A man called Echo Six was piloting an exploratory ship from Earth in 2376. Traveling faster than light, he crash-landed on Earth in the New Mexico desert. But this is the planet in 2025, and his ship is damaged beyond repair. There is no way back through time or space. Six must overcome injury and try to make his way in a world that is alien to him. After the military discovers his abandoned ship and realizes it’s beyond any of the technological capabilities of contemporary scientists, they set out to track him down. Can Six evade those who are hunting him? And why does the first woman he comes across in this new world seem so familiar?
Jeff Shaw’s ECHO SIX is a fast-moving and fun old-school sci-fi story that borrows elements of various “aliens have landed” media and gives them a time-traveling twist. Lead character Echo Six even references The Day The Earth Stood Still (a film he says he saw during training) and worries that, if caught, he will be made as welcome as the alien in that story. This is one of many cultural references that this man from the future reflects on as he makes his way on a planet that is his own past. Eventually, one of the major plot points will become Echo Six recognizing the precedents for the disasters that would befall society in the years to come.
Before then, this man from the future adapting to the past makes for an enjoyable journey. A moment in a diner is mined for the strangeness of mundane interaction. Fortuitously, the telemetric spacesuit Six is wearing and the nanobots that course through his veins allow him to interact with machinery and computers. This gives him the ability to deliver instant cash from an ATM and free bottles from a Coke machine. Later, as he grows more confident, he uses his advanced technological know-how to build a microprocessor far in advance of any computer of 2025 and sells it to fund his new lifestyle.
Contrary to many time-travel based storylines, ECHO SIX seems less interested in the various conundrums thrown up by a person from the future altering the past. There is intrigue teased from the beginning as Six seems to recognize the first person that he meets, and the conclusion to this, when it finally arrives, is neatly handled.
Shaw’s prose is straightforward and simple, helping the story flow smoothly. The dialogue is functional yet convincing, especially the awkwardness of Six’s early interactions—where there are even comical moments, such as him practicing how to say “Good day, sir. I would like some water please” to a cactus as he tramps from his crash site to the nearest town. Overall, by setting up his novel with the gimmick of a man from Earth’s future looking at the past, Shaw allows for an examination of just what might be coming to the planet for those living on it right now.
Jeff Shaw’s ECHO SIX is an enjoyable, fast-moving time-travel tale that works as no-frills, old-fashioned sci-fi.
~Kent Lane for IndieReader