Breach of Faith

Everything is on the table when survival's at stake. Captain James Henry is caught between a rock and a hard place - again. Merchant ships operating in neutral space near the Terran Coalition and the League of Sol are disappearing without a trace. The latest report has something the others didn't: a survivor. When news reaches the planet Lusitania during a cargo offload, Captain Henry and the Shadow Wolf's crew are hired to extract the surviving operative before she's silenced and the information she has is lost. But too many opposing forces are at work within the faction-torn republic - and they all want a piece of the prize. With directives from multiple government contacts, Captain Henry concedes to protect his ragtag crew. Years ago, he surrendered to dishonor and dismissal from the Coalition Defense Force in order to protect his fellow officers. This time he knows how to play the game. To save his band of brothers and sisters, Jim must walk a fine line between the operative's survival and the threats against his crew from the League of Sol. Before the time to negotiate runs out.

What once was his downfall becomes their saving grace. Hard-fought skirmishes leave Captain James Henry and the Shadow Wolf limping into Lusitania's port. Payday awaits once the undercover operative is safely delivered planetside to brief authorities on the League of Sol's activities within neutral territory. But Jim learned long ago never to take anything at face value. Especially with allies and enemies. The Lusitanian Parliament bombing left unknown survivors, requiring martial law until new elections restore the fractured government. Chaos is the order of the day, proving the League is more than making inroads in this sector of the galactic arm. Their advance is imminent. The only way to stop the League from invading is for the Shadow Wolf to make a break for Trinidad Station and muster an army of pirates and privateers. But convincing them to fight for something other than profit is a battle Jim isn't sure he'll win, especially when converting enemies to allies requires trust against a highly trained military machine. Now Captain Henry must marshal his former CDF experience to build a new coalition and outwit an enemy in a way they'll never expect. He'll change the rules of engagement — and take the fight to the League.

It takes more than truth to serve justice. Captain James Henry is left stinging after the latest firefight. However, lost cargo and payments mean little as a disturbing message reaches into neutral space — his uncle is dying. Uncle Charlie was the one who saved his life after Jim's disgraceful dismissal from the Coalition Defense Force. He owes the man an enormous debt for giving him renewed purpose. But only the dead can pay the Ferryman. Regardless of the risks, Jim and the crew of the Shadow Wolf return to New Virginia to offer final farewells. But the lies that forced him from his homeland continue to taunt, and the schemers buried in the CDF are convinced he's returned to throw a wrench into their carefully laid plans. Plans positioned long ago like pieces on a chess board. Ready to be played. Jim's resurgence triggers deception from every sector. His old CDF crew from the Laffey , who've never forgotten their CO's sacrifice, are rounded up and imprisoned, while Jim is dragged from his uncle's bedside. But deceit goes too far when the heart of the Shadow Wolf is threatened. Now it's a race to rescue the wrongfully accused and expose the long-hidden truth in a galactic game where there is no second place. And the heart of the Terran Coalition lies in the balance.

The battle for truth was only the beginning. Captain James Henry has finally gained what he long desired — redemption. Yet not even his restored military honors and reputation can wipe away the bitter taste in his mouth after fifteen years weighed down by guilt and shame. Whereas others now recognize him as a legitimate hero, all Jim sees when he looks at the man in the mirror is a coward. If he'd stood up for what was right in the first conflict, countless lives would've never been lost. But not even the truth will bring back the dead — or restore a shattered trust. Before deep-seated betrayal sends Jim to the bottom of another whiskey bottle, the past again rears its ugly head when the Shadow Wolf's first mate is kidnapped by an unholy enemy alliance. To rescue her from their clutches, Jim swallows his injured pride and accepts assistance from an unlikely source. One that still reeks with the stench of duplicity. The fate of Jim's first mate is sealed when treachery abounds from every galactic quadrant, and her very life is wrenched from her control for a more sinister intent. When captain and crew rush in to extract their comrade, they'll face down an enemy they never saw coming — and suffer a soul-crushing loss. Can Jim overcome it all, and save his crew one more time?

The Shadow Wolf is gone. Admiral James Henry has traded a war of weapons for one cloaked in diplomacy as leader of the fledgling Independent Systems Fleet. Fighting alongside the Terran Coalition to rid the Sagittarius Arm of tyranny was the easy part. Now forced into the political arena, hes never missed the freewheeling spacers life more. Or his scattered crew. Leading them, Captain Miri Gaon is still haunted by past actions working deep cover for Coalition Intelligence Service. When pirates attack the Venture Star on a medical supply run to a frontier planet, age-old training kicks in. And suspicions are raised. Curall promises a miracle for whatever ails you. But miracles demand steep sums mere credits cant pay. When a vial lands in her lap from an unexpected source, Miri and her crew must get the Venture Star spaceworthy again and fight past vicious warlords and pirates to deliver the addictive drug to Admiral Henry. Or see more worlds fall to an all-new enemy.

The stealth war has only begun. Admiral James Henry faces a serious dilemma. Curall has already made deep inroads throughout Independent Space. While distracted fighting the League, the Jalmtar Empire waged a clandestine war using the highly addictive substancewith far deadlier consequences. Billions across the galaxy face an excruciating death without a constant supply of the drug for which there is no known antidote. To keep the tap flowing, one planets leadership intends to roll the dice and adopt the Jalmtars terms despite their onerous constraints. If they fall, others are doomed to follow. As news reaches him of the scheduled vote, Admiral Henry is once again forced to call on his former crew. The Venture Star must infiltrate an autocratic empire bent on the Sagittarius Arms subjugation. But when one of their own is caught in the Curall net, the race is on to discover the Jalmtars secret ace in the hole. Before time runs out.

Every war begins with a cast of the iron dice. The battles never end for Admiral James Henry. After months of negotiations, galactic alliance talks between the Independent Systems Federation and the Terran Coalition have stalled. There's no urgency to strike a deal since the antidote nullified the Jalm'tar Empire's Curall threat. But Jim suspects the usurper on the Jalm'tar throne still has a decisive hand to play in war games. Especially with humanity at its weakest. Decades of endless combat with the League of Sol have devastated the Terran Coalition's galactic readiness, while the ISF's fledgling fleet is a mere ragtag battlegroup of refitted private vessels. But when news reaches Jim of an overwhelming Jalm'tar incursion into the Sagittarius Arm, it's all hands on deck. Once again, he's forced to call on the Venture Star crew for an impossible mission. They must find and restore the rightful heir to the Jalm'tar throne to halt the imminent invasion. Before the final die is cast.