SOMETIMES A DARK PAST CAN HAUNT YOU—OTHER TIMES IT JUST MAY