The Story - A young starship pilot falls victim to extortion, stealing a prototype warship in exchange for her best friend’s life…
The Story
Disgraced starship pilot Cassandra Hague pays for her tiny bunk on the Mars space station by flying transport missions to Earth and, when money is really tight, boxing. Her military career over, Cassie’s combat-flying skills atrophy. That is until a Consortian spy threatens to kill her boyfriend Dakota unless she defects with a technology-heavy starship.
Cassie has no intention of handing over the starship Harbinger, but without friends that believe her, options are limited. She and Dakota take the craft and flee the solar system. As a traitor, Cassie counted on being pursued by her own military. What she didn’t count on was the spy joining forces with the Consortian’s most psychopathic artificial mind, Admiral Sebastian Protocol, to chase her down.
Team - Thanks to
Anna Maclennan and
Kirsten Mackie for help with the
Scottish Highlands translations and pointers on Scottish culture.
Presenting the core team...
Harbinger - Consortian Universe

Head Modifications (Headmods)
Headmods are genetically engineered tissue in the human brain that form an organic transmitter and receiver, connecting the mind to the Social Network (SOCNET) computer systems that humans have grown so reliant upon. Headmods listen to the subject of our conversations and give us constant encyclopedic updates shown as text seemingly suspended in mid-air. The brain’s sensory input is augmented so that we see, hear, taste, smell, and even feel another layer of reality that the computers tell us is there. For example, toddlers are given blocks to play with that are virtual – only existing in computers. But to the child, they are as real as any block made of wood, falling over when pushed and even getting scratched over time. One can customize their surroundings with virtual objects from a gallery. Virtual clothing is available for purchase.

Headmods (continued)
Subvocalization is a feature of headmods that allow someone to message another person without raising their voice to an audible level. It’s like whispering to someone in Statuary Hall in the US Capital Building (see pre-alliance governments). All of our senses are transmitted to SOCNET for replay at anytime. There’s even a religion, ZCRAM, that’s formed around the practice of streaming one’s sensory experiences to a church elder, presumably to guarantee adherence to church guidelines.
The genetically engineered tissue in a person’s brain and the computers that the individual connects to are together referred to as an Exocortex. The modern-day exocortex is a feat of neural engineering designed by Dr. Oswald Richtofen – the brother of renowned theoretical physicist Dr. Henry Richtofen (see superluminal drive / faster-than-light travel).

Harbinger
The Harbinger is a tech-laden prototype frigate designed by Master Shipbuilder Dakota Owen Simms and fabricated at the Mars MS-17 orbital shipyards. One-tenth the size of a typical frigate, the Harbinger packs in a full array of armaments thanks to its unique macro-assembler fabrication. The ship is capable of surface landing and takeoff. The Harbinger has an unorthodox, sleek design and a (virtual) transparent dome atop the forward command section.
The Harbinger-class warship is capable of 4 Gs of reverse thrust and can develop 10 Gs of forward thrust via conventional drive. Its Higgs-Boson gravity generators can counter 4 Gs. The top speed of its superluminal drive remains classified. Defensive systems include two wing-mounted Technal 5011e series gun turrets firing 60,000 depleted uranium rounds per second. Offensive weapons include missiles and rail-guns (specs classified).
Blog - Check back here for the latest news on Harbinger of Treason and upcoming books.
Harbinger of Treason grabbed #1 position in Book Gorilla’s email promotion
Harbinger of Treason topped (#1 position) Book Gorilla's email promotion for June 26th, 2015 to their Science Fiction fans. The book also made the top 3 (3rd book) on Book Gorilla's Deal page http://www.bookgorilla.com/deals across all genres for the day -- a Starred Title! Part of the reason they are promoting it so heavily to their readers is the great price point - $0.99. Wish me luck and grab a copy if you haven't already
The next book
I am outlining the next book, turning all my creative energies towards exploring the characters even more and putting them in grave danger. It's wonderful to let your imagination run free in the early stages of writing. Later it will all have to be carefully constructed, but deciding what plots would make a great story is the