Cosmic Contact: The Next Earth (Paperback or Softback)

Cosmic Contact: The Next Earth is a sci-fi, action adventure that takes place 10 years after Books One and Two. The SPI Team members have become internationally recognized scientists. They are approached by Major John Dallant, who now heads the CIA and NSA, to address a seemingly impossible mission—find a means to save some semblance of humanity, which is on a path to extinction.

The potential impact of runaway climate-change has long been grossly underestimated. The world is rapidly approaching an existential crisis—the Anthropogenic Extinction—the sixth annihilation of Earth-bound species since life first appeared 3.5 billion years ago.

Assisted by teammates Eric Evans and Bella Moreno, and Thay Tuan, the team’s consigliere, Luc Ponti, now an astrophysicist at MIT, succeeds in creating a stabilized micro-wormhole, which is launched by NASA into high-Earth orbit and used as a means to contact intelligent life on exoplanets well within the “Goldilocks” zone—potentially human-habitable planets. Communication through the wormhole enables near-instantaneous contact over hundreds of lightyears of distance. The plan is to reach extraterrestrials who have technology that could help Earth achieve a level of sustainability above what now is sure extinction.

We are—definitely—not alone. The SPI Team ultimately succeeds in connecting with an advanced civilization on an exoplanet 101.4 lightyears from Earth, which they dub Zoi—Greek, meaning life. Unlike Homo sapiens, who became Earth’s first “behavioral modernity” race some 50,000 years ago, these extraterrestrials date the initial appearance of their “behavioral modernity” beings to 4.667 billion years ago. The Zoians are an advanced civilization beyond our wildest imagination.

They eventually agree to supply a geoengineering technology to position in an Earth high orbit to help humanity better adapt to rapidly escalating climate-induced change. The extraterrestrials also provide transport to Zoi for large numbers of people from around the globe. These migrants have the challenge of adapting to the “Next Earth.” Those left behind must adjust to pivotal changes on the “Old Earth.” But do Earth’s interstellar travelers know what awaits them on Zoi?
Against a backdrop of Russian espionage, this sci-fi, action novel explores the practical, social, psychological, and spiritual impact on Earthlings who learn of the extraterrestrial civilization’s technology, governance, leadership, and sociocultural units.

The science and power of consciousness and the role of artificial intelligence(AI) play critical roles throughout this adventure.

Questions pursued throughout the novel include: Who are the Zoians and what do they really want? Well beyond Newtonian and quantum physics, they are adept at Spiritual Physics. What is it and how does it work? What are their thoughts on the Meaning of Life and Life Purpose? What do they believe is the purpose of the universe; how did it form and what is its role for life throughout the cosmos? They have mastered interstellar travel. How is that possible when our best science, including Einstein’s theory of special relativity, says it’s not possible in any meaningful timeframe? Their technology in AI is well beyond our comprehension. Can they embed human Personal Consciousness into their AI systems?

Our world will never be the same with the answers to these questions.