Retreat: Book Three of the Imperium War

by Tghu Verd

Schemmer knew, when he offered Customary Causality’s crew refuge in Ghost Between Matter's cavernous bays, that there was going to be trouble. That it would come from the inexplicable aliens with their impossible physics and implacable ship-destroying tumbleweeds was expected. That some of his guests would barely wait until they were aboard before inciting dissent was not. Adding to his frustration, not even Captain Flannigan seems able to keep his increasingly rebellious XO in line or stop her egging on the others. Meanwhile the Elite are openly discussing achieving their original mission to take over the ship, figuring that two civilians will be no match for their weapons and training.

With Teller’s smug, "I told you so," in his ears, Schemmer works to keep a lid on the simmering unrest, using Ghost’s pervasive surveillance and highly capable intels to quash acts of rebellion as they occur.

Then Ghost is unexpectedly disabled, and the troublemakers take full advantage, wreaking havoc despite that they are a thousand light years from home and Ghost is the only way back. Shattered by their actions, Schemmer fights to regain control of the situation, but as he does, he wonders whether he really wants to, and whether his ship—and everyone aboard—deserves to be saved at all.

427 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 20, 2023