Scimitar's Glory: A Swordships Odyssey Novel

Scimitar's Glory: A Swordships Odyssey Novel

Human-explored space lies between two alien races that are either openly aggressive or covertly hostile. 7th Fleet discovers that one of those races is moving to attack. In a moment of panic, the commanding admiral orders the fleet to attempt a risky jump through hyperspace. They miss hitting their target starâ€™s gravity well and end up deep in unexplored space with a shockingly long trip home and not nearly enough food to last that long. With war now raging in their home systems, the officers of 7th Fleet must find a way to put aside their egos, ambitions and fears in order to make it back, and they know that not all of them will. Scimitarâ€™s Glory is the first book in a new, fast-paced, action-packed military SF series: Swordships Odyssey. The second book, Excalibur's Quest, is already available for pre-order.

Excerpt:
With a long, risky jump like this, Dejanus would have expected Corregidorâ€™s astrogational AI to take at least ten minutes to aim the ship as precisely as possible to the distant starâ€™s center. She was therefore surprised and somewhat alarmed when the flagship signaled to the rest of the fleet that they could start to match her trajectory after only half that time.

â€œGoddammit, whatâ€™s the rush?â€ she said to Koenig who was the only other human on the Bridge. â€œThereâ€™s no possible way the Jab fleet can catch us before we jump, even if we take another hour to do it. Why not take a few extra minutes to get the most accurate trajectory possible?â€ When it became clear that Koenig had nothing to say, she continued. â€œAstro, I want you to check the flagshipâ€™s alignment with Alpha9 while we match vectors. Let me know if you think the flagshipâ€™s vector could be better.â€ That extra task delayed Excaliburâ€™s alignment, and therefore she became the last ship in the fleet to signal her readiness for the jump.

â€œFleet Commander on Tac2, Commander,â€ said the com AI.

Dejanus switched channels to her Command Pod. â€œExcalibur Actual speaking,â€ said Dejanus in the formal form of address that ship COs normally didnâ€™t bother with.

â€œWhatâ€™s taking your Astro so long to get aligned, Commander?â€ Rostov didnâ€™t bother to hide his annoyance.

â€œJust double-checking the overall jump trajectory, Admiral.â€ Dejanus thought she heard Rostov swear under his breath, but it could have been her imagination.

â€œYou tell your Astro that if Excalibur isnâ€™t aligned in the next two minutes, Iâ€™ll order him replaced and transferred to a cargo hauler. FC out!â€

The astro AI managed to get the ship aligned within the deadline to no oneâ€™s surprise. With all ships in the fleet now aligned perfectly with the flagship and jump velocity attained, the order was given to enter hyperspace.

It was 131.3 hours later when both Koenig and Dejanus were on the Bridge again watching the jump chronometer countdown to the second when the ship should drop back down into normal space. Koenig watched the countdown clock hit zero and then start counting up again. After ten more seconds, Dejanus began shaking her head. She had a horrified expression on her face.

â€œWeâ€™ve missed. That bastard has killed us all.â€

Genre categories: space fleet, military SF, space opera, galactic empire, alien invasion, first contact, space exploration.
Country USA
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2018-01-30
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2018-01-30
Format	Kindle eBook

Scimitar's Glory: A Swordships Odyssey Novel

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