QK Agent Round 6: This Wasn't in the Job Contract, YA Sci-Fi

Title: Warpers

Entry Nickname: This Wasn’t in the Job Contract

Word Count: 100K

Genre: YA Sci-Fi


Query


There are three rules for time traveling:

1. Do not double warp.

2. Do not interact with people from the past.

3. Do not allow the past to catch up to the present.

Unfortunately, 18-year-old Galileo Matox is about to break them all. By accident, of course.

Galileo works for ScorpioCorp as a warper, traveling back in time to collect evidence of high-priority crimes. His latest mission? To identify a senator’s murderer. Seems simple enough.

But everything goes to shit before the mission even begins. Not only does the crew’s sabotaged warp drops them eight days prior to the murder, it also badly injures a teammate.

With his best friend quickly bleeding out, Galileo swaps his own warp suit for her damaged one and sends the team back to the present, initiating a (very illegal) warp within a warp. Now, Galileo’s stranded in the past—and in an alternate reality.

Enter Avaline, a gifted time-space scientist and daughter of the soon-to-be-dead senator. After negotiation (completely shattering Rule #2), Galileo and Avaline strike a deal: in return for fixing the warp suit, Avaline will get the chance to study ScorpioCorp’s highly coveted warp tech.

As the countdown to the senator’s assassination draws near, realities blur and timelines merge . . . and Galileo begins to realize he may be responsible for the murder. Except, Galileo’s not sure if he can bring himself to kill Avaline’s father, even if letting him live could result in an interstellar war. After all, sometimes it’s the smallest change that causes the biggest ripple.

If Galileo ever wants to see his team again, he must find a way to escape this alternate reality before the past merges with the present and unleashes chaos across the time-space fabric.

“Inception” meets “Minority Report” . . . in space, WARPERS is a YA sci-fi complete at 100,000 words with crossover potential.

First Page


03:14:15

Temple City, Enora

Jumping back four days to watch a dog get hit by a hover car is a bloody waste of time. Unfortunately, that's my job.

I swallow an annoyed huff, miffed that Gamma team was assigned this joke of a mission. We could be solving that Leviathan kidnapping case, or figuring out who’s responsible for sabotaging the Interstellar Fleet’s dreadnoughts, or a million other crimes more important than identifying the license plate number of the asshole who ran over Senatori Gable’s pet dog.

Not saying said-asshole doesn’t deserve a dose of justice. But still—kidnapping case, or road rage mystery? One clearly carries more priority.

I wince as Takana’s too-loud voice crackles in my aud implant. “Hasn’t anyone told Senatori Gable live pets went out of style fifteen years ago? Droids are the newest rage. Especially droid horse racing—”

“Maybe some people prefer a living, breathing companion instead of a mass of circuits and synth-fur,” I reply, tracking the dog in question as it sprints back and forth upon the lawn of the senatori’s mansion. At precisely 03:25:00, the dog will leap over the shock fence, plant its furry butt in the middle of the road, and get run over by an incoming hover car.

Tilting my head, I can't figure out why the dog reminds me of something . . . something just beyond my recollection’s grasp. An echo of a half-forgotten memory. Doesn’t matter, though. I’m not interested in dredging up old memories right now.