Last time we were with Captain Thomas Baldwin, Captain of the Concord starship Constantine, he was debating whether or not to accept a promotion to Admiral and move on. Now we know that he did, in fact, get promoted and is now commanding a desk at Fleet HQ on Nolix, the Concord Alliance home planet. It sounds like he regrets his decision!
At the same time, the Constantine needed a new Captain and that was former Commander and Second-in-Command, Treena Starling. Now Captain Starling, she realizes what an enormous responsibility she has taken on, but she has confidence in her abilities so she’s vowing to do just as good a job as now Admiral Baldwin. Fortunately, she has inherited the same staff/crew as was on the Constantine under Baldwin. They are all well trained and very capable.
In addition, she has been assigned an new Executive Officer named Commander Pol Teller. Now this was something unusual. Pol Teller used to be Captain Pol Teller when under Admiral Constantine Baldwin, Thomas Baldwin’s grandfather. To say he was old was an extreme understatement. Admiral Benitor thought that giving Captain Starling a very well experienced second-in-command would help her with her first command. Whether this was going to be a bonus or a terrible mistake was soon to be discovered. One thing for sure, Captain Starling didn’t like this very old guy!
Now, all she and the Constantine needed was a new mission. Back at HQ, Admiral Baldwin is also awaiting a new mission. That mission coming from Fleet Admiral Benitor, was to go to Aruto, home of the Callalay people, one of the original Founders of the Concord. Something is going on between the Callalay’s and the Ugna. The Callalay have been attacked and it appears that someone is making the attacks using almost, but not quite Concord starships. There is also numerous rumors that the Ugna are definitely not what they appear to be and could be causing trouble for the rest of the Concord.
Meanwhile, Captain Starling and the Constantine have been ordered to find Earth and see what the Solar System is like and attempt to make contact with the humans there. Unfortunately for Captain Starling is the fact that the Ugna have already made contact with Earth and things are not going well there. Worse yet, things will not be going well for the Concord Alliance once Earth decides to send a very powerful fleet their way.
So, can new Captain Treena Starling stop the humans or whomever is leading their civilization and can Admiral Baldwin find out what’s going on with the Ugna and why are they now starting to act very hostile towards the entire Concord Alliance? Read and find out.
This is a pleasantly surprising book. You don’t find many that take the original starship Captain and promote him to Admiral and then continue on the story. I mean, former Captain Baldwin now doesn’t have a ship to command. Is this series about Captain Starling or about Admiral Baldwin. Seems like, for now, it’s about both and probably provides the author a lot more story-lines which is good as long as we can keep the character straight.
I’m heading for the next book in the series, “Legacy” which I already have downloaded from Amazon!