Future Imperfect

Future Imperfect is the seventh book in The Traveler Series, the penultimate installment in the story that began in Variation Seven and continued in Strange Times, Living in the Future, Dying in the Past, Travelers' Tales, and Past and Future Tense. Travelers are the men and women who possess timebands -- cybernetic devices that allow the wearer to travel in time and change history. There are only twelve timebands and twelve Travelers, and those individuals have divided themselves into two rival factions, each with a different view of what the destiny of mankind should be. One group is attempting to steer humanity toward a bright future where it colonizes the stars, and the other is determined to work toward the extinction of the human race before it can infest the galaxy like spreading plague.

One of these Travelers is Ruthie Terwilliger, who is trying to rebuild her team after it has suffered a devastating tragedy. As she and her team struggle to resume its vital mission, they must deal with the reality that history is now following the sequence of events known as Variation Seven, a timeline that will inexorably lead humanity to its own extinction. Ruthie, her husband Miles, and the other Travelers must use the history-warping abilities of their timebands to steer the fate of the Earth away from a nightmarish destiny.

Meanwhile, Ruthie's daughter from the future, Miranda, has her own challenges to contend against. Now split into two distinct individuals, one Miranda attempts to rescue her husband William from the evil syndicate known as the Family, while the other makes a cruel bargain with an old enemy after being betrayed by someone she loves.

Unknown to Ruthie, former friends are secretly conspiring against her. In order to save her friends, family, and all of history, Ruthie must make an impossible choice, and perhaps even make the ultimate sacrifice. Future Imperfect sets the stage for the last installment in the Traveler Series, Final Variation.