly extinguished humankind—blame scientists for their current, desperate state. Now, its’s all magic cults and soap operas—deCordoba can’t lay her hands on her beloved ancient sci-fi paperbacks, never mind a textbook on string theory.

Nothing’s easy, born common. Ensconced in their fortified arcologies, wealthy clans hoard food, medicine, and knowledge. Their quasi-military arm—the Global Diaspora Authority—controls the escape franchise: arks that are destined to colonize distant new worlds. deCordoba’s mother consigns her to one of these as the last, best hope for her daughter’s future.

Onboard, deCordoba joins a group of likewise divergent talents calling themselves The Krewe. She impulsively adopts Kali: a fierce, illiterate, rescue case who keeps insisting she’s deCordoba’s bodyguard.

It’s the jump drive that gets them into trouble—or rather, deCordoba’s rash infatuation with its proscribed technology. A rogue GDA admiral named Valko, seeking to steal one for himself, takes note of her illicit research. He arrives at the colony with a shit-ton of firepower, incinerates her home and takes The Krewe’s economist hostage. Kali recognizes this man; if the tribal legends hold any water, Valko’s the guy who defiled deCordoba’s royal mother and murdered her unknown father, before she was born.

The Krewe’s only tangible asset is an enigmatic planetary artifact which apparently manifests in eleven dimensions. They must unravel the stone’s alien op codes, harness its power, and outmaneuver Valko—if they want to rescue their friend before being blasted to cinders.

Now it’s personal; deCordoba must hone her ragtag band of savants into something sharper. She needs THE ENGINEERS.