GALACTIC WAR ERUPTS
Early in the twenty-ninth century, the powerful Combined Systems Alliance continues to suppress the pioneering Free Planetary Union, annexing their colonies as they grow. In a bid to wrest control, Union agents throughout the Alliance Navy launch an insurgency, seizing countless military assets. During the chaos, hundreds of ships and millions of lives are lost.
Former Commander Tanic Sandorn is recalled to active duty and propelled to the front lines, he must face the looming threat of annihilation as well as the anxiety of his past. This time, he will protect his crew from the impending threat. Never again will he leave anyone behind.
Outnumbered, outgunned, and outflanked, Alliance officers and marines must strategize quickly in order to hold their ground, or face destruction in the imminent battle.
THE DEFENSE OF EXETER STATION
This space opera adventure novel contains epic fleet combat, detailed world-building, a diverse cast of characters, and a dash of romance. All the best parts of science fiction.
For fans of Jasper T. Scott, Jack Campbell, David Weber, and James S. A. Corey.
GALACTIC WAR ERUPTS
Early in the twenty-ninth century, the powerful Combined Systems Alliance continues to suppress the pioneering Free Planetary Union, annexing their colonies as they grow. In a bid to wrest control, Union agents throughout the Alliance Navy launch an insurgency, seizing countless military assets. During the chaos, hundreds of ships and millions of lives are lost.
Former Commander Tanic Sandorn is recalled to active duty and propelled to the front lines, he must face the looming threat of annihilation as well as the anxiety of his past. This time, he will protect his crew from the impending threat. Never again will he leave anyone behind.
Outnumbered, outgunned, and outflanked, Alliance officers and marines must strategize quickly in order to hold their ground, or face destruction in the imminent battle.
THE DEFENSE OF EXETER STATION
This space opera adventure novel contains epic fleet combat, detailed world-building, a diverse cast of characters, and a dash of romance. All the best parts of science fiction.
For fans of Jasper T. Scott, Jack Campbell, David Weber, and James S. A. Corey.
A heavy jolt threw Sandorn from his bunk with such force he hit the wall opposite and slammed down onto the desk below, rolling back and eventually coming to a rest on the floor. He clutched his ribs where theyâd struck the edge of the desk and grimaced, but there was no time to worry about anything being broken. The entire ship shuddered continuously as if it were grinding against something. The lights in his quarters flickered overhead, and the deep incident alarm sounded like a foghorn. Within five seconds, he had his boots on and was hitting the door control.
The door opened out onto the mess hall, a very fitting name for its current state with every unsecured object sitting in a heap of debris at one end of the room. He stood in the doorway for a second observing the clutter, blinking and widening his eyes to bring everything into focus. Dirt and dust covered the stubble on his chin, and his short brown hair stuck up in all the wrong places. Without a shower for the past few days, grime also stained his face like the rest of his crew. He ran to the main door, hit the control, then grabbed the ladder to climb down to engineering. The source of the rumbling seemed to come from the bowels of the ship. Just as his foot landed on the rung in front of him, the hum of the shipâs internal comm system chimed, followed by his co-pilotâs voice calling him.
âTanic to the bridge!â
Amilia Rossoâpilot and navigations specialist aboard the Kadpassâsounded panicked, her voice fast and a pitch higher than usual.
Sandorn reached back to the control panel and activated the microphone. âIâm headed to engineering. Maintain course till you hear otherwise.â He released the pad and pulled his hand back to the ladder to resume his descent as Rossoâs voice sounded through the local speaker again.
âAye, boss.â
The walls continued to tremble as Sandorn climbed down the ladder, hands slapping hard against each rung. No matter how skilled Rosso was as a pilot, she wouldnât be able to avoid turbulence originating from their own ship.
âDamn.â He sputtered as another jerk smacked his face into the ladder.
