Opening Moves

by James Traynor

A war is coming. Everybody is looking for the proverbial spark that ignites the powder keg -- and everybody is looking in the wrong direction !

As Samantha Lee and her squad of elite soldiers embark on what everybody believes to be a routine patrol mission along the borders of Union space, she's certain she'll be back home with her family on Mars for Christmas. But as fleets move between the stars, the three human superpowers watch each other warily, each plotting to take control of the others' key colonies and trade routes, each waiting for the others to show a weakness.

At the same time, Tarek Winters and the motley human and alien crew of the freighter IRON MAIDEN take on a job a thousand lightyears away from Earth, expecting it to be an easy and profitable run. But the great Rasenni Empire, once the unchallenged master of known space, is in decline, ensnared in debauchery and beset by old and new enemies. Meanwhile, pirates, raiders, and slavers run rampant on the fringes of civilized space.

But the real danger lies elsewhere. For Corr'tane of the Ashani Dominion has set out to guarantee his people's survival - even if the cost is a war that will drown known space in blood...

434 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2013

About the author

I've always been a scifi loving geek and grew up with TNG, DS 9, Babylon 5, S:AAB, the Honor Harrington books and scores of other scifi and fantasy literature. I hope I was able to infuse my own writings withe this love for these genres.