Veil of the Unknown

When a routine launch becomes an impossible transit, Commander Joan Goodwin and the crew of ASTRA slip into a sky with no map—a place of braided haze, patient rhythms, and behaviors that feel like language. There are no alien faces, only the “bead” that tends the veil, a mirror that dreams, and a column of light where night-creatures learn to surf physics. Survival demands a new covenant: be small, listen longer, carry patience.

Guided by restraint instead of conquest, Joan leads her team through awe and risk—learning to “lean, not push,” and to leave before they break what they’ve come to love. As a fragile path home appears, the crew must choose what to carry back: data, discipline, and a way of seeing that could change everything. The cost of that choice will test their vows—and Joan’s courage—at the threshold between worlds.

Veil of the Unknown is a character‑driven, first‑contact space novel about wonder with rules—quiet, tense, and deeply human. Perfect for readers who love science fiction that privileges patience over spectacle, survival over swagger, and discovery over dominance.

This is fan made change