Pilot X

As earnest as an episode of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, this retro space opera takes its protagonist from naive time-ship pilot to guilt-laden savior of the universe in appropriately convoluted fashion. Pilot X, one of the time-traveling Alendans, earns his license and receives the Verity, a quirky time ship with a developing personality. As courier for the chief executive secretary, he solves interstellar crises and establishes peace among other time-warring races. Soon, X discovers the existence of the Dimensional War, which was fought in secret and left devastated worlds across the universe. Contacted by a group of “linear” Alendans who avoid time travel, X tries to go back and stop the slaughter. Merritt (host of the Parsec Award–winning podcast Sword & Laser) details his alien cultures with bits of folklore. However, even as X is continually hailed as “the last hope of the universe,” his attempts to stop Armageddon are blocked by a bureaucratic insistence on tidiness. The story will suit readers who enjoy seasoning their planetary romps with a dash of cynicism. (Mar.)