Here it is:
His truck was gone. So was he. Nobody saw it happen.
The Truck | Book 1.1 | Sentinel Universe Short Stories
This is the first story in the Sentinel Universe short story series — the science fiction world behind The Sentinel of Crater Daedalus trilogy. Start here. Everything that follows connects back to this moment — an abandoned truck on a forest service road, keys still in the ignition, no signs of a struggle, and a clearing in the woods that doesn't make sense to anyone who sees it. If you're new to the Sentinel Universe this is your entry point. If you already know what happened to Bron Matthews, you'll understand exactly what Ranger Rourke found — and why the feds shut it down so fast.
📖 Sentinel Universe Short Stories — In Order:▶ Book 1.1 — The Truck — You are here▶ Book 1.2 — The Sheriff's Last Report — [paste link here]▶ Book 1.3 — Three Months Missing — [paste link here]
When Ranger Rourke finds an abandoned truck on a remote forest service road, it looks like another routine call. Keys in the ignition. No signs of struggle. No note. Just a man named Bron Matthews who walked into the Montana woods and didn't come back. What Rourke finds in the clearing beyond the tree line isn't routine — and within hours, federal agents have seized everything, shut down the investigation, and told everyone involved to walk away. Nobody tells Barbara Matthews to walk away. She's just getting started.
Grounded, quiet, and deeply unsettling, The Truck is science fiction told from the ground — through the eyes of the people left behind while something impossible happens just out of sight. No answers. No explanations. Just a mother who knows her son didn't just disappear, and a universe that has already decided to change everything.
ABOUT THE SENTINEL UNIVERSE
The Sentinel Universe spans five complete series and 72 short stories — a civilization-scale story told from the ground up. The short stories are the foundation. They exist in the same world, the same timeline, and the same universe as the trilogy. Every story you hear before the books release is a thread. The trilogy is where those threads come together.
The Sentinel Trilogy follows Bron Matthews — an ordinary man pulled off the surface of the Earth and dropped into something eleven thousand years in the making. Ancient technology. A dying AI who has been waiting alone for centuries. A city buried under the Moon. And a signal coming from thirty one light years away addressed to someone who didn't exist until now.
The Truck is where it starts. The trilogy is where it leads.
THE SENTINEL TRILOGY — COMING SOON
📖 The Sentinel of Crater Daedalus — Book 1📖 Book 2 — Coming Soon📖 Book 3 — Coming Soon
Follow the channel and be there when it drops.
CONNECT WITH STARBORNE STUDIOS
🌐 brianbullockwriter.com🎙️ Everyone Knows Podcast — Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | YouTube📱 Follow on X @EveryoneKnws1
Written and narrated by Brian BullockStarborne StudiosSpeak up or step aside.
#ScienceFiction #SciFi #ShortStory #AudioStory #SentinelUniverse #StarborneStudios #IndieSciFi #ScienceFictionAudiobook #MissingPersons #ConspiracyThriller #SciFiShortStory #IndieAuthor #AudioFiction #OriginalSciFi #ScienceFictionSeries #SpaceOpera #ScienceFictionBooks #SciFiUniverse #BrianBullock #SciFiPodcast #ScienceFictionAudio #FirstContact #GovernmentCoverUp