Proposed as long ago as 1994 CE by Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre, this faster-than-light space drive did not become a reality until one was finally forged from dark matter itself … When activated, it wraps the ship in a bubble of space-time that experiences no acceleration, while outside the bubble it warps space in a wave, contracting it ahead of the ship while expanding the space behind it…

…She was long content to play with the tourists of New Orleans, date the locals, and participate in her species’ dominance displays and mating rituals when required. That is, until Hurricane Katrina hit and broke the Mad Ones out of their cells along with many other old monsters. The Mad Ones actually do all the horrible things that all In-betweeners are accused of doing in the old legends…

…the garbage crawled over him —and into him. It was a swarm of broken little reject robots, just another piece of poorly stored industrial waste hidden along the gulf coast. They went first for his eye, his legs, even his cell phone, trying to fix him, to upgrade him, then they went for his flesh.

“So now I race down the back roads of the old South in a beat-up ’71 Thunderbird. It has a lot less style than my ’Vette, but between the trunk and the hollowed-out doors, it can pack a lot of ammo. Most days I eat road-house chow; Most nights I sleep in my car. … We gather clues, both mystical and mundane, to the whereabouts of those old monsters, and then we go hunting…”