25 years after first contact an alien race returns to begin an invasion.
It turns out the universe is much larger than we were taught in school. To
understand what it is really like consider what happens when you throw a
pebble into a pond. From the center originates a series of crests and
troughs. The crests represent matter and the troughs represent large voids.
Humans are the dominant species in the newest crest. We are also the youngest
race in the universe. The Raygin have evolved from Carrion beetles and are
the dominant species in the second ring of the universe. They have invaded
our space with the intention of killing us, enslaving us, or even worse (they are
after all omnivorous). Humans have put all their hopes of winning the war into
one person. He is a killer without equal. He started his career in United Fleet
Command in the Sniper Corps as a ghost– a sniper operating behind enemy
lines. Everyone who knows Mac has a story about him. He is an expert in
hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and strategy. The question is will Mac be able
to save mankind or are we in for a drastic change to our lifestyle?
Excerpt
As the students arrived in the classroom they found Mac standing in front of them. He looked ready to step onto a battlefield. He was dressed in his black, lightweight, body armor with a knife strapped to his calf. Everyone else wore the old enlisted field uniform. Mac wanted his troops to use the new battle gear. He watched as some experienced troops laughed at him. It was unheard of… wearing battle armor while training on a colonist ship!
When everyone took a seat, Mac began to talk about the design of battle gear and weapons over the ages. He discussed the development of various uniforms. The students learned how the poor design of shoes had caused an army to lose a war. Soldiers wearing the wrong color uniform allowed the enemy to locate their positions. An all out attack with inferior weapons against a superior force was a death wish.
One of the students raised her hand. Mac nodded at her.
“Mac, were dying in here. It’s hotter than hell, can you do something about the heat?”
The students had begun to sweat through their uniforms. “I thought you’d never ask. Tinker, can you open the boxes stacked in the back. Hand out the lightweight body armor to the appropriate trooper.”
“You’ve got it Mac.”
“Did anyone notice I’m not sweating in the body armor?” said Mac.
“Asshole,” said someone.
Mac laughed. He couldn’t tell who said it.
All the troops received their new battle gear. It’s lesson time, thought Mac. He asked Dwain, one of the experienced troopers who laughed at him, to come forward. Mac reached down and pulled his razor sharp knife out of its sheath. He held the knife by the blade and handed it to Dwain and said, “Take my knife and stab me in the chest.”
Dwain’s eyes opened wide. In mock shock, he turned his head, looked at the class, and shrugged his shoulders. He planted his feet, and with lightning quick reflexes, using both hands, stabbed Mac in the heart. The force from the blow knocked Mac over. The troops screamed. Several of them raced out of their seats to help Mac. Dwain stood there with a smirk on his face.
While on his back, Mac shook the cobwebs out of his head, took an extended hand from a student, and stood back up. “Everyone, take your seats. Thank you. Dwain, you can sit down too. Let me make a few things clear about this training demonstration.” Mac smiled at the class. “First, don’t ask a fourth level trained martial artist to stab you unless you have a good reason.” The class laughed. “What I wanted you to learn is the suit may protect you from a weapon like the blade of a knife. But remember, a weapon like a knife has momentum. The suit will never protect you from the impact force of what hits you.”
I love science fiction. But, thanks to Star Wars and other books and movies depicting extraterrestrials as evil, combative creatures, it seems like replaying medieval war with them is big book sales and box office. Hand-to-hand combat would be the least of our worries. Humans, the way we are now or even the way we imagine we would be, as some kind of superheroes depicted by the comic books, wouldn't stand a chance against anyone who can cross the vast distance between us and the stars.
I was criticized for not giving enough detail of the extraterrestrials in my first novel. That was on purpose because describing them in great detail would be totally wrong. We have no idea what they would be like. By making them out as superior beetles, but inferior to humans, we defy the long tradition of science-fiction actually predicting the future… Pulp science fiction. Flash Gordon ad nausea.
Talcon Star City has been honored as a "Finalist" of the 2012 International Book Awards in the "Fiction: Science Fiction" category.
Commodore Robert Sheppard fights to save the peacekeeping Alliance of Worlds from otherworldly aliens in Gary
