Zeke and the Other World

Gazeon. A gaseous planet far from Earth, but whose bubble-like, intelligent inhabitants are working to contact other planets and civilizations. They have no permanent edifices, yet they live and work in ways not unlike our own. There are births, deaths, marriages, divorces, sports, restaurants, and institutions of higher education and research. There are also personalities of every stripe and problems similar to ours here on Earth, including drug addiction and its disastrous effects.

The Gazeon characters have marvelous names that always reflect something of their essence. Strong-Presence, Dr. Mind-Storm, Harmony-Lights, and Dark-Lights are just a few of the most prominent beings involved in the Other Worlds Contact Project.

Earth. Rural Missouri in the 1920s. The boy Ezekiel Isacks, or Zeke, is contacted in a subtle and mysterious way by Strong-Presence, who has been sent to attempt to bond with him. Strong is tenuously anchored to his home world by what they call the silver cord. From that moment on, the formerly ordinary child is overtaken by a desire to "learn everything." In the military, he becomes a doctor. He marries the beautiful Lila, and they have two daughters.

In the story that follows, the lives of the scientists on Gazeon are roiled by frustration and fear that they can never get Strong-Presence back. Is he in fact hopelessly, permanently tied to Zeke? In addition, serious personal problems beset many of the Gazeons. On Earth, people age much faster than the Gazeons do, and at last Dr. Isacks is an old man with dementia and a wife with her own mental problems.

The most pressing question for the Gazeon scientists is this: What will happen to Strong-Presence if Zeke dies before they can be uncoupled?

We find the answer in an ending of immense beauty, tenderness, and hope.