Prologue

It existed as part of a world engulfed in unimaginable darkness, where winds blew so hard any stone smaller than a city bus was destined to live its short life forever airborne.  Above the constant eight-hundred mile-per-hour gale were clouds that rained torrents of sulfuric acid.  But this hell rain was destined never to reach the iron-hard, sandblasted surface of the planet.  Above the nefarious clouds, from the only vantage point where it might have been visible, the distant sun twinkled so far away it would have been indistinguishable from the far-off stars.

Over time, its sun consumed its fuel and began the process of imploding. The sun’s density reached a point where the very atoms collapsed in on themselves. The resulting explosion fragmented the distant planet like a plate glass window in a hurricane sending shrapnel careening like a monstrous shotgun blast into the abyss.

Now it existed as a piece of iron as large as a mountain and ten times heavier. The only thing that could stop its maniacal pilgrimage was a collision with something much larger. Its journey would have taken it on towards Galaxy NGC 2403 but the gravitational force of Neptune snatched it as it blew by. It rounded Neptune and broke away from her pull just in time to level out and scurry off toward its final destination—

Earth.

 

Chapter One

The Gathering

***

It was easy for Todd Riley to say he didn’t care about school before the deed was done but now reality was rolling in like an Atlantic sea fog. How was he going to tell his father he’d quit school?

It had been over two years since he and his mate, Obie Baker left their home town of Muskogee, Oklahoma in search of an affordable state-of-the-art education. For them, that meant UCLA at Los Angeles, California. It wasn’t an easy transition. The loud confusion and clamor was daunting in the beginning but the two country boys soon found their niche.

For the most part, life at UCLA had been good to Todd. The ever-present alcohol fuddle, the friends who never had to go home and the endless supply of girls orbiting his crew but always gravitating to him… but that was before he met Maria Rose.

Since Maria Rose, life at UCLA had consisted of sleep, booze, pain, and lonely, crowded parties, all of which had already cost him four of his five classes. He had managed to cling to his developmental biology class till the very end, but he wasn’t sure why.

Truth of the matter was, since Maria, he’d been thinking about going back to Oklahoma. Get a job for awhile; take it back to his roots.

Deep in thought, he found himself entering the parking terrace of his apartment building. It was already getting late. He found a spot and pulled in just as the sun was going down. Before he was able to open the pickup door, his cell phone sounded. “Talk to me!” he barked into the receiver, his baritone voice resonating off the concrete walls.

“Todd, what did you do?”

“News travels fast,” Todd said.

“So you've really done it? You quit?”

Todd stepped out of his truck. “Obie, I’m sort of busy right now, could I call you later?”

“Okay buddy, but I gotta tell ya; I got news you’re gonna wanna’ hear.”

“News about what?”

“Oh, it ain’t gonna be that easy, dude. I’m at Dub's. If you wanna get the news, you know where I’ll be.”

“Not tonight, Obie. I gotta talk to my dad and make some plans—”

“Two words, Todd…I got two words for ya.”

Todd smiled. “Okay, Obie, what’re your two words?”

“Maria Rose.”

Todd stopped mid-step. “Maria? What about her?”

“Maria Rose is out asking around for one Mr. Todd Riley’s phone number.”

“Get out!”Todd yelled.

“That’s right dude—she was here at Dub’s a minute ago. She was looking for you— just barely left. She was asking for your phone number. Which was weird, man, cause I thought she already had it.”

“I changed it…long story. Who did she ask?”

“Dub’s…15 minutes.” The phone went silent.

Todd stared at it a moment before sprinting back to his pickup.

The roads winding in and out of the busy UCLA campus were packed, but Todd was able to make the five miles to Dub’s Pub in less than 20 minutes. The moment Todd walked in the crowded bar Obie was on him.

“Todd, TODD!” Obie hollered over the blasting rock band. “We’re over in the corner dude!”

Cody Fisher pushed a cold beer into Todd’s hand and slapped him on the back. Denny and Tadpole were standing at a table motioning for him to join them. Todd grinned, raised his beer, and slowly began making his way towards them.

 “Todd the bro bra dudester!” Denny yelled as Todd approached the table. He offered the palm of his hand, and Todd soundly slapped it.

“I heard you totally quit school today!” he said. “I wish I could quit. My old man would kill me.”

"Why would you want to quit school?"

"Cause I suck at it dude. I should just get a job and—"

“Obie…Obie!” Todd yelled over Tadpole’s shoulder. “What about Maria Rose?”

Obie broke conversation with a couple of roving sorority girls and moved to Todd’s side. “She said she wants your new phone number, dude. She wanted to know where you’re living now.”

“Who did she ask?”

Obie pushed a sloshing beer bottle against his chest. “Emwaaa.”

“You?”

“Yeah, why not me?”

“I don’t know. Did she say why?”

“Not really.”

“You give her my number?”

“Sure I gave it to her.”

“You give her my cell number?”

“No, dude, you said to never do that.”

“You didn’t give Maria Rose my cell phone number?”

 Obie grinned stupidly, “Sorry, dude.”

 “So—did she say when she was gonna call?”

“No, she was in a hurry. She… is… so… frickin’ hot, dude.”