He hit the door control and entered engineering, scanning the room. The small control area with three sitting consoles looked onto a much larger second section housing the engine core. Said core was shaped like an oversized bar of soap about two meters wide and six meters long with various pipes leading in and out of it and a thin catwalk circling it. Two of the pipes to one side of the core were spewing a thick fog down onto the floor where a grid sucked it straight out. On the other side of the core, one of the cooling chambers had exploded, leaving twisted metal debris reaching and curling out from the wall. The chief engineer, a talented young woman sat strapped into one of the console chairs, frantically tapping away at the controls, trading orders with a fellow engineer who stood by the core at another console.
âDurand, what the hellâs going on?â Sandorn shouted to the woman over the same rumbling heâd heard ever since he woke up. It was near deafening now in engineering.
Sara Durand whipped her head around to see the director of the Kadpass holding on to the bulkhead before she concentrated back on the console. A wound somewhere on her head left blood running down her temple to her jawline. Sheâd wiped it across her ear a few times, painting one side of her face a faded crimson. Her short blond hair clumped together on that side and stuck to her cheek.
âGet in here, Tanic! Take a console, strap in.â
Sandorn obliged, moving quickly to the console next to hers, sitting down and strapping into the four-point harness.
âFind a path to vent cooling chamber two to space fast. Cooler oneâs overheating. Automated routingâs down.â Again he followed her orders, using the console to open a series of ports between engineering and the outer hull, bypassing damaged systems. Durandâs fingers darted rapidly around her own console as she tried to stabilize the core. âWeâve got about three minutes before weâre nothing but a thin stream of space dust!â
âGot you a path. Last doorâs fused shut with the damage, though. Hatch-minus-one also shut.â He asserted a few seconds later, tapping a few buttons to send the information across to Durandâs console. A short diagram showed up on her screen with various numbers floating over different colored hatchesâthe last of which flashed red.
âPridi!â Durand shouted into the core chamber to the man scrambling around the main engine.
âYeah?â He was a little calmer than Durand, though the volume he needed betrayed that.
âStarboard hatch under cooling chamber two needs opening. Sierra-charlie-fifty-two, cut it or blow it.â
âGot it!â Kinn Pridiâsecond engineerâran across the gangway then vaulted the railing. His massive two-meter-tall figure landed on the paneled flooring below with a metallic thud, loud enough to resound over the turbulent rumbling of the hull.
Pridi unlocked and tossed one of the floor panels next to the cooling chamber away. The deck itself was intact, but under the panel, the problematic hatch was visibly dented and fused. He reached up to an emergency equipment locker and snatched a laser cutter, taking it to the hatch under the floor.
âHurry, Pridi!â Durand said again. âChamber oneâs about to blow!â
Sandorn pulled up the engine statistics on his console. Every temperature gauge glowed red, with flashing icons across the board. Half of the emergency systems were offline, secondary systems were disabled, and reserve power capacitors depleted.
Pridi finished cutting most of the hatch, then tore the remaining metal from the floor. âGot itâhatchâs open!â
âGreat, now back to the core. If any of the power cells go red, pull âem.â Durand continued working her console as she readdressed Sandorn. âTan, get me an emergency field up around chamber two now.â
Sandorn tapped a few controls but hit errors as he tried to enable the field. âNo power.â
âShut something down, then!â
âFour cells yellow,â Pridi shouted from the core chamber. âI canât pull all four. If youâre gonna do something, do it now!â He finally lost his composure, practically screaming at Durand.
Sandorn brought up a list of systems to redirect power from, but the emergency systems still online wouldnât give him enough power. He scanned through the primary systems. Again, red lights flashed everywhere. âBringing down life support in crew quarters.â
âAmi on the bridge?â Durand asked, referring to Rossoâs whereabouts.
âAye.â
âDo it.â
Sandorn keyed the commands to shut down life support in the mess hall and across the crew deck. The power reserves indicator on-screen rose just enough to allow him to bring up the shielding. âItâs up,â he called, as a pale blue aura flashed around the damaged coolant chamber in the core room.
Durand caught the flash out of the corner of her eye, glancing up, then back down.
âVenting it now,â she started before calling out to the other room. âPridi, strap in. Iâm venting plasma now!â She smacked the final command on her console.
