Black Earth

How We Got Here

By: Michael Cook

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

What truths lie in the black void between the stars?

It’s late September 2019 when a young astronomer working at the Haleakala Space Observatory in Maui, Hawaii, accidentally spots a black dot in the night sky that is occulting the stars that lie behind it. The Earth-sized black sphere is in our solar system and is calculated to be closely trailing Earth by only seventy-five million miles…on the same ecliptic plane.

NASA launches an unmanned probe to Earth’s nearest neighbor, given the name ILK-87b. The images coming back from the black planet both shock and amaze those inside the halls of NASA. Curiosity, fear, and dread, overcome insiders as infrastructure is detected on the black mass. Scientists are confounded since infrared telescopes are not detecting a heat signature. After a secret meeting of the G8 world leaders, an international manned-mission is scheduled.

Prior to the scheduled manned-mission, a secret satellite orbiting the planet – now dubbed Black Earth – detects light emanating from a triangular structure with pentagon shaped corners. When astronauts finally arrive, two of them – Dr. Carrick ‘Rock’ Michaels and Dr. Kaley ‘Kinzi’ London – are dispatched to investigate. When they arrive at the triangular mega-plex, they are shocked when an exterior airlock door opens. What the two find on the other side will change everything we know about man’s origins on Earth and how climate change decided the fate of a once-great society…Zenith.

Inside of the structure called The Triad, Carrick and Kinzi stand face-to-face with a one hundred and fifteen-year-old man named Erik, who greets the two by saying: “What took you so long?” Erik tells them the story of Zenith and its mass migration to Earth beginning 6000 years ago. As the astronauts are preparing to depart for their journey back to Earth, Carrick shocks them by saying that he will remain on Black Earth. Over the next thirteen months, Carrick will learn the history of Zenith and what prompted its mass migration to Earth. Carrick will be shocked to discover that many of Earth’s greatest historical figures are actually from the planet Zenith. These figures – hundreds of them – helped shape Earth’s growth and spurred its medical and technological advancements. Not all of these historical figures were good, though.

The connection between Erik and Carrick is unexplainable and will lead to a story that has never been told before. This story will connect the dots of the universe and answer the age-old questions of: Are we alone in the universe? How humans came to be on Earth? What are the origins of religion, racism, and segregation? And finally: How we got here?

What happens next will bridge the planetary gap between Earth and Zenith, life and death, time and space; and will result in the heartbreaking story of love, family, and mankind’s past, present, and future.

Awestruck

A moving story of how one man's sacrifice began the tumbling of dominoes, and would help another man find his reason, his purpose, and his family. Some hard science here, not a fantasy sci-fi like 3 Body Problem. No laser beams needed. This story is powerful, and felt real to this reader. I look forward to the follow-up.