Freeheads — Kerry Nietz

** 2013 EPIC eBook Award Winner, Science Fiction **

Having escaped the storms of Betelgeuse and the schemes of Jannah's inhabitants, Sandfly and HardCandy make their way back to Earth. They have a message to deliver. A society to free. And A~A3 is with them. Their mission is simple, and just. What could possibly go wrong?

Unexpectedly, DarkTrench drops into normal space. He is malfunctioning, wounded, and the only people who can fix him are still hundreds of light years away. Sand and Hard scramble for a solution while catastrophe hurtles blindly toward them.

They reach Earth to find a different world, an unexpected domain. One they can no longer connect with.

They are stranded, hopelessly separated beneath a wasteland of death and a planet of rules. Debuggers amidst a cloistered community.

Ultimately, Sandfly is alone, and Earth's freedom relies on him and his newfound faith. But does his mission even matter anymore?

He's a misfit, and a throwback. A symbol for all that's evil.

Perhaps he's the last freehead?