DESOLATION

Solbidyum Wars Saga #5

by Dale C. Musser

Just days after the attack on the Federation Capitol and the death of thousands of senators, Tibby accepts the biggest challenge of his life by becoming a Fleet Admiral for Federation. The Brotherhood has commandeered the Star Ship HAPRIN with the intentions of attacking the military, and government facilities, at Plosaxen. Tibby is still at the capitol when he contacts his space yacht, the NEW ORLEANS, which is just finishing up repairs at Nibaria and asks them to fly ahead to Plosaxen and use its Reverse magnetic Force Field shields to deflect shots by the HAPRIN directed at the planet. Meanwhile, Tibby is officially commissioned into the Federation Space Force as a Fleet Admiral by the Senate. He and Kalana use Tibby’s Mirage Fighter, the ALI to join up with the NEW ORLEANS at Plosaxen. Before they arrive, the Brotherhood, on the HAPRIN, is joined by their ally a Tottalax warship. When Tibby and Kalana arrive, the cloaked NEW ORLEANS is taking heavy fire acting as an invisible shield. Tibby and Kalana are forced to remain cloaked themselves while they wait for the battle to wane so they can board the NEW ORLEANS, however, before they can do so the Tottalax unleashes their sleep weapon in an attempt to disable the NEW ORLEANS crew. Tibby and Kalana are rendered unconscious aboard the ALI as ship continues on its flight path after colliding with the Tottalax. Tibby awakens to alarms going off and the ALI is about to crash into a planet. He discovers his ship has apparently been damaged by an impact with the HAPRIN after he and Kalana lost consciousness. Tibby is barely able to make an emergency landing on the remote desert planet aptly named Desolation when Kalana awakens and announces she is going into labor. Tibby must help Kalana deliver the twins; the ALI is unable to take off or fly again, and nearest help is two light-years away Tibby activates an emergency signal for assistance and rescue, knowing it may be years, if ever, that it will be detected and help arrives.
Tibby has no way of knowing what is happening with the war against the Brotherhood. He knows he needs to get back and take command of the 1st fleet but for now he must focus on caring for Kalana and the twins in a hostile environment, with strange nocturnal creatures on a planet that seems dead by day but comes to life after the sun sets. As time progresses, Tibby must deal with the nagging thought of who will hear his emergency message and arrive first, his friends to rescue him, or the Brotherhood that seeks to kill him.

419 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2015

About the author

Dale Musser was born in 1944 in a small rural community in Pennsylvania. From 1967 until 2012 he was employed as a structural and piping designer in the marine and offshore industry, the cogeneration power industry and in hard rock metal mining. His work at three shipyards and assignments with several engineering and naval architectural firms during his career in Virginia, Texas, and Maine took him to such places as London, U.K., Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., Scotland and Mexico. During this time, he was responsible for the design of reactor compartments for nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines for the U.S. Navy and the structural designs of numerous offshore semisubmersible oil rigs, tanker ships, supply boats, and other vessels and equipment used in the offshore industry. After the death of his wife in 1999, Mr. Musser changed careers and went to work in Arizona and Utah in the hard rock mining industry. He retired in fall of 2012 and currently resides in Mesa, Arizona; however, his plans for the near future involve a move to New Mexico.

Dale enjoys rock hunting and lapidary work, gourmet cooking, writing, poetry, art, music, religions and philosophy in small doses, astronomy and the sciences in general, hiking, camping, the outdoors, and the gifts that nature provides. Mr. Musser is a member of Mensa and avid reader, having lost count of all the books he has read after 3,000.

The greatest joy in his life is his daughter, Heather; affectionately they call each other "BUBBY."

Reviews

[Troy Wagstaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Citizen Dale Musser does it again

In spite of a slow start, vol five was almost as good as the first four. Desolation section wasn't used as good as it could have been. But once they got rescued it sailed on.