Roughly five hundred years in the future, humanity has mastered the art of space travel and planet colonization. With the expansion and dissipation of country borders, there came culture-based factions to fill the void, as it were. Though cultures have become more homogenous as the centuries went by, much of the more over-arching aspects have been cherished and preserved, leading to vastly diverse and vibrant swaths of colonies and space stations throughout human territory. And between them, you will find thousands of grand ships which range in size from a small town to an entire city. These behemoths have nothing in common with the sleek fighting or fit-for-a-rogue ships of most science fiction, relying on their cylindrical layout to generate gravity instead of "science magic." Luckily, with the advent of quantum linking and stable wormhole technology, they don’t ever have to do a whole lot of precise maneuvering.
One such ship, Thunderbird, and its crew get hired to be an escort for an anthropological and archeological expedition to the fairly-recently discovered planet called Tril (originally MGL-6337 c). It is the first and only world discovered thus far to be inhabited by intelligent life, a species which, while somewhat humanoid, has far more in common with birds than humans. With the planet being primarily dominated by vast canyons, they have often built their cities and villages into the sheer cliff faces high above the rivers. One city in particular appears to be a center of religious activity, and the scientific team is very interested in studying the temples deep within the tunnels.
What they find there is older even than the planet’s current inhabitants and yet mostly intact, despite the tectonic forces that should have crushed it already. The broken stories and clues left behind by this stranger race sparks a journey across the galaxy. They’ll stop at colonies and stations alike as they seek aid in research, deal with infuriating bureaucracy, and attempt to maintain their sanity aboard a spaceship packed with way too many weirdos and quite a few pranksters. And when another scientist catches wind of their discovery and gathers their own team of explorers, the Thunderbird’s quest becomes a race filled with sabotage to become the discovers of the fate of their mysterious siblings in interstellar travel.
Author’s Note:
Like most writers, I’ve been telling stories (or trying to, anyway) since I was a little kid who had yet to realize how much she sucked at it. And I’ve been reading. A lot. I’ve always loved fantasy and sci-fi over more "mundane" fiction (though I like that more now that I’ve grown up), but as I’ve gotten older (and much less suck-y at writing) and have started to get a feel for common plot and character devices, it’s gotten harder and harder for me to find "new" stuff that I want to read. Especially since the representation (gender, orientation, race, you name it) in my beloved genres is just horrendous.
So now I guess I’m telling stories that I would want to find on a shelf, which is what this whole thing is. I wanted to write a fun and interesting adventure story that didn’t take itself so seriously that it came off as pretentious, while also taking responsibility for itself. One that included non-stereotypical characters from all walks of life. A representation bonanza, if you will, with a fun, science-filled story to boot.