FEATURE/``Back to the Future'' Meets ``Indiana Jones'' in Knuckle-Biting New Sci-Fi Thriller Based on an Original Story by New York Times Bestselling Author L. Ron Hubbard.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES)--June 7, 1999--

Penned by Award-Winning and Bestselling "Star Wars" Writer

Dave Wolverton, "A Very Strange Trip" Raises

Intriguing Questions About Government Secrets

Half a century ago, if someone had said that scientists would break the sound barrier, send a man to the moon, obtain photos of the Martian landscape or clone sheep, eyes would probably roll and tongues would cluck over this person's over-active imagination. After all, who could guess what the future would hold?

Throughout history, science fiction writers, also driven by turbo-charged imaginations, have straddled that thin line between fact and fiction through their novels, often predicting great scientific discoveries, or sometimes even providing material actually then unfolding behind the closed doors of research labs.

Ponder, for example, cryogenics, organ transplantation, robotics, modern aviation and cyberspace, among other breakthroughs explored by science fiction writers long before the public ever thought any of it could happen in real life.

One of the most talked about mysteries of science, and the focus of countless films, television shows, documentaries, books and dinner conversations, is time travel. Is it theoretically or scientifically possible? What about the ethics concerns? Is the government funding aggressive research in this area? Are there any conclusive findings on the issue as yet unpublished or remaining unavailable for public scrutiny?

Award-winning science fiction writer and acclaimed "Star Wars" novelist Dave Wolverton examines, with humor, insight and ingenuity, the intriguing topic of time travel in his newest and most-ambitious book to date, "A Very Strange Trip" (Bridge Publications, $25).

Based on an original story by master storyteller L. Ron Hubbard ("Battlefield Earth"), this fun and fast-moving adventure raises compelling questions about scientific research into time travel and juicy government secrets.

When Everett Dumphee, a shy teenager accused of running moonshine in West Virginia is forced to enlist in the army by an uninformed judge with an attitude, little does he know that this irritating wrinkle in his future will re-write world history.

His first assignment is to transport a contraband Russian time machine and experimental top-secret weaponry across the country in a state-of-the-art All Terrain Vehicle that would make both James Bond and Batman jealous. When the time machine is accidentally activated, the befuddled private is transported back through a space-time continuum.

Thus begins the adventure of numerous lifetimes, complete with three beautiful, amorous Indians who end up traveling with him on what could be called the ultimate off-road adventure. For these four vivid characters it is not a matter of will they make their destination -- but when.

Though "A Very Strange Trip" is quintessential science fiction/adventure, life does sometimes imitate art. Such is the case for writer Wolverton.

Like Dumphee, the book's protagonist, Wolverton's grandfather was a moonshiner in the hills of West Virginia. And, that same grandfather bought and married a Native American squaw. In fact, when Wolverton was conducting research for the book, he not only delved into the family records -- finding the character called the "Cave Preacher," who makes an appearance in the book -- he also visited the Cahokia Mounds (where the Mississippi and Missouri rivers meet), the sight of a once-great Mayan civilization not recorded in many U.S. history books or encyclopedias.

Writing the novel from this original L. Ron Hubbard story gave Wolverton "an opportunity to rediscover my personal heritage," as well as "studying paleobiology ... deeply into the realms of mammoths and dinosaurs." The result is something that critics and readers alike enjoy.

Brian Herbert, co-author of the upcoming "Dune: House Atreides" prequel, says "A Very Strange Trip" is "A wild, high-tech ride through time; a frightening but humorous examination of what can happen if the wrong people gain control of top-secret technology."

The nationwide release of "A Very Strange Trip" is June 28.