Outpost | W. Michael Gear
From the bestselling co-author of the People novels comes a riveting science fiction adventure on a planet with danger around every corner Donovan: A world of remarkable wealth, habitable, with a breathable atmosphere, water, and a salubrious climate. Call it a dream come true. A dream? Or a nightmare? Donovans wealth comes at a price. For Donovan lies thirty light years away--a two-year journey that few survive. When Turalon arrives in orbit, Supervisor Kalico Aguila discovers a failing colony, its government overthrown, and the few colonists left now gone wild. For Kalico, Donovan offers the chance of a lifetime: one desperate spin of the wheel that will leave her the most powerful woman in the solar system. Or dead. Planetside, Talina Perez is one the three rulers of Port Authority--the only remnant of a town on Donovan. Shes the only law left, and now a Corporate ship has appeared in orbit and is demaning answers about done things shes done in the name of survival. Perez is about to lose everything, including her life, when Kalico lands with her Marines. For Dan Wirth, Donovan is a last chance. A psychopath with a death sentence looming over his head, he cant wait to set foot on Port Authority. He will make one desperate play to grab a piece of the action. No matter who he has to corrupt, murder, or destroy. Captain Max Taggart has been The Corporations go to guy when it comes to brutal enforcement. As the situation in Port Authority deteriorates, hell be faced with committing mass murder in order to dominate the wild Donovanians. Only Talina Perez stands in his way. Or. God forbid, is he getting squeamish in his old age? Just as matters spiral out of control, a ghost ship, the Freelander, appears in orbit. Missing for two years, she arrives with a crew dead of old age, and reeks of a bizarre death-cult ritual that forewarns any ship from making the return journey to Solar System. Does anyone dare space back on Turlon with her wealth of ore, ceramic, gems, and gold? Or do they take their chances on a deadly planet that kills three out of four colonists? And in the meantime, a brutal killer is stalking all of them, for Donovan plays its own complex and deadly game. One whose secrets are hidden in Talia Perezs very blood. A game which will change everything, forever.