Unpublished
Synopsis:
Erik took up living onboard his sailboat, Sky Dancer, as soon as his junior year in school ended. He spent every summer since his father’s death five years ago working on Lake Erie cleaning boats or finding salvage to sell. With some help from his stepfather, Erik bought Sky Dancer and spent most of his time rebuilding her and creating a robotic crew: Larry, Curly, and Moe. Moe, a main frame, ran the ship. Larry, a spider-like droid, maintained the deck and sails. Curly, a submersible robot, works as the engine and dive assistant. Everything up to this point has been for an after-graduation trip to his late father’s homeland of Norway, and this summer was to be no different.
All Erik wanted this summer was to work the lake cleaning boats, salvage stuff to sell, and spend time with his girlfriend – maybe a little adventure a long the way. Diving to the bottom of Lake Erie to salvage trinkets was exciting. Leaning Sky Dancer over as far as possible to get the most speed out of her was exciting. Erik never imagined that a piece of salvage could change his entire world, sending Sky Dancer not just over the waves but into space.
The problem started when Curly mutinies and goes off course dragging Sky Dancer in front of an ocean freighter. The near miss is only the beginning since Curly found an ancient artificial intelligence buried beneath Lake Erie. The silver orb looks like a cannonball but has no pitting, no corrosion, and no weight. Erik’s curiosity flares so he keeps the bit of salvage not thinking much of it until the later that night.
Being above the water and energized by contact with Curly, the silver orb, an AI called a GAIA, restarts its programming to find the system damaged. The only fix for the program resides with the Main Artificial Network on the Mobile Outpost and Operations Network (Man on the Moon). GAIA heads for the moon taking Sky Dancer into the air without considering the first protocol of protecting human life. When Erik wakes to F-16s flying by, GAIA lands the sailboat, but the boat is no longer on Lake Erie, and it is being pursued by the Coast Guard. To avoid detection, GAIA sends Sky Dancer through a wormhole to Lake Erie. The travel results in Erik being injured and aliens being alerted to an active GAIA.
Unknown to Erik, an alien government maintains control of systems contaminated by humans and the war machines of the last human galactic empire. GAIAs misfire at times, but each GAIA contains a miniature blackhole, so none of the units are allowed anywhere else. Erik’s short trip causes an intervention team to be sent to determine if it is an accident, malicious, or an uprising. The last uprising was eons ago, so the team, commanded by Captain Chi, sent is small and unassuming of a threat. They never considered that a human would choose to use a GAIA for a space adventure. Once they meet Erik, he is quickly judged as a threat to the peace and tranquility of the universe.
Peace reigns in the universe because the humans are contained within their reservations, so Captain Chi is charged with capturing or destroying Erik to restore the peace. Thousands of alien warships converge to bring about the end with Erik striving to stay one step ahead. Chi must stop Erik at all cost.
Erik wants only to avoid capture and find a way to return home without being pursued by all the aliens in the universe, but he knows that isn’t truly possible. The summer he dreamed about is not the summer he will have, but it is up to him to choose how it will end. He will have to sacrifice something no matter the choice: love, family, home, freedom, life, or will it be all of the above. But, isn’t that the life of Earth’s first intergalactic outlaw?