The Elysian Fields

The System is a universe of alternate realities; its purpose remains enigmatic. It throws its captives from one harrowing venue to another at whim. But why? System captives seize an international criminal from a Himalayan fortress, escape from time-traveling aliens, manage a wild Blues band, leap from modern Japan to a medieval Shogun's palace then into an abduction at an American 4th of July celebration, explore a new Andes cave complex and discover illicit research on materials with unstable quantum structures, and try to prevent sabotage of a deep-water oil drilling rig. What is this unfathomable System? What is its purpose?

The System is a universe of alternate realities; its purpose remains enigmatic. It throws its captives from one harrowing venue to another at whim. But why? Stuart and Susan Briggs are chased from modern to medieval Japan and then to an American 4th of July celebration. They discover that they are FBI agents sent in to recover an abducted couple in witness protection. Jason Hart and Rachel Cleary survive a ferocious Wyoming forest fire targeting them, are involved in an 1880s range war, and then awake in Mississippi managing a Blues Band on the way to Muscle Shoals to make a demo record and their first drug delivery. After parachuting into a clandestine operation to acquire a space probe, they find themselves back when they met before the forest fire. Jacob Parker and Paige Elliott are kidnapped to construct a new invention for a world in a parallel universe. In their next venue, they collaborate with CIA agents to remove a criminal from his Himalayan fortress and deliver him to international justice. They are abruptly part of a spelunking team to explore a new cave complex in the Andes where Quantum Systems is secretly conducting illicit research on materials with unstable quantum structures. The System brings all three couples together to investigate rumored industrial sabotage of a deep-water oil drilling company. Throughout their ordeals, the captives reaffirm the concept that "Love is the most important Reality."

T. Austin Campbell is a scientist, philosopher, and writer. In his previous life, he was a research geneticist. Now a full-time novelist and wanderer, he draws upon his travels, memories, and imagination in crafting tales of high adventure, romance, and triumphs of the human spirit in a world of ever-changing realities. He has also written The Grasshopper Man, The Blue Plane, The Temples, and The Dark Plane.