Chapters (57)

OPEN YOUR EYES, ROBERT EISENBRAUN.

No!

OPEN … YOUR … EYES.

* * *

The chamber is dark, laced with streaks of neon-blue fluid. The sensory pod glows violet red beneath muscles long paralyzed with anesthetic.

A buoy of thought—happiness, vanquished by a simple command, can be restored by another—go back to sleep.

“You are destiny’s castaway, Robert, a man who has witnessed the darkest days of existence. Now you live again, but only to change history.”

I glance over at Dharma, her nude form stretched out on a sensory table, her features obscured behind her life-support modems. Unconscious and dreaming, yet unaware—a captive Buddhist princess, denied any chance of achieving real Nirvana.

“Seek justice or seek happiness. You cannot have them both.”

Dharma or Andria?

Consciousness or an endless dream?

My anger swells at the injustice of our predicament, resuscitating the Hungry Ghost. I yearn for a lifetime of happiness with Andria, but Andria is dead, her soul has moved on.

Held in stasis, trapped in immortality, neither Dharma’s soul, nor mine can ever be free.

I rise from the sensory table, tearing the electrodes from my flesh. ABE … can you get us back to the lunar portal that brought us here?

YES.

Then engage Superman protocol. We’re getting the hell out of here.

Epigraph

A student once approached a sage who was well versed in the spiritual doctrines and mystical arts. He asked the master to teach him all the sublime secrets of life—to explain all the magnificent mysteries of the cosmos that are hidden in all the holy books. And he asked if all this could be done in the time that a person can remain balanced on one leg. The great sage carefully considered this request. He smiled and replied:

“Love thy neighbor as thyself. All the rest is commentary.”

—KABBALIST YEHUDA BERG

Novels by Steve Alten

NOVELS BY STEVE ALTEN

MEG

The Trench

Domain*

Goliath*

Resurrection*

MEG: Primal Waters*

The Loch*

The Shell Game

MEG: Hell’s Aquarium*

Grim Reaper*

Phobos*

The Omega Project*

* Published by Tom Doherty Associates

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A native of Philadelphia, New York Times and international bestselling author Steve Alten earned his bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, his master’s from the University of Delaware, and his doctorate from Temple University. He is the author of the MEG series, Domain series, Goliath, The Loch, Grim Reaper: End of Days, and The Shell Game. Steve Alten is also the founder and director of Adopt-An-Author, a free nationwide teen reading program that is used in thousands of secondary-school classrooms across the country to excite reluctant readers about reading. For more information, go to www.AdoptAnAuthor.com and www.SteveAlten.com.

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE OMEGA PROJECT