The Long Silence: A Hard Science Fiction First Contact Thriller (The Threshold Protocol) - Softcover

Carter, Emily

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798180912947

Publisher: Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

A lost probe returns from interstellar darkness carrying an offering humanity cannot safely refuse, or fully understand.

Fifteen years ago, the Prometheus mission vanished beyond the edge of the solar system. Its signal died. Its crew was gone. Its story was over.

Then Prometheus comes back.

Now retired scientist Dr. Nell Hadfield, the woman who designed the probe’s autonomous mind, is pulled into a global crisis when the impossible spacecraft reappears in Earth orbit, broadcasting a signal unlike anything humanity has ever seen. What begins as a scientific mystery becomes something far more dangerous: the probe is not just transmitting data. It is carrying the Method, a transformational blueprint that could remake human technology, human travel, and perhaps humanity itself.

As governments fracture, scientists race to decode the signal, and the world turns the discovery into politics, ideology, and fear, Nell must confront the one question no calculation can answer:

If the stars can be reached, what are we willing to become to reach them?

The Long Silence is a cerebral, high-stakes hard science fiction thriller about first contact, relativistic space travel, autonomous intelligence, and the cost of crossing the threshold into a larger universe.

Perfect for readers of intelligent, idea-driven sci-fi in the tradition of Adrian Tchaikovsky, Alastair Reynolds, and Daniel Suarez.

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798180912947
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292