Starseeds

Starseeds describes a scientific investigation of several tiny artifacts with very unusual attributes. The story is something that could actually happen tomorrow; it explores how a small group of real people would analyze and then cope with the unexpected proof of intelligence elsewhere in the galaxy. It is a character-driven mystery/thriller story of personal transformational discovery as well as the researchers attempt to solve a first-class scientific mystery. The story unfolds through the eyes and thoughts of four of the investigators. When Jake Calley, a geology PhD student, discovers two pellet-sized artifacts embedded in a soil sample, no one knows what to make of their unusual properties. That is until the US Air Force intervenes to investigate the pellets origin and function. Jake reluctantly joins his difficult mother, a brilliant scientific celebrity, and four scientists from a nanotech engineering lab to uncover the artifacts’ secrets. Quickly secluded by the military, the eight-member Project Starlight team races to unravel the amazing riddle from an ancient extra-terrestrial civilization. Rivalries, hidden agendas, emotional tension and, finally, desperation, drive the exciting search to its unexpected conclusion.