A.D. 3485Twenty-year-old Taylor Neeran is settling in to her new life on the forest planet called Aeden, but all is not well in paradise. She has sent messages off to the stars to let the crew know she is alive, and hopes that one day her mother and the crew will return. She has also transmitted details about the Illiya and the exotic wonders of the planet to the crew of the Zanzibar and the University, but others have intercepted her messages.A ship arrives bearing comforts of home, and a terrible secret. When the visitors' true purpose is revealed, Taylor finds herself fighting to defend her new home alongside unexpected allies.Trapped on an alien planet ten thousand light years from Earth, Taylor will soon bear witness to the fate of Aeden as the planet is engulfed in a war they have no hope of winning… James Jacob (J J) Mathews grew up with his nose stuck in books. A voracious reader in his youth, he devoured all of the science fiction and fantasy books he could find at the local library. J.R.R. Tolkein, Isaac Asimov, Ben Bova, Larry Niven, Voltaire and Greg Bear were some of his early influences, with many other authors added to his bookshelf as time went on. Broadening out to read more genres as an adult, J J has always held a special place for fantasy and sci-fi.J J is married and lives in Hamilton, New Zealand with his wife and three boys, and writes in his spare time. A.D. 3485All Taylor wanted was to get to know her mother. Now, she may never get that chance.Taylor went along for the ride to help her mother survey a new planet, and the offer of a few extra course credits for doing field work certainly didn't hurt.A planet on the edge of disputed territory, sure, but the war with the Xathen had ended thirty years ago, and the Commonwealth had won. It didn't matter that the first survey ship failed to return, things like that happen during wartime.But this was just term break, with two whole months to work alongside her mother and get to know her better while she sharpened her Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise.With any luck, she would graduate early.Then Taylor messed up, big-time.Now she was lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home

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