Cameron Alvarez and Vicky Sandoval were never going to get far from their military roots. Although they did “get out” and got married, their life on Canaan as farmers were short and very eventful. When a Tahni rogue General Zan-Thint chose their planet to setup a base, they got right back into the fight pretty quickly. That resulted in a few friends getting killed and the General got away, but that didn’t stop the fighting. Cameron and Vicky were now deeply involved in what appeared to be a resurrection of the dreaded Tahni. Still, they currently had no good leads on where the Tahni General might have gone.
So, with nothing else to do, they decided to join forces again with Wade Cunningham as part of the Corporate Security Forces (CSF). Yeah, that’s a group they once wanted no part of because this group was responsible for mistreating a lot of their friends just because the Corporate Council wanted it done. But, they had also been asked by Colonel Hachette to get inside the CSF and find out what they were doing and if it tied-in in anyway with this Tahni General Zan-Thint. Neither Cam nor Vicky had a clue as to what the CSF would do with them, but they did have a new assignment and were just about ready to find out what it entailed.
The Corporate Council attempted to control all business assets with in the Commonwealth and independent mining operations weren’t something they would tolerate. Yet, here was a independent mining facility on the colony Portent carving out huge amounts of rhenium that was going to someone. The Corporate Council wanted that mine brought back into the Corporate fold or to cease functioning, immediately. Two Corporate Council lackeys had tagged Cam and Vicky with get the mission done. They also gave them a squad of former Marines. Most of these people had gotten out of the military the wrong way, i.e., dishonorable discharges or otherwise. They still had skills so the CSF was willing to pay their salaries as long as they did their jobs. With two former Drop Troop Lieutenants available, the squad now had some leadership. One guy in particular, Staff Sergeant Martz, was a real jerk and he proves it many times over during this story. I’m some what surprised that Lt. Alvarez allowed his attitude to continue throughout the mission. There were nine others in the squad which you’ll read about with most actually knowing what they were doing although several had no clue. That’s what Cameron and Vicky had to work with. They did have a ship, the Yantar with a surprisingly very competent pilot named Kyler Dunstan.
Off they go to figure out how to do this job and get back so they could continue to track down General Zan-Thint. But, as you’ll read, this job might actually lead them to something just as important as the General himself. Cam and Vicky prefer not to go around killing everyone they meet nowadays since they aren’t supposed to be in the military. Still, they have some hotheads with in the squad that think the solution to everything is more bullets! Unfortunately, that might not work in this case since the mining company has hired its own mercenary force which appears to be quite capable. Both Cam and Vicky get themselves in some very tight situations and for Cameron, it’s doubly bad because he worries so much about Vicky getting killed. He does have some strong feelings about sacrificing himself to save Vicky no matter what, but she doesn’t agree and wonders why he feels that leaving her a live after his death would be something she would want. They need to have a serious talk about continuing in this role they have found for themselves, but nothing gets solved in this book.
It looks like things continue in book 8, “Release Point”, which won’t be available until around 14 Sep 2021. I’ll be adding it to my reading list.