Secrets of Redemption
Work in progress (working title was Safe Conduct)
Book 2 of the New Foundation Project series
Secrets and impatience are a dangerous mix on the failing ark ship Redemption, a mix that could have fatal consequences.
In Secrets of Redemption, Kathleen Tarragó, the chief engineer’s daughter, confronts suspicion, chaos, and conflict on a deteriorating spaceship seeking to land on a colonized planet. The pressure among the crew and settlers on board Redemption is building, and Kath must find answers soon or risk the end of everything.
Kath is one of the few who know how precarious the ship’s condition is. She also knows the truth behind the landing scouts’ mission and the ship’s secrets: the ship’s navigation and landing depend on psionic energy—a deeply mistrusted power wielded by people with psi ability.
With the help of her friend Jamie Barston, a talented young hacker who has secrets of his own, she delves deeper into the hidden agendas and machinations of people who have their own plans for Redemption. Their investigation draws them ever closer to secrets that other people will kill to keep.
As the ship’s systems slip further toward disaster, Kath and Jamie are in a race against time and conspiracies. Can Kath navigate deception, betrayal, and her own emotions to reveal the truths that can save the ship?
This story opens about four weeks earlier than the events described in Book 1, A Signal for Redemption, and then runs in parallel. While the two stories are concurrent, this book has references to events in Book 1 that might be “spoilers” for readers who have not yet read it.
November 2023: I’ve decided to postpone publication of this one, despite the fact that it is very close to finished. I feel it’s not the right story to come after Book One, and I want to continue to refine it in the context of the next book. It’s a gut-feeling thing. I have started working on the new one, which picks up where A Signal for Redemption ends. It wasn’t an easy decision, and I’m sorry to delay getting a sequel published. and I hope you will stick with me as I work on this new book and get Secrets where it needs to be. I’m very excited about the possibilities I’ve gained for both stories and will keep you posted on progress.
About the New Foundation Project
The NFP was controversial from its inception, but there had been enough people, sick to their souls at the wreck they saw coming, willing to pay to give humanity another chance. Using timedrive technology — developed and destroyed centuries before — the project’s engineers set about creating a new future for humanity.
Three exoplanets were terraformed. Then there were three pairs of ships equipped with timedrives: a pioneer ship that would found a colony on each world, followed by a ship of settlers and supplies.
The ark ship Redemption was the last ship to launch. Its 720 people settled into life-suspension beds expecting to arrive at the destination planet 25 years after the foundation ship. A mishap with Redemption‘s timedrive dropped them into realspace almost a millennium later than expected, and a long way from the planet. They traveled for 80-odd years, and arrived at the planet on an overcrowded ship with failing systems. Their homecoming is complicated by the fact that there’s no sign of the technology they expected to find on the planet — and no indication that anyone down there is expecting their arrival.