Hathene - T B Sain

Captain Matthew "Mat" Williams expected a controlled flight to Alpha Centauri. Instead, a catastrophic failure sends him across the galaxy-stranding him in orbit around an unknown world with no way home.

Hathene is everything he shouldn't have hoped for. Habitable. Peaceful. Inhabited by a race both alien and eerily familiar. With limited supplies, Mat studies the planet from orbit before making a careful descent-only to find a society that not only accepts him, but is already accustomed to visitors from other worlds.

At the heart of their civilization lies an ancient portal-one link in a vast network connecting countless worlds. But this system does not lead to Earth. Instead, it stretches endlessly outward, alternating between realms of advancing technology and worlds governed by magic.

With his ship crippled beyond repair, Mat faces an impossible choice: build a life on Hathene... or step into the unknown, world by world, chasing a path that may never lead him home.