The Space Between — Ronald Damien Malfi

When the United States Navy uncovers a mysterious porthole in the waters off the coast of Africa, it looks to astrophysicist Vander Case for answers, not only because of his scientific expertise, but because of the strange connection between the porthole and Alana Barsett, his dead lover. Though he initially refuses to cooperate, unwilling to open the locked doors of his bitter past, Van soon finds himself a prisoner aboard the USS Johanna and halfway around the world. The porthole is discovered to be a transportation gateway connecting the world of the living and the world of the dead. It is believed to have been created by ?the poe,? the dead leader of an extremist cult, and is slowly becoming stronger with the passage of each minute. All fear that once it reaches its full potential, it will open the gateway, enabling the poe?s return from the spirit world. Vander, the only man who possesses the knowledge needed to close the porthole, decides it is finally time to face his past and deal with the present.