The Assignment

Book excerpt: Book Description: Your first assignment: Take the new, revamped Space Shuttle to Mars and examine the mysterious face structure. While youre there, look at the pyramid-like objects, also. Your second assignment: Continue the voyage to Jupiter and look for signs of intelligent life. DO NOT LAND UNLESS NECESSARY. You will be informed of your final assignment after arriving at Jupiter. For eight adventurers from different backgrounds and different professions, it sounded easy. But from the takeoff, it seemed doomed: Objects are not stored properly for launch; a new engine they claimed could get them to Mars on less fuel remains untested; and a crew of non-astronauts assembled just for this mission includes an engineer with a serious self-esteem problem, a trigger-happy Marine, and a man who makes a living investigating UFOs. Astrophysicist Nancy Villareal and her hometown friend, Joe Rommel, confront the mystery of the third assignment. All the answers lie hidden in darkness, but first they must accomplish the first two assignmentsleading them into a dark world of secrets and lies.