Pilot Error

The Galactic Cold War #0.5

by Dan Moren

It’s been six months—six endless months—since former starfighter pilot Eli Brody helped Simon Kovalic and his team of Commonwealth covert operatives take on a terrorist organization on his home planet of Caledonia. But instead of being swept up in a new life of intrigue and excitement, Eli has instead been tasked with sharpening his rusty piloting skills on routine asteroid mining missions.

But, as he’s about to discover, those missions can quickly become anything but routine…

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Thriller, Space Opera

32 pages, ebook

First published April 13, 2020

About the author

Dan Moren is the author of the supernatural detective novel All Souls Lost, as well as the popular Galactic Cold War series of sci-fi spy novels. His work has also appeared in, among other places, The Boston Globe, PopSci.com, Fast Company, and Macworld, where he formerly served as a senior editor.

A two-time Jeopardy! champion and regular panelist on the Parsec-award-winning geek culture podcast The Incomparable, Dan also co-hosts tech podcasts Clockwise and The Rebound, as well as writing and hosting the nerdy game show Inconceivable! He lives with his family in Somerville, MA, where he is never far from a twenty-sided die.

Reviews

[John Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great way to refresh my memory of some of the characters ahead of the Aleph Extraction. Wonderful short story.

[Synful · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oooh! Well, now I understand why it wasn't clear there was a whole book before "The Bayern Agenda"! It's been a few weeks, but I'm pretty sure there was a fairly similar scene to that covered in this short story in that book, though.

Either way, despite that I was taken in. If anything I think maybe it was better written than what ended up in that book. Also, good deal that the series ended up getting picked up elsewhere. Moving on to the other short story written between books, the one between The Bayern Agenda and The Aleph Extraction.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eli Brody is on a small mining ship. And he is bored out of his mind.

Collecting mineral samples from asteroids in the Anselm system: “uncomfortably close to the Illyrican border.”

Reflecting back on the death of his brother, Eamon. And joining the Commonwealth team.

Eli is at somewhat loose ends. Grief from Eamon and Lucy’s deaths. His own trauma-induced anxiety is holding him back in all the ways.

The appearance of an Illyrican ship changes everything.

Eli’s creativity and inner monologue are enjoyable.

Ending may not be the best, but Eli is somehow compelling anyway.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just discovered that Dan Moren had put this short story out, and I am overjoyed he has.

I love the Galactic Cold War series, and seeing a bit of how Eli dealt with his trauma after The Caledonian Gambit was enlightening, and reading about his creative solutions to problems was a hell of a lot of fun.

Short, sweet, and a good point connecting The Caledonian Gambit and The Bayern Agenda.

I hope Dan keeps releasing these!

[Paul Bachner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of the Galactic Cold Wars series and while I read this out of order (I’ve finished the 3 books in the series currently) I’m now going back and reading the 2 short releases. It’s less of a short story and more a deleted scene (chapter). I understand why it was cut but it does a great job of reintroducing the Eli and giving a little more insight into his brain. If you enjoyed the other books in the series, you should definitely read this, otherwise skip it.

[Jaymie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I got a kick out of this short adventure for the stars of the Caledonian Gambit (The Galactic Cold War series). I enjoyed the author's note of where the story came from, too. I'm thoroughly enjoying this series.

[Richard Goodrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting scene. Brody is a work in progress. At least it appears that way by the final comments from Dr. Thornfield, his therapist. Still, it is worth the time to read.

Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Great world building. Twisted. Unpredictable. Whimsical. Wonderful characters.

[Dmitry Bezverkhiy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice short sci-fi story

[Andrew McIntosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always fun to see inside Eli's brain.

[Zerdath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and fun

This was pretty good, I haven't read this author before and it's well enough done to make me check the rest of his work.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pilot goes through some tough maneuvers until the end, when we find out he was in a flight simulator.

[Josh Ferrara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun mini-story between the major novels in this series. While only about 15 minutes long, this was fun character building and has me excited for the next book.

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun interlude. Looking forward to the next book

[Chet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a chapter that was cut from The Bayern Agenda. A standalone story with Brody doing some inventive piloting. Short and entertaining.

[Noel Roach · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few pages written for The Bayern Agenda but ended up on the editing room floor. Strangely the main book still has at least two references to the events here.