Spin novels (Robert Charles Wilson)

"One night, when he was twelve years old, Tyler Dupree stood in his backyard and watched the stars go out. They all flared into brilliance at once, then disappeared, replaced by a flat, empty black barrier. He and his best friends, Jason and Diane Lawton, had seen what would become known as the Spin. It would shape their lives. Eventually, probes reveal that the barrier is artificial, generated by huge alien artifacts. Time is passing faster outside...

Turk and his young friend Isaac Dvali are taken up by a community of fanatics who use them to enable a passage to the dying Earth, where they believe a prophecy of human/Hypothetical contact will be fulfilled.