 “Be back in a few,” the lead singer yelled from the bandstand. “Don’t go anywhere!”

 The pub quieted and the group of students quickly huddled around the small table.

“Maybe she wants to get back with you, dude,” Tadpole said. “Maybe she’s sick of Jessie Espinosa.”

Todd shook his head. “I’m not seein’ it. The dude’s a movie star.”

“He’s just another city pretty,” Obie said, “all hat and no cattle.”

Todd grinned and clicked his raised beer bottle against Obie’s.

“What was she like?” Denny asked, changing the subject.

“Dude—is she as good as she looks?” Tadpole said.

Todd stared into his beer. “Wouldn’t know.”

“How could you not know?” Denny said. “You two went out together for three months. How could you go out with a girl like that for three months and never have sex? Could you tell me that?”

Todd pulled his beer to his mouth. “The opportunity never came up.”

“Why’d she call it off, dude?” Obie asked. “I thought you two were close as fingers.”

“She didn’t call it off. I did.”

“You?”

“Yeah, me.”

“Why? How come this is the first time I’ve heard of it?”

Todd put his empty bottle on the table. “I gotta go. I’m here jackin’ around and Maria probably called already…”

***

By the time Todd reached his apartment building it was well past midnight. He pulled into his parking spot, stepped out of his truck, and stood looking back out into the parking terrace. He’d been watching the sleek, black Jaguar in his rearview mirror since leaving the village. Now it was parked on the road in front of his complex, its dark tinted windows gleaming in the moonlight.

As he stood watching, the car slowly pulled out and began making its way up the drive towards him. Todd left his truck and moved out into the driveway. He dropped the bill of his cap shielding his eyes from the glare of the headlights as the car pulled up and stopped directly in front of him. He heard a door open and close. Someone moved into the light.

“Maria,” Todd said. “What are you doing here?”

“Todd, I have to talk to you. It’s important.”

The car backed up, stopped, and quickly pulled up beside them. “You sure this is what you want?” the driver asked, glaring at Todd.

“Jessie, please—just go,” Maria said softly.

Todd had seen the face in the car before. It was the face of Jessie Espinosa, star of the hit TV series Run and Batch magazine’s ‘world’s sexiest man.’

The driver shook his head. “Okay, that’s it then.” The tires squawked as the Jaguar jumped and sped away. It turned a corner and disappeared into the night.

Maria looked up at Todd. “Sorry,” she said.

Todd looked down into her dazzling green eyes sparkling in the soft moonlight, her moon-lit raven hair framing her perfect face, pouring over her small shoulders. She stood in flawless feminine pose, tall and straight, looking up at him beneath sweeping long lashes. She was astonishingly beautiful, and completely unattainable.

“Was that—?”

“Yes… that was Jessie,” Maria said.

“What’s going on? Have you been crying?”

Maria shrugged. “We broke up—it was a little ugly.”

Todd pulled his ball cap off and looked around the parking lot. He quietly rolled a pebble under his boot before looking back up at Maria. “You want to come in?” he asked.

Maria nodded and they made their way up the stairs and into Todd’s apartment. Todd motioned toward his old green couch and went to the fridge.

“Why?” he said, returning with a soda. He took the lounge chair directly across from her.

“Why what?”

“Why did you break up?”

Maria smiled softly and stared into her soda. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

Maria shrugged. “We had a fight over…you.”

“Me?”

“Truth is Todd, I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Todd frowned. “Who are you?”

“Todd,” Maria said, suppressing a smile. “Jessie knew I wanted to be with you; that’s why we broke up.”

“Yeah, figures, only Maria could get her movie star to drop her off at her old boyfriend’s apartment.”

“This is important,” Maria said, “Stop changing the subject, especially since you’re leaving L.A. soon.”

“How did you know that?”

“I know you were expelled. I knew you wouldn’t stay here.”

“I quit.”

"What?"

"I quit school. I wasn't expelled."

“Whatever, Todd. The point is, I can’t live without you. I can’t let you leave without you knowing that.”

Todd studied her face for a moment before lifting the soda to his mouth. He took a long drink and looked back at her. “Maria” he said softly, “what are you doing?”

 “I want you to go to Nashville with me sometime next week to celebrate. It’s all on me.”

“Celebrate what?”

“Celebrate our getting back together.”

“What gave you the notion I wanted to get back together?”

“Todd,” she said, frowning like a little child, “I told you I wanted you, and that I can’t stop thinking about you. That’s what you said you needed from me—remember? What more can I say?”

“You could mean it.”

“I do. I do mean it.”

Todd eased out of the chair and moved towards the window. “Why Nashville?”

“I’m having tests run at Vanderbilt. I just thought, since we’re already there, we could take a few days—that is, if you want to come with me.”

“Testing you for what?”

“It’s a…medical thing.”

“You sick?” he said, looking back at her.

“No, nothing like that. It’s just something I’m doing for extra credit. They’ve been testing me for months. They need me to go to Vanderbilt for this last test.”

Todd looked back out into the dark. He stood in silence for a time before turning back. “What the hell. I could use a vacation. When do you want to leave?”