Andromeda Ancestors

About the Book

Andromeda Ancestors is a story about two, bright college freshmen (Dave Wycliff and Mark Thaddeus) who make a momentous discovery one hot summer day in 2041.  Their discovery occurs at the beginning of their summer break from SiliconPoly Tech, the best university in the country.  SiliconPoly Tech in Seattle, Washington is an elite school sponsored and controlled by the corporate 'Big Three' giants (Silicon Comptronics Inc., GM-Dyne Propulsion Ltd. and MicroSoft Telecommunications).

The drama unfolds in the small town of Glenrock, near Cottonwood Creek and the Trinity Mountains.  This Long Valley area in northern California is near the northern edge of the San Andreas Fault line.  After a recent 'earthquake' disturbance, the boys go exploring on a hike near Mount Shastna in the Trinity foothills looking for geological evidence of the quake.  Surprisingly they come across an unusual looking 'boulder' that they eventually retrieve to the family garage.  Later they are startled to learn that the giant rock is actually an alien spaceship from outer space.  The craft is from Nyrollst, a planet similar to earth but in the galaxy, Andromeda about 2.3 million light years away!

Their adventure centers around determining why the ship crashed on earth and how they will help Commander Chavst and his crew travel back from earth (in the galaxy Milky Way) to the Nyrollstian's home planet in Andromeda. SiliconPoly Technical potentially complicates the historic discovery since the boys and their parents work for Silicon Comptronics, Inc, (SiComp).  SiComp is not only the biggest employer in town but also it's under contract to the federal government involving significant military intelligence work.  The plot thickens when Dr. Maxmillen, the unscrupulous Lab Director at SiComp attempts to take away the boy's historically significant discovery for the obvious monetary reasons.

The boys and their alien visitors are resolute in their efforts to ascertain what caused the Jollir, a normally stalwart Nyrollstian StarCruiser to crash for no apparent reason.  In so doing, they learn many fascinating things about both their planets.  They also come across something even more fundamentally significant and common to both planets!  This shocking discovery portends to eventually reshape the future of mankind across the universe from the Milky Way to Andromeda.

About the Author

Andromeda Ancestors is Mr. Vaught's first book. He was born in Shelbyville, Indiana but grew up in Haines City, Florida, a quiet little town in the central part of the state which locals affectionately call 'The Heart of Florida'. He utilized every opportunity throughout his childhood to visit his school and the local town libraries. It was there his fervent interest in science fiction and historical fiction was developed. He has always been especially fond of the works of Robert A. Heinlein (e.g. Farnum's Freehold, Rocketship Galileo)and Kenneth B. Roberts (e.g. Arundel, Northwest Passage). Later, Mr. Vaught earned chemistry degrees from Florida State University (Bachelors-1969) and the University of Florida (Masters-1973). He held numerous management positions in Product Development, Sales and Regulatory Affairs within the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Delaware before retiring in 1999. He currently resides with his wife and their two children in Newark, Delaware.