Title: CROSSOVER
Genre: Science Fiction
Word Count: 85,000
Query:
After a storm electrocutes twenty-year-old Blake Kline while he’s
beta-testing a virtual reality simulation, he finds himself a part of a
classified fringe science initiative and his mind slipping back and forth
between two universes. In one, he’s an average frat boy ready to C+ his way
through Tulane, but in the other he’s aboard the pioneer space ship Athena,
preparing to colonize New Earth. That is, until Blake’s accidental crossovers
begin to blur the boundaries of their worlds.
The Crossover Initiative, a decommissioned military program,
links a person’s mind to their otherself—another version of them in an
alternate reality. The two Blakes couldn’t be more different and it doesn’t
take many slips back and forth for them to ruin each other’s lives. Trying to
save colonists on a space walk, Blake loses two of his otherself’s fingers—and
crosses home to find the Other Blake ended up in bed with his lab partner.
Blake tries to survive both the Athena and the chaos his otherself makes of his
life in New Orleans, as the Initiative works out how to break the bridge between
them.
As universe boundaries begin to blur, New Orleans braces for the
worst hurricane in history. Despite the danger, his otherself is loving the
life he might have had if his family hadn’t died. The Athena prepares an
emergency colony on Europa and Blake struggles with the challenges of life on
the icy moon, where he’s stepped up to be a leader. With every crossover their
universes grow closer and the friction begins tearing the world’s apart. The
last crossover ended the Initiative and destroyed most of the other world’s
Western Hemisphere, now history is repeating itself in Blake. They need to
sever the connection—fast, before their universes annihilate each other.
Crossover will appeal to fans of Elizabeth Norris’s Unraveling
and Beth Revis’s Across the Universe Trilogy. I am an editorial intern at
Entangled Publishing under Theresa Cole and a book review for the Dark Faerie
Tales blog.
First 250:
Orson helped the young man pull on the virtual simulation cap,
arranging the wires to fall over the edge of the recliner and not his face.
Hope bloomed like a weed inside his chest, whispering, This time. This
time it will work. He didn't have the strength to mow it down.
"Now I just want you to relax and remember, this isn't a
fully-functioning game yet." His greatest fear was something going wrong,
stranding the boy's mind outside his body—forever. "The programmers are
still writing the code. You're only there to observe. Not interact. We want to
make sure it looks as real as possible before we invest any more money into it.
Alright?"
"Yeah. Sure. Christ, I can't believe I'm doing this."
Orson laughed. It came from deep in his belly, touching on the
desperate wish that he could be the one going in.
"You have no idea. It might not work, remember," he went
on, as much for Blake as for himself.
"Yeah. Right. But still, so cool." The kid—young man,
damn he felt old—all but vibrated in his seat. Orson envied that fresh
enthusiasm. Should he really risk someone so young?
What choice did he have? He postured past the nerves with
another smile.
Finished checking the sim cap, he asked, "Ready?"
Blake's excitement didn't let any nervousness through as he
nodded, smiling wider.
"Alright then. Let's log you in."
And please, Orson thought, activating the program and shielding his
heart for another failure, please don't die.
No comments:
Post a Comment