Apocalypse — J.M. Erickson

The apocalypse is here… Hidden planets, preexisting advanced civilizations, coexisting hominid species, and new revelations have all led to the end of days. Whether by twist of fate or by the hands of the Originators, the Jovian planet is about to ignite into a sun. In its wake, Master Architect Janus of Mars will need to warn both Earth and Terra about the profound, cataclysmic effects of such an impossible astronomical anomaly within the Sol System. For wealthy German industrialist and philanthropist Christine Reich and her all-female assault group, Epsilon Team Six, it will mean forming unexpected alliances to save friends and wards. On Terra, former MIT doctoral candidate Andrea Perez will make the discovery of a lifetime -- one that will alter the course of her adopted home and prove that there is more to “Hades” than the myth. Apocalypse picks up from where the award-winning Intelligent Design: Revelations leaves off, with more answers that are far darker than the questions. In keeping with the short, classic science fiction genre of alien worlds, spaceships, exploding planets, and larger-than-life heroes, heroines, and aliens, Intelligent Design II: Apocalypse picks up a few short years after the events laid out in the well-received, award-winning Intelligent Design: Revelations. Former MIT doctoral candidate Andrea Perez is now part of the engineer-warrior caste system in Terran society. Her main purpose is to keep the planetary holographic emitters online to keep Terra, which is on the opposite side of the sun, hidden from Earth. But a more pressing disaster is about to unfold -- Jupiter is about to ignite into a sun. And yet, deep in Terra's crust, a hidden experiment is about to be discovered. On the desolate red planet Mars, Master Architect Janus and his master computer can calculate no explanation for such an impossible astronomical event. The last time they saw something similar was when Mars's civilization was at its zenith and the Gemini dwarf planets, Alpha and Beta, inexplicably collided in the orbits between Mars and Jupiter. On Earth, wealthy German industrialist and philanthropist Christine Reich, now fully adjusted from her former life as executive director of Readiness and Disaster Logistics in the FEMA Office of Response and Recovery, needs to shift gears to a new mission. She must save humanity, or at least a piece of it. With her all-female assault group, Epsilon Team Six, she is reunited with her longtime friend Anthony Perez to create an ark on Earth in the hopes of creating a new world after the apocalypse. But even as disaster is imminent for Earth and Terra, there is the remote chance of a new beginning for Mars and Venus. In the wake of the apocalypse, worlds may fall, old civilizations may revive, new worlds may form, and the mythical place known as Hades may come alive.