Jay Slater

A novella.

350 years ago, humanity started over. Out of the ashes of Earth rose the Confederacy of Allied Worlds, twelve planets in eleven systems, united under a common flag. For a time, peace prevailed. It would not last. Thirty years ago, the Confederacy discovered the Brenner jump drive. Soon after, the United Suns Alliance—the Exiles—did too, and a ghost from the Confederacy's past reappeared, itching to right past wrongs. Decades of festering wounds have erupted into war.

The Naval Arm, with few ships to spare, sent the cruiser Warspite to join the fight on the Threshold front. Now, she has arrived, and her captain has one target in mind: an Exile armored cruiser stalking merchantmen and men of war alike amidst the moons of the gas giant Argo. In pursuit of victory, Warspite's crew must do more than outfight the Exile captain. They must outfox him.