Diana's Epoch — Terry James

At 23, Diana is an unemployed science graduate with an eviction notice and no living parents. Diana and her five diverse friends are ordinary people whose synergies create extraordinary changes. Through a neighboring physics professor, Diana is given access to technology capable of interstellar travel. The new technology increasingly changes all aspects of our human life and culture. Diana tenuously controls the technology as international power struggles, involving mercenaries, assassins, seducers, executives, scoundrels, and government spies attempt to buy or steal the technology. Not aware of the full power of technology, Diana finds herself entangled in an expanding cosmos. Some alien civilizations have billions of years of science and knowledge. This knowledge is exhilarating to learn but often dangerous. Diana's team journeys beyond their imagination to tackle high-risk problems. As always, the world unfolds in mysterious ways to challenge the challengers. Who is corrupted by power, how do they control this power, and who finds unexpected love? Can humanity survive the three levels of extinction described by the aliens? The challenges mount, the team splinters, and the climax builds as Diana is attacked from seven directions: east, west, north, south, up, down - and, of course, the within direction of self-doubt. The book is about 100,000 words.