Showing results by author "John Wilker" in All Categories

Lone human Wil Calder is bored out of his freakin’ mind. So when he gets word of a couple of criminals being hauled to a penal colony, he figures he’s got a sweet deal to offer: join his crew and he’ll help clear their names. But he quickly finds he’s bought a black hole of misfortune with the two disgraced convicts knowing things that they shouldn’t know. Things that will get all of them killed.

Jackson ”Jax” Caruso inherited a ship from his parents. They’re dead, and they don’t need it. The unification wars happened a while ago, Jax’s parents' fought for the losing side. Now he takes the jobs he can get—smuggling, bounty hunting, hauling cargo. If it pays, he’ll do it. When Jax is approached with a job that seems too good to be true, he should have known better, he should have walked. He didn’t. Now, he and a few friends are in it deep; imperial entanglements are the least of their concerns with organized crime on their tails.

They saved the Galactic Commonwealth once. For free. Apparently, it’s a thing they do now. The crew of the Ghost has been privateering for the Harrith government. You know, the one they saved from civil war. It’s fun. Stop pirates, smugglers, and the like and take their loot. But nothing lasts forever. There’s a bounty on their heads, after all.

The day starts like any other, venturing into spider-bear territory to rescue Bennie’s sister. Turns out there’s a lot of space that the Peacekeepers don’t go near - go figure, spider-bear territory is on that list. And that’s just the start of their adventure. Their old friend Xarrix calls with a job. A job that sounds straightforward and easy. With nothing else on their plates, the crew of the Ghost find themselves in a sector of space deemed “untameable” by the Galactic Commonwealth, working with a warlord with some pretty big plans.

The Crimson Orchid hasn’t forgotten what Jax did to them on Jebidiah. Everywhere he and Naomi turn, bespoke suited thugs are trying to kill them. When the Governor of Kelso station hires them to take her to a summit on the Imperial homeworld of New Terra, it’s the kind of straightforward job Jax likes. Naomi has other ideas. One thing leads to another and now it’s not just the Crimson Orchid that is hot on their heels, but a mysterious Imperial agent.

Wil and the crew of the Ghost show up to find a nearly deserted research outpost on a frozen world. Nearly deserted....