When contact is lost with Mission Control, Commander John Dennington isn’t overly concerned. Such hiccups in communication are common. The first inkling of the larger problem occurs when he sees the very shape of the world change before his eyes.<br><br>John must ease his crew into a new mission and keep the Station together by any means necessary. The crew jeopardizes their chances by fighting his orders, but Jason Weiss, his mission specialist and the light of his life, makes John’s situation more bearable.<br><br>The smallest malfunction to Station or crew would spell the end for six astronauts trapped high above a ruined Earth. It’s their mission to carry on. Random chance of the universe hasn’t operated in their favor so far, but John is determined to see them all safely home.

Expedition 63 Book 1: Dusk

At first, he didn’t see Yakecen in the Soyuz. Not a surprise at all, because the damned trash portion was in the way. He threaded through the junk until he poked his head into the crew compartment. “Yakecen?”


“What?” Yakecen’s surly bark came from the right side of the Soyuz, but John didn’t notice him until his head popped up from between two of the reentry seats.


“Just wanted to let you know about the signal loss from Earth,” John told him. As a Native American, Yakecen took being in space the hardest. John had learned over their time together that it was because of a spiritual connection his crewman had with their world and it felt sort of wrong to be on the Station. John didn’t question it. The potential for a lot of conflict if he misstepped in the discussion was immense.


“Shit,” Yakecen muttered. “I need to get these readings back down. They called for a double check three hours ago and I’m behind schedule with it as it is.”


Chapter 4