Do the souls of fallen soldiers linger on the battlefield, or do they return home with their bodies? Do the spirits of the dead in space return home or drift forever between worlds? In the late 1980s, I was aboard the USS Sterett (CG-31) in the western Pacific when those words came to me. I wasn’t yet an author, but I found some paper and started writing.

It took me several months to compose the nearly six thousand words of the story, and it wouldn’t be published for over twenty years. Now the story has a new cover that I believe better reflects its theme. In the story, a young man will soon leave the planet of his birth with his wife and child, but his mother refuses to go unless they first visit an old war memorial. The visit stirs up more than old memories.

The Promise includes a long flashback. Many publishers and literary agents advise writers to avoid flashbacks, but I didn’t know that back then and boldly forged ahead. I still think the flashback works for this story. Today, The Promise is part of what I call the Final Duty universe. Other stories in this collection include Infinite Darkness, The Volunteer, and Final Duty. Final Duty is also available as an audiobook.

This early story remains one of my favorites and I’ve been giving it away for free for several years, so go ahead and download it from here. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Drifting Between Worlds