The Timeless Ones

Ned and Cynthia Jackson return to a lush alien world that once held both their honeymoon memories and their hopes as Bureau inspectors, only to find the familiar green valleys transformed by a thriving settlement. As they descend in the Star Mist, they reflect on the larger mission of human colonization: building order and community on far-flung worlds, and making a place feel like home through love, wonder, and shared history. But the warm reunion they expect quickly turns uncanny. Near the Sweeneys' flower-ringed house, Cynthia is startled to see Mary Sweeney emerge looking exactly as she did ten years earlier, and inside, Helen and Clifton Sweeney are unchanged as well. Ned realizes the family has not aged normally and seems to live outside ordinary time, content in an eternal present with only faint, summoned memories of the past. Beneath the settlement's idyllic surface lies a disturbing mystery about time, childhood, and what it means to grow up. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.