Hostile Realms: Arms Race

Trapped in a dead-end existence after being thrown out of the Terran Tactical Force, 34 year-old ex-military Junior Grade Lieutenant Kath’ryn Kass now finds herself the Captain of a decrepit interstellar freighter - The Intrepid Star. Working for the Raven Ore Corporation on Mars, she shuttles a rare crystalline ore called Corismite from the distant edge of human space back to the refineries on Earth. The refined Corismite crystals are needed for the power systems of deep space vessels and the search for the ore had driven mankind to the far-flung reaches of our solar system and beyond.

It is nearly the end of the 21st century, and Kath’ryn captains her deep-space freighter near the borders of a race known as the Flexani - an advanced octopoid alien species who had first encountered Mankind some 70 years previously. At their first encounter, Man and Flexani had shared their technologies, and the Flexani had given mankind the means to reach out to the stars.

However, Mankind’s inevitable greed ended this fragile liaison. Deception and hatred followed and Mankind fought its first interstellar war with the aliens. After a last great battle was fought around Jupiter, peace accords were signed. An unstable and fragile agreement now persists, keeping interactions between the races to a minimum. Both sides knew a second war must be coming – but when – and who would be ready?

Kath’ryn suddenly finds herself at the centre of this burgeoning new Stellar War. When the Intrepid Star becomes the first victim of hostilities, little does she know that fate is about to throw her into a strange partnership with an enemy, the very enemy who ordered the destruction of her ship and crew. The two of them race against time in order to unravel the clandestine plans of both their homeworlds’ leaders, and stop the impending Second Stellar War from destroying them all. Kath’ryn must also battle with her own demons and beliefs in an epic race that could decide the fate of many solar systems.