The ship lurched as if it hit a brick wall, then unleashed a massive burst of acceleration. The pale blue ethereal shielding flashed and sparked wildly as bits of debris flew around inside it before being sucked through the floor. As soon as the chamber emptied of all loose debris and looked moderately calm, Durand furiously jabbed at her console again.
âActivating manual override for cooling chambers. Flushing the system now.â A sudden torrent of boiling plasma gushed out of one of the broken pipes around chamber two, causing the shielding to flash even more aggressively than before. Several stray splashes of plasma disintegrated parts of the remaining chamber as they reached their outward path.
âWe got one red cell,â Pridi shouted to the control room.
âPull it now!â Durand responded.
Pridi manipulated his console for a few seconds, until a tube lowered from above, attached to part of the core, then sucked out a long smoking metallic cylinder. âDone!â
The amount of red and amber flashing panels in the control room slowly calmed down. As the number of warnings lessened, so did the level of turbulence aboard the ship. For a few seconds, Durand pulled her hands away from the console and let out a long breath. She lifted a hand to her head, suddenly noticing the painful gash at the top of her forehead, just inside her hairline. The bleeding had mostly subsided, but the adrenaline of the moment was wearing off and being replaced by a killer headache.
âYou alright?â Sandorn asked.
âNot sure. Might need a suture.â Durand looked at her bloodied hand. âCan you look?â
Sandorn unbuckled his harness and walked over, parting her hair gently to reveal a large raised area and a small cut.
âIs it bad?â she asked.
âItâs bled a lot for its size, but I think it looks worse than it is. Get Ami to take a look,â Sandorn straightened up. âNice trick with the venting. Whereâd you learn that?â
âHere, about five minutes ago.â Durand smiled in disbelief. âI didnât think itâd work, but we couldnât bring down the core.â She tapped a few times on the console in front of her. âStill canât. The sooner we get to a station, the better. We might need a whole new core at this rate.â
âShit, I was hoping you wouldnât say that.â Sandorn looked despondently at the core itself as Pridi still worked around it. âHe alright in there?â
âYeah, he was strapped in when chamber two blew. I was thrown into the bulkhead.â Durand rolled her eyes and then touched her forehead again, checking her hand for fresh blood.
Sandorn walked to the back of the room where the door stood, opened the first aid panel just beside it, pulled out some cleansing wipes and a gauze pad, and handed them to Durand.
âThanks, Tan.â
âIâm gonna check in with our nav specialist on the bridge, then send her down to look at you. You think weâre good now?â
âYeah, weâve got a lot of work to do, but we can stay on course for now. Donât expect a detailed damage report any time soon, though.â She made a face as if scolding a child for a second, then smiled and nodded.
Sandorn smiled back. âKeep us together, and try not to break any more eggs,â he let out a sharp sigh as he pushed the door control.
â â â â â
The Kadpass was a medium-sized interstellar Beluga-class hauler, with a curvy stylish aesthetic. While a majority of space-faring haulage class vessels resembled giant floating bricks, the Beluga-class haulers had a curved upper bow, mirroring its Earth-creatureâs namesake. Most of the front of the ship comprised various cargo bays of different sizes and classifications, some with a working atmosphere, others with none. Some refrigeration units, others running hot. Some liquid, some large, some small. The aft of the ship held all of the crew compartments, engineering, the mess and the bridge. The ship was designed to operate with anything from three to eight persons, so living quarters were very cramped for a ship of its size.
At the rear, the bridge protruded out of the top of the ship as if it were an after-thought, bolted on once construction had been completed, spoiling the rest of the shipâs smooth appearance. Since the working area was relatively compact, there were no elevators aboard, just a single main tunnel ladder, wide enough to fit two people passing each other. Just below the bridge, running along the underside of the upper hull was a long wide corridor traversing the shipâs full eight-hundred-meter length with access to all the cargo bays, and to the main docking port in the rear. Below that, the mess hall lay, flanked by eight small cabins, then engineering, and finally space for the inner workings of the massive engines on the back.
