Project Ares: Realms Uncharted Presents, #1

By VJ Miller, Sr.

Project Ares takes place in another dimension similar to our own but with its own unique differences. It's the story of NASA's first expedition to Mars; an expedition that would never have taken place so soon were it not for a mysterious little man, Artur Jonas who seems to know a lot more than he lets on. Who he is will be made clear once the expedition is on the surface of Mars and the ulterior motives he has in store for its members.

• Language: English
• Publisher: VJ Miller, Sr.
• Release date: Dec 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393005759

VJ Miller, Sr.

Victor J Miller Sr. (1948 —) Is retired from many years working in industry. He has always loved writing and illustration and has done articles for independent publishers, and other novels. He lives with his family in Tennessee and enjoys painting and writing and walking in the hills of Tennessee.

Book preview

PROJECT

ARES

By V.J. Miller, Sr.

First in a Realms Uncharted Series

Other Worlds – Other Dimensions

Other times

Copyright ©2016 VJ Miller, Sr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental

All Rights Reserved

DEDICATION

The first book in this series is dedicated to, Ruth Dubois, My best friend, soul mate and full time muse who went home to God much too soon. It is in her memory that I am able to write this series.

Table of Contents

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

BONUS:

Other books by VJ Miller, Sr.

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About

Project Ares

by: V.J. Miller, Sr.

Science has postulated the existence of other dimensions – worlds existing in another plain: vibrating at another frequency, sharing the same space, each invisible to the other, having similar timelines but with slightly different results. The Laws of Physics and the Periodic Table are exactly the same in each reality, while alloys could and will have different menus. Each inhabitant of this multi-verse has a doppelganger who is his/her twin in every way though birth dates and environment could lead to drastic differences in the direction each person’s life eventually takes.  This is one of those times.

Part 1

I, David Magnor, set down these audio records so that if the rescue ships arrive too late, if they are coming at all, will have some idea what happened here, and the events that led up to our being marooned here on Mars....

Let’s see, how long ago was it? Four and a half, no, closer to five years ago I first met the odd little man, Artur Jonas.

Back, in the latter part of ‘98. The Shuttle program had been limping along. Delay upon delay raised serious doubts to the continued viability of the program. The two and a half year shutdown after that atrocious lack of good judgment that caused the Challenger disaster in January of ‘86 was supposed to have been a time of reflection; a time to modify and refit. It never came off; entropy and apathy were the clear winners.

I was 23 and at the cape the day of the tragic loss.

I’d come early; the night before, taking up a position on a grassy knoll as close as any civilian could get. Tent up, sleeping bag rolled out, I settled in for the night; nearly freezing to death. I had not expected eastern Florida to be that cold—even in January.

My camp-out was not solitary; the hill dotted with others having the same idea.

I awoke cramped, stiff from the cold, in the fetal position. While I straightened my chilled joints I imagined I heard rain beating on the ground. A deep inhale of the icy air, my nose corrected my ears; it wasn’t rain but the sound of bacon and eggs frying.

Hauling on my shoes, leaving them untied, I unzipped the door of my tent and poked my head out. The glare of the low angle sun nearly clear of the horizon forced my sleepy eyes to squint.

Hey there. Want some breakfast? We brought plenty, came the female voice from across the way. After I’d fallen asleep a young couple had set up across from me. The bacon, eggs and hot coffee along with the bread and butter went down soothingly; a far cry from the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I’d packed.

Janet Bates, her husband, Karl and I chatted eagerly; comparing notes over the shared meal and the warming campfire.

While the morning progressed toward afternoon the crowd of onlookers steadily increased. These were not your average rubberneckers; they were orderly and quite knowledgeable.

Through my high-powered binoculars I felt as if I was there on the gantry with the workmen. I’d seen them scurrying around, checking the ice; chipping off huge chunks from the walkways and railings. I soon felt they were going to postpone the mission yet again. Unknown to us, somewhere, someone, in his infinite stupidity (as it turned out) ordered the flight up. The world was watching and the powers that be were pressed to show NASA’s ingenuity and superiority in the space program. Hadn’t we been the first and only country to make it to the moon... several times; and first in so many other important aspects of the space flight?

We on the knoll paid close attention to the countdown clock placed nearby for our convenience. When it ticked off the last few seconds before the launch everyone fell silent; all eyes fixed on the launch pad.

The brilliance of the initial flame (before being hidden by the exhaust plume) rivaled the sun now just past its zenith. Seconds later the mighty roar of the three main engines and the two SRBs assailed our ears. From our vantage point (three miles away) the roar was deafening. Followed closely on its heels came a gentle trembling of the ground felt through the soles of our shoes.

Triumphant cheers and exhortations erupted when the Shuttle appeared from behind the billowing exhaust plume, turned its back toward the east and rose swiftly into the sky. Little more than a minute later we fell stony quiet and held our collective breaths.

I’d seen every previous launch on television; and when that huge fireball lit up the sky I knew long before the thunder of detonation arrived