The Truce

Commonwealth Universe #6

by Michelle L. Levigne

Before the Commonwealth existed, there was an expanding, multi-galaxy civilization referred to by its descendants/survivors simply as "First Civ". Due to the combined effects of a too-aggressive policy of expansion, civil unrest, the inequality and abuse of the classes, and the categorizing of augmented humans as a slave class, First Civ disintegrated.

The period of darkness and barbarism that followed is referred to as the Downfall. Various groups of people fled First Civ as they became endangered or more powerful people tried to have them classified as mutants or non-humans, and either sterilized or made them into slaves. Among them were the Khybors, the ancestors of the Leapers.

Some groups of people managed to get hold of ships and flee to distant galaxies. Using sleeper ships, they could spend centuries in travel and no one would age. This caused problems later, when different waves of refugees landed on the same planet, and the newcomers came into conflict with those who'd been there for centuries.

Niall and his crew are just centimeters away from freedom, escaping in the stolen starship they've christened the Nova Vendetta. Then disaster strikes, paralyzing their ship. Retaken as prisoners, they find themselves traveling on the very ship that should have been their ticket to freedom.

Just when they're beginning to despair, the unthinkable Experimental technology and a risky gamble put the ship under their control. The escaped prisoners head for the furthest reaches of known space, determined to stay free at any cost.

Labeled rebels and pirates and criminals, they hold to the principles that have let them survive and stay Human during their time in prison. To the outlying colonies slowly being abandoned by the disintegration of the Central Allied Worlds, the crew of the Nova Vendetta and its slowly growing fleet of allies are heroes in the truest sense of the word.

The revolution reaches out to threaten Niall's homeworld. Niall knows it's time to go home. He has to protect Sorendaal, even if it means giving himself into the hands of the very people who want him dead.

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2015

About the author

Michelle has been a book addict since picking up 'The Cat in the Hat'.

She started writing her own stories in junior high, when TV shows didn't turn out like she thought they should. Her first rejection letter came the summer after high school graduation, her first published story was in connection with fan fiction, and her first sale was in the Writers of the Future anthology.

With a BA in theater/English and an MA in Communications, focused on film and writing, she has worked for a local newspaper, then in advertising, and now works as a freelance editor. She is published in multiple sub-genres of romance, as well as SF and fantasy. Awards include multiple finals in the EPIC Awards competition and winning in 2006 and 2010, and finalist in the Realm Awards.

"Universes" include the Commonwealth (SF), The Hunt (Fantasy), The Zygradon Chronicles (Arthurian fantasy), The Faxinor Chronicles (Fantasy/romance), Guardians of the Time Stream (Steam punk), Neighborlee, Ohio (Fantasy), AFV Defender (SF adventure), Tabor Heights (Inspirational romance) and Quarry Hall (Women's fiction/adventure).