Fleet: The Reach

Fleet #1

by Andrew D. Thaler

The fishing is good, but how long will it last? The fleet, 13 decrepit ships that call the Reach its home, is struggling. Their ships are rusting, their gear is failing, and they're running out of fuel. Only the luck of Captain Spat, and his crew of young mariners is holding the fleet together. But, as some crew members plot daring and dangerous raids, others work to undermine the Admiral's authority. One young sailor searches for answers in a mysterious fish that might lead them to fishing grounds of unbelievable wealth or uncover secrets that are better left undisturbed. <br><br>Fleet is a decidedly salty vision of the near future, where an unknown plague has left land uninhabitable and sea level rise has created vast new oceans to explore. The last survivors of the human race are scattered across new and dangerous seas. The only traces of a previous world are lost among the flotsam. <br><br>Fleet is an experiment in serial self-publishing. Part 1: The Reach encompasses the first three chapters in the saga. New parts will be released the first Monday of every month through the end of 2013.

57 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Andrew D. Thaler is a deep-sea ecologist, conservation biologist, science writer, and occasional science fiction author. His actual scientific writing can be found in the journals BMC Evolutionary Biology, Fungal Ecology, and Marine Policy, among others. He is the founder and senior editor of Southern Fried Science, where most of his popular science writing is found. His science fiction stories are featured in Eno Magazine and, inexplicably, Nature. He lives in California with his wife and a pair of very stubborn goats.