Sandorn climbed the ladder up past the mess, noting the red light by the door control and the warning âNO ATMOSPHEREâ pulsing just below. He reached the upper deck and stepped onto the bridge. The bridge itself was shaped like an oversized cockpit. The rear half squared off with the door to the main shaft as well as large screens on either side to use during briefings. The default views on those screens showed a star map and a diagrammatic representation of the Kadpass. Two observation chairs could be found just inside the rear-half of the bridge, and three consoles had been designed in a gentle curve to look slightly in on each other toward the front.
Rosso sat strapped fully into the central chair, spinning it around when she heard someone enter the room. A few minutes earlier, the din of turbulent rumbling wouldâve drowned out the sound of the door opening and closing, but only the gentle ambient hum of the engines resounded across the ship now. The chair, while bulky and very substantial, spun easily as she pushed against the console in front of her with help from hydraulics. Her mid-length reddish hair followed her, bouncing off her shoulders as she spun. For a moment, she simply watched Sandorn as he walked across the bridge and slumped down in the chair to her right. She was sitting in the command chair, or what would normally be Sandornâs chair, but life on the Kadpass was very informal.
âWell?â she asked after several seconds of just staring and waiting.
âWhen will we reach Exeter Station?â His response with another question wasnât lost on Rosso as he leaned his head back against the cushioning of the chair, eyes pointed upwards, focusing on nothing in particular, but noticing the stars moving behind the viewports.
âAnother twelve hours or so. Are you gonna tell me what just happened?â
âWe lost a cooling chamber, nearly ended up as space-dust. Durand and Pridi have us covered for now, but weâll need patching up when we get to the station.â Sandorn couldnât sound more nonchalant, as if the ship hadnât just nearly vaporized mid-warp. âOh, and crew quarters are shut down for the time-being.â
âSo, not a big deal, then?â
âIt was, but not now. We should be good till Exeter at least.â Sandornâs gaze locked on the stars. Rosso sat back in her chair and let out a deep breath before Sandorn finally turned to face her. âCan you go take a look at Durand? Sheâs hit her head pretty hard, big lump, little cut, probably concussed.â
âSure. Iâll go now, so long as Iâm not gonna get thrown up and down the ship on my way there.â
Sandorn smiled a little and let out a single-syllable laugh, then lifted himself out of the chair to take Rossoâs place. She unbuckled her harness, rose up, and headed to the back of the bridge, brushing past Sandorn. His eyes followed her petite frame for a moment.
As Rosso disappeared from the bridge, Sandorn strapped into the harness just in case of another turbulent episode, then he tapped a few keys on the console to rearrange certain panels to better suit him. Having spent just over a decade serving in the Fleet, Sandorn was used to a different console layout than normal civilian operators. The other crew members had no military past.
Similar to the console in engineering, various panels flashed red and amber as he pulled up a ship-generated damage report. It wouldnât be as refined as one put together by Durand, but it would give him a rough idea of what was broken. Starboard-side cooling chamber operating at 0%. Port-side cooling chamber operating at 62%. Engine core operating at 44% capacity. Engine core structural integrity at 82%. Minor hull breach in undercarriage. The issues reduced in severity as the list went on. He felt equally reassured and anxious that the only damage was in engineering around that one cooling chamber. He checked a few cargo statuses, no major issues, just a couple of loose boxes here and there, heâd have to check them in person to see any damage.
After a few more minutes of checking the status of the ship, Sandorn finally checked the time, realizing he had actually been asleep for just twenty minutes or so before being thrown across his quarters. The dull pain heâd felt in his ribs earlier when he was so rudely awakened repeated on him with a vengeance as he yawned. He unbuckled his harness and lifted his shirt to reveal a long purple stripe across his side. âCracked, maybe?â He dropped his shirt back down and settled back into the harness. The Kadpass wasnât the only thing that would need repairs when they arrived at the station.
â â â â â
Four hours later, Sandorn and Durand sat around the table in the mess hall while Rosso rummaged through the debris in the far end of the room. Life support had been restored a few moments ago, the ship was still en route to Exeter Station, and Pridi had stayed down in engineering to keep an eye on the temperamental engines. Sandorn scrolled through the detailed damage report and repair estimation put together by Durand and Pridi. He glanced up from his datapad, catching Durandâs eye.
