Here’s the blurb of "THE FUTURE HAPPENS TWICE": Debrya Handsen, a 33-year-old professor in computational linguistics at the University of Minnesota, is ready for a career change. She decides to leave her academic post and move to Nevada, where she joins a top-secret project that is being sponsored by the American government. Using powerful telescopes installed on the far side of the Moon, the project's astronomers have discovered an Earth-like planet that is eighty-two light years away; simultaneously a major breakthrough in bioengineering presents the project with the unique opportunity of long-distance space travel. At first Debrya has no idea why the study of language is to play such a central role, and why twin studies are also so important. During her orientation week she discovers a disturbing secret that makes her wish she had never joined the project.