We’re back with our human hero and Peacemaker Van Tudor. He and his crew have just taken down the head of the BeneStar Corporation which was involved in much of the corruption going on in the galaxy. They had their evil hands in to every vile thing that the Peacemaker Guild came across and it was time to stop. Peacemaker Tudor managed to break into the HQ of the organization and actually captured the headman, Helem Gauss. In so doing, it cost the life of his cousin, Carter Yost.
But now with the BeneStar Corp. in disarray, things have kind of settled down for the Peacemakers. Still, Van wants to get his ship and the Iowa fixed up some. They remember some new tech that Helem Gauss had used that had to do with gravity. These gravity plates when attached to a starship would give said starship very advanced flight capabilities. They would be perfect for the Fafnir, but they didn’t know how many of these plates existed. They also appeared to be alien in nature, because there wasn’t any indication that Helem Gauss had or did build more than he seemed to have. So after searching a derelict that Helem Gauss had been using and finding just enough to outfit the Fafnir, they were recalled to Anvil Dark by Master Gerhardt.
The recall was to put Van on notice that he was going to have to testify at the trial of Helem Gauss in the near future. Van really wanted to see Gauss convicted and executed for his vast number of crimes which he personally directed. They should have enough proof to put him away for good. Except Gerhardt was going to tell Van Tudor that the way galaxy justice worked was just a bad as it worked on Earth. Those who had the money, had the means to almost get them out of any legal situations. Gauss and his legions of attorneys intended to delay, side-track and disrupt the legal process any way he could. Gerhardt firmly felt that there was a very strong possibility that Gauss would find most of the charges against him either dismissed or reduced. Gerhardt further believed that Gauss would either have to pay a large fine or be given a sentence that would be considered time served while currently incarcerated as his sentence and he would be set free very soon.
Of course Van Tudor couldn’t believe this kind of stupidity would exist in this highly advanced galaxy. Yet, it did, and Gerhardt knew it also, so that’s why he had a contingency plan. They knew where Gauss would flee once he was set free. The Guild was preparing a very special device, a small-area nuclear detonation (SAND) device which he wanted Van Tudor to deliver. Van was all for this and would be more than happy to end Helem Gauss. but he needed to do it in such away as to cause no collateral damage even with a nuclear bomb!
So, this book is about Peacemaker Van Tudor and his effort to eliminate one Helem Gauss permanently. Several things are going to impact this effort. For one, Gauss is very, very, very rich. Another is that he has been behind all these body snatching and computerization of individuals consciousness onto computer chips. Gauss plans to meet up with the doctor who does this branding of persons into computers which could led to a whole different Helem Gauss than who he is now. That must be stopped or they could lose track of Gauss permanently.
We also see the introduction of Netty-P. I’ll let you read about that and they why. And this story doesn’t necessarily end on an all positive note. We might just lose one of the Fafnir’s crew members. Still, Van Tudor and his exploits are far from over. Book 12, “Song of Darkness” is available on Amazon and I’m adding it to my reading list.