She was leaning against the table with one hand, trying to pull the dried blood out of her hair with the other, wincing as she either pulled some hair out or tugged at the gauze stuck to her hairline.
âHow you doing?â Sandorn asked.
âHeadache, little dizzy, pretty tired. Would kill for a shower, but good-to-go.â Durand gave up on her hair, tucking it behind her ear, then leaning with an exhausted and thoroughly fed-up huff against her fist. âYou good?â
âStill got a pain in my side, but it doesnât hurt as much as my wallet will when we get to the station and put in for these repairs. Howâd this happen?â
âLooks like the new coolant flow system we installed in the starboard chamber last week was faulty, and the plasma-monkeys who installed it pointed the alerting system to the port tower while they did the work. We got no warning when it was dying, then it blew. Should be able to prove it pretty easily and get Doven Station to cover repairs. I wouldnât worry about your wallet too much.â Talking about workâespecially the part where she could prove something going wrong was, in fact, someone elseâs faultâlifted her mood a little.
âGood to hear, thanks.â Sandorn turned his attention to Rosso across the room, who was still trying to organize the chaotic pile of debris. âHow about you down there?â He projected his voice. Rosso checked over her shoulder with a sly smile.
âIâm okay, yeah. Iâm good,â she nodded.
Sandorn returned the smile.
âHow long till we arrive at Exeter Station?â Durand addressed the pair.
âAbout eight hours,â Sandorn started. âIâve already booked us some accommodation. Itâll be better than Doven, donât worry.â
Doven Station was a horrible stop. It was small, overcrowded, and hadnât been designed with expansion in mind. As a result, any time a new module or a new section was added to it, it became more and more misshapen. From the outside, it resembled a pile of childrenâs play-blocks of all different shapes and sizes, with a smattering of pipes and skyways joining the various structures. From the inside, it was a maze of multileveled decks, common areas mixed in with private accommodation, offices sharing corridors with bars, and people everywhere. The crew had ended up sharing a common area to rest for one night with around two-dozen strangers.
âWell it couldnât get much worse than Doven.â Durand exclaimed, still holding a little resentment from the stay there. âOur waterâs gonna be out, too, till we get repairs, so no showers either.â She started playing with her matted hair again.
Rosso finally stood up, turned around, and approached the table with an armful of ration packs and other assorted food and drink. She tossed a ration bar and a bottle of flavored water to each of her crewmates, set some aside for Pridi, then opened some for herself. âMaybe no water, but weâve got these.â She took a big gulp, then nodded to the other two. âSara, you gotta drink all that before you go back downstairs.â
âYes sir. Of course, sir. Right away, sir.â Durand mocked a salute sarcastically with the hand sheâd been using to play with her hair, but stayed leaning on the other hand.
âYou know, personality changes and confused responses are symptoms of a concussion. Good to see youâre as sharp and sarcastic as ever!â Rosso joked dryly. Durand cracked a smile, the first sheâd shared since the explosion.
Sandorn stood and turned toward the exit. âIâll leave you two at it. I need to check up on some loose cargo.â He hit the door control. âDonât leave Pridi in engineering alone for too long, yeah?â He grabbed the ladder to climb to the upper deck as the door closed behind him.
â â â â â
An hour before arriving at Exeter Station, all four of the Kadpass crew sat around the table in the mess hall, exhausted from the journey. The engine room was finally able to look after itself again, full power had been restored everywhere, and even the mess was looking moderately tidy.
Their proximity to the station allowed them to download the latest bulletins, giving a chance to catch up on the last eight daysâ worth of galactic news. Exeter was a border system, the last core system before âfringeâ space, so the most notable news were the long lists of travel warnings that filled half the viewscreen. Civilian ships werenât banned from leaving core space, but recently they were being strongly advised against it.
âThose warnings look like my console twelve hours ago,â Durand quipped. âI donât like that.â
âDonât worry,â Sandorn said. âAs soon as weâre done at Exeter weâll head straight back to core space⌠Quickly,â he added, being sure not to make eye-contact with Pridi as he finished his sentence.
âWhy?â Pridi asked.
No response. Sandorn did his best just to focus on scrolling through more news reports on his datapad.
âWhy quickly?â the question was repeated and ignored for a second time. âI know you can hear me, youâre just going to sit there and ignore me? Why quickly, Sandorn?â Pridi called his director out by name.
Sandorn sighed and redirected his attention to Pridi. âI just donât want us flying around such a hostile region of space, thatâs all.â
âCan we not do this today, please?â Rosso interjected, looking between the two.
âPeople tend to get hostile when their lands are stolen by the Alliance,â Pridi said calmly, ignoring Rossoâs request and looking straight at a now agitated Sandorn.
âThey donâtââ Sandorn started, but was cut-off by Rosso clearing her throat, giving him a pointed look. âFine.â He crossed his arms. âBut for the record, they have no proper leadership, and none of the colonies send politicians back to core space anymore, soââ
âI said please.â Rosso insisted.
A heavy silence engulfed them for several beats.
âShout for me when we dock.â Pridi rose from his chair, walked to his cabin, and locked the door behind him.
Sandorn had a bias toward the Alliance that Pridi didnât share. Many saw the Alliance as a colonial entity, excising control over regions of space they deemed profitable and taking control of colonies they wanted to exploit. From an Alliance perspective, however, it was a great honor to be inaugurated, to have the push of massive investments to develop systems from basic colonies to thriving powers.
âWell.â Durand clapped. âThat was awkward!â She smiled at the others.
Sandorn turning red with irritation. He shook his head and blew out a sigh, rolling his eyes slightly.
âYou two need to stop arguing about this,â Rosso said. âIt happens every week. Learn that both sides have their strengths and flaws, and move on.â She touched Sandornâs arm. âAnd remember Pridi was never in the Fleet like you. He thinks its sole purpose is to conquer.â
Sandorn hummed, raising his brow, âWellâŚâ He paused, looking between Rosso and Durand. âThatâs behind me now. No more flying around in a âwarshipâ as Pridiâd call it. I run freight now. The easy life.â
âOh yeah, cause everything about the last twelve hours has been super-easy, right?â Durand laughed, garnering a chuckle from the other two.
That easy freight life Sandorn had chosen, however, was soon to be a lot more difficult than any of them could have foreseen.
To enjoy Science Fiction, the reader must suspend the disbelief that all those technological wonders are possible. Fans of Space Opera need to practise this technique to a greater degree, because the situations and the coincidences are even harder to believe. We are willing to trade this effort for the enjoyment we get from the story.Â
This novel does a very good job of helping us to believe in the technological elements. The battle scenes that take up a good portion of the story tend to follow standard patterns for the genre, making them easy to follow. Ship maneuvers are well plotted and tactics well visualized. On-ship destruction is detailed and subjective, and suspense is powerful. The action feels possible and important to us.
When it comes to convenient coincidences, the author is a bit too free-and-easy. Given the complexity of the technology, it is a stretch to believe, for example, that Sandornâs civilian crew could merge so easily into prominent positions in the military. This is mitigated to some degree by the fact that we like them so much that we want them to succeed. Also, I wondered at how luring the marines to attack the station would have helped the space battle in any way, but I leave it up to readers to decide.Â
Personally, I did have a problem with one event. In the altered reality of the genre, it is quite acceptable in a battle situation with large spaceships for thousands of lives to be lost. Thatâs the inevitable result of real wars, too. However, I have a problem with an author cold-bloodedly killing off a crew of 350 âgood guysâ as a plot device so that the hero can have a ship to take over. It just feels wrong, and the heroâs ability to cope with the situation undermines the PTSD conflict that has helped to make him sympathetic.
And the book really needs some proof-reading help. Constant misuse of hyphens and dashes, especially in numbers, is distracting, as are getting âlayâ and âlaidâ mixed up, and sentence structure errors and misplaced phrases are frequent. Point of view is loosely controlled, as we slip from one characterâs head to another in the middle of a chapter. The standards for English are pretty low in this genre, but when there are enough errors to distract us from the story, it needs to be mentioned.Â
This is an entertaining example of Space Opera with especially good action sequences and likeable characters.Â
Â
Â
Â