Richard Marcus
Picking up where the television series left off, “The Pretender 2001” features even deeper explorations in the show’s mythology, including a revealing look back at how Jarod originally espaced from the Centre. But now he must infiltrate the NSA to capture a ruthless assassin who might be a fellow Pretender from his past!
Jarod is a Pretender – a genius whose exceptional intelligence allows him to assume various identities at will, be it doctor, test pilot or lawyer. Taken from his parents at an early age, Jarod was brought up in the Centre, a think-tank facility where he believed his computer-like mind was being used to benefit manking. But when he learned the simulations he solved were being sold to the highest-bidder no matter what their intent, Jarod escaped. Now on the run, Jarod embarks on a search for his true identity while also attempting to balance out any wrong his simulations have caused by helping people who are as powerless as he once was.
Hick handymen Val McKee and Earl Bassett can barely eke out a living in the Nevada hamlet of Perfection, so they decide to leave town — despite an admonition from a shapely seismology coed who’s picking up odd readings on her equipment. Before long, Val and Earl discover what’s responsible for those readings: 30-foot-long carnivorous worms with a proclivity for sucking their prey underground.
Paul is a new kid in town with a robot named “BB”. He befriends Samantha and the three of them have a lot of good times together. That is, until Samantha’s abusive father throws her down some stairs and kills her. In an effort to save her life, Paul implants BB’s computer brain into Samantha’s human brain.
A soldier from Earth crashlands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor, but from the enemy species he was fighting; they band together to survive on this hostile world. In the end the human finds himself caring for his enemy in a completely unexpected way.