The new Slinger Squadron seems to draw trouble like magnets. They just get out of one mess and then have to plunge back in to another one. While Mark Allen and Mel (Melika) Iona were happily enjoying themselves on Earth at Mark’s uncle’s diner, they got an urgent call from Rylos Station. That call changed their plans since it was an emergency recall of all squadron personnel. So off they go back through Tannhauser Gate to Rylos Station where they meet up with the rest of Rylos Squadron.
Mark is the reluctant squadron commander so he gets the word from Flight Master Davás to convene in the hanger bay. There they find Axon, Hydros and Eros Squadrons also gathering. Mark feels that something obvious is coming up and it doesn’t seem to be just some kind of training event. And yes, it is something huge. The Ascendancy is attempting to capture a Slinger squadron. That can’t, of course, be allowed to happen because that would allow the Ascendancy access to the Kin develop Tachyon Field Generators. Slinger squadrons of Novae fighters used these Tachyon Field Generator, a.k.a. Rubik’s Cubes, to travel faster than light. Right now the Ascendancy had to use Tannhauser Gates for faster-than-light travel. It was imperative that the Ascendancy didn’t capture this squadron.
Mark and the rest of the squadron took off and found they were in a seven minute slide to wherever this battle was taking place. And it was a battle that they slid right into. Other Nova and hostile starfighters were flying every where around on huge Ascendancy frigate that had no less than thirteen Novae in tow! Fortunately, Flight Master Davás arrived at the same instant and began giving tactical instructions to each of the friendly squadron. Still, even with everything they brought, they looked to be outnumbered three-to-one and they had to make sure none of their own fired on the friendly Nova captured by the Ascendancy frigate.
The other concern was they had to make sure the enemy frigate didn’t have a clear path to slide. This is kind of a strange situation since I didn’t think the Ascendancy had the capability to slide since they didn’t have Tachyon Field Generators. So this was how the battle was shaping up. The Kin squadrons were better than the Ascendancy fighters and they were proving it by taking down large number of enemy. Mark eventually figured out a weak spot in the Ascendancy frigate and knew he had to hit it just right. But, it was also being protected by all the captured Novae and he certainly didn’t want to fire on one of them. They were still occupied by their squadron pilots and were the reasons for trying to rescue them.
Mark was successful as you’ll read, but at the end of this battle they still send out a signal attempting to contract the Nova that Clint had taken. While he had given them a lot of trouble back on Torabor-3, Mark still felt Clint was in there some where and that his mind just needed to get well. They will soon find out that Clint has been up to some very unfriendly things that will require Mark and company to make some serious decisions.
And, while this initial battle sounds pretty exciting, it’s nothing compared to what’s coming in the book. Be prepared to go traveling towards a black hole and then finding a planet circling inside its orbit but not a the event edge. I can’t explain how the author thought this would work, but he works it out that people can actually visit this planet although they will suffer some serious time dilations! Mel has already gone thought that once and she’s about forty-years out of date which is very troubling to her. Now will the entire squadron fall into the same situation if they pursue Clint to his final destination?
After all that, they still have to fight their way through a massive black cube ship sitting in a desolate part of space. They find out what it was originally intended for and then find out who and what is using it now. This cube is like a gigantic Borg cube from Star Trek but it’s certainly not inhabited by Borg, well not exactly! Interesting reading and very narrow escapes.
I was kind of surprised about how exciting this book was. It really means that I’ll continue reading the next book, “I Dream of Jinnee”, coming on 12 August 2026 per Amazon.
==[Note 1 (12/23/2025): I’m no longer associated with Amazon and will no longer provide any links to books from that website. You can usually find books that you like at your usual source.]==
==[Note 2: As of 12/03/2023, this will not be posted on Amazon since I have been banned from posting reviews for some unknown reason. ]==