The US Space Force was in big trouble. With all its traditional enemies no longer threatening, it was becoming redundant. Then the aliens arrived, warning of others behind them, not so friendly and massing for attack.
A range of low hillocks shielded them from the Saxon siege lines, and the Saxons were too sloppy to patrol the area's outskirts—at least this was the unvarying experience of the Artoriani. But the ambush they had undergone had shaken their certainty, and they had maintained constant patrols of th...
said the Teloi, with a frown, stroking the beard he shared with some but not all males of his race. His deep voice held the indefinably disturbing quality Jason remembered. “Let me refresh your memory,” said Jason. “Do you recall your ‘son’ Perseus? It was at the time Santorini—or Kalliste, as it...
The mainsail was taken up as per Corineus' orders and he could take a moment to gaze around from his high vantage, shielding his eyes from the Mediterranean sun with his free hand and letting the warm wind blow through his hair. The brilliance and clarity of the day, and the blueness of the sky, ...
Aiken demanded in a low voice, motioning Gracchus into the trees surrounding the clearing. The other Rangers, crowding around Richards and the civilian informer, didn’t notice as they slipped into the darkness. “How did you know I was here?”“I’ve got ways of finding things out.” The minstrel show...
said Jason. “Let’s have the full background on Henry Morgan.” They sat in the main room of the inn where they had found what courtesy dictated must be called “lodgings.” Their rooms were too small and cramped for six people to squeeze in, so they had appropriated one of the heavy wooden tables on...
The fundamental force of gravity was somehow involved, all admitted. The fact that most warp points occurred in proximity to the gravity wells of stars reinforced this view, in addition to being highly convenient in practical terms. But some warp points didn’t, and every attempt to formulate a ge...
Van Horn landed them a couple of miles east of the Transhumanists’ landing field—a compromise between security considerations and minimizing the distance they’d have to walk. The landing site was behind a low ridge which lent its own low-tech concealment. As soon as Tomori confirmed that they had...
The Rogovon task force didn’t really qualify as such, but Andrew couldn’t complain about the percentage of their combat strength the rebels had been willing to commit. There were none of the strike cruisers and even larger battlecruisers that were the capital ships of space, but there were five c...