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Zusatztext “[An] imaginative science fiction novel…A chilling depiction of a society where one is always being spied upon.”— Night Owl Reviews “As can be expected in a Jack Campbell novel! the military battle sequences are very well done! with the land-based action adding a new dimension…Fans of The Lost Fleet series will…enjoy this book.”— SFcrowsnest “A fascinating and vividly rendered character study! fully and expertly contextualized.”— Kirkus Reviews Informationen zum Autor Jack Campbell is the pseudonym for John G. Hemry, a retired Naval officer (and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis). As Jack Campbell, he writes The Lost Fleet series of military science fiction novels. He lives with his family in Maryland. Klappentext CEO Artur Drakon has been betrayed. The Syndicate Worlds' government failed to protect its citizens from both the Alliance and the alien enigmas. With a cadre of reliable soldiers under his command! Drakon launches a battle for control of the Midway Star System—assisted by an ally he's unsure he can trust... CEO Gwen Iceni was exiled to Midway because she wasn't ruthless enough in the eyes of her superiors. She proved them wrong by commandeering some of the warships at Midway and declaring the star system's independence on behalf of the people though staying in charge as "President.” But while she controls the mobile fleet! she has no choice but to rely on "General” Drakon's ground forces to keep the peace planet-side. If their coup is to succeed! Drakon and Iceni must put their differences aside to prevent the population of Midway from rebelling against them! to defend their star system from the enigmas—and to ferret out saboteurs determined to reestablish Syndic rule... Chapter One Treason could be as simple as walking through a doorway. At least that was true anywhere ruled by the Syndicate Worlds, and when the doorway in question had stenciled on it in large, red letters the words Unauthorized Access Forbidden OBSTLT. CEO Artur Drakon, commander of Syndicate World ground forces in the Midway Star System, had spent his life following rules like that and only partly because everyone knew that OBSTLT stood for Or Be Subject to Life Termination . “Death” was the sort of blunt term that the Syndicate Worlds’ bureaucracy liked to avoid no matter how freely it meted out that punishment. No, he had obeyed because there hadn’t been much choice while the endless war with the Alliance continued, when disobedience could leave a path open for the enemy to destroy homes and cities and sometimes entire worlds. And if the enemy didn’t destroy your home as a result of your rebellious behavior, and if you somehow escaped the long and powerful reach of internal security, then the mobile forces of the Syndicate Worlds themselves would rain down death on your world from orbit in the name of law, discipline, and stability. But now the war had ended in exhaustion and defeat. No one trusted the Alliance, but they had stopped attacking. And the mobile forces of the Syndicate Worlds, the once–unassailable fist of the central government, had been almost wiped out in a flurry of destruction wrought by an Alliance leader who should have been dead a century ago. That left the ISS, the Internal Security Service, to worry about. The “snakes” of the ISS were a very big worry indeed, but nothing that he couldn’t handle now. Drakon walked through the doorway. He could do that because multiple locks and codes had already been overridden, multiple alarm systems had been disabled or bypassed, a few deadly automated traps disarmed, and four human sentries in critical positions had been turned and now answered to him rather than to CEO Hardrad, head of internal security. All of this had been done on Drakon’s orders. But until Drakon entered the room beyond he could clai...
