This book was probably the most enjoyable of all the previous books in this series. It seemed as if Van Tudor, Peacemaker, is realizing what a great team/crew he has put together and that they can accomplish just about anything. He’s also found out that his and his crews reputation is growing such that there’s a five million dollar/bond bounty on Van and each of his crew! If someone were able to bring down the Fafnir with entire crew aboard, they would become incredibly rich! But that’s not going to happen, we hope!
Initially, Icky and her fiancé were to be married soon, but that has been put on hold since there’s something going on around Earth that Van needs to quickly take care of. Earth is a protected planet as is the entire Solar System. It’s not supposed to know of the greater galaxy until it’s ready to adequately do so. They have to demonstrate an ability to create and handle antimatter and then discover the ability to twist through space. Once those two requirements have been met, then Earth will have its first formal extraterrestrial encounter. Until then, formal protocols are in place to be followed which are enforced by the Peacemaker Guild.
Van Tudor realizes more than most how greatly Earth is ignorant of the greater galaxy. He knows Earth is not ready for what is out there. Yeah, humans have been going into space for quite some time, but humanity has barely been to the Moon and only very infrequently for even that. He also knows very well that humans like him have also been introduced to the greater galactic civilization by one method or another to the point there are thousands of humans surviving very well with aliens. Yet, Earth is not ready. And neither is the greater galaxy.
As usual, the bad guys don’t follow the rules no matter where they apply. And yes, they are apparently responsible for the myriad of UFO sitings on Earth. There is now an organization called the *Equal Grasp* that is attempting to force Earth into accepting that aliens exist and that Earth has a lot to offer in trade and other stuff. That other stuff being minerals that would be exploited by these corrupt aliens until the planet dried up and blew away! They would offer Earth cheap trinkets that would appear to humans as magical devices and mostly like would include weapons far beyond what Earth consider lethal. Those weapons in the wrong hands could result in the Armageddon that humans have been avoiding for a long time.
Van Tudor isn’t going to let this exploitation of Earth happen. He’s going to do everything in his power to stop once more criminal element from doing harm to Earth and that’s why such a huge bounty has been placed on him and his crew. Yet, it’s a simple thing that strikes directly at the Fafnir and the crew in the very beginning. Van was asked by a friend and fellow Peacemaker, Jamberac, to take a Usu, to The Hole, the Peacemaker Guild’s prison. That would have been find and easy to do, but this Usu, is a cybernetic being and somehow infected Netty, the Fafnir’s AI with the Calamity virus! This is going to be a disaster.
While this is all going on, Van and Torina have a wedding to attend to and it’s not Icky’s. They are only a few days way from a very specific celestial event on Helso and that event date was to be their wedding day. Don’t know if they’ll make it!
So, fourteen books into this series and it’s still very interesting and exciting. I don’t know how Van Tudor and his crew manage to survive some of the ordeals they go through or are going through. The series does continue in Book 15, “[Constant Sorrow](https://amzn.to/45aWhVD)”. Not sure what that title means and I definitely don’t know what the title of this book 14 meant. It didn’t seem to apply to anything in this book.