Time Tourists - Josh Miller - Bog

It's 3016. The ozone layer and polar icecaps are a distant memory, the surface of the earth is a global toxic waste dump and people live and work underground, sweltering from the heat and toiling at mundane tasks, able to travel via teleportation. Restless clock-puncher VALTERO FORGISTO wants to make a difference, but he has a nervous stomach. He's looking forward to his vacation with his acerbic wife LIDIO and his rebellious daughter SARO on the newly colonized Uranus. Solar flares disrupt their teleportation transfer and instead, they're accidentally teleported back to our time. At first, they think they've traveled to Uranus, which they assess to be a hopelessly backward planet. They meet ACKER, a homeless veteran. He helps them grasp that they've been transported back in time. This has caused a cosmic imbalance that will result in a universal gravitational explosion. Apocalypse. They have a week to find a way home. Their use of teleportation has brought them to the attention of the military. Psychotically patriotic Special Ops COLONEL BRAGG is tasked with tracking them down and confiscating their telebelts and HE WILL NOT FAIL. Acker and the Forgistos hatch a plan to steal a magnetron and hook it up to a stadium scoreboard that is an ancient relic in the distant future. They intend to send an S.O.S. message through time. With each new risk, Valtero slowly overcomes his gastric anxiety. Before they can execute their plan, Colonel Bragg captures the Forgistos. He ignores their dire warnings. It looks like it's curtains for the universe. They're all just minutes from becoming charged particles. Will they be able to escape from Colonel Bragg and find a way to get back home? Or will the universe end in a "much bigger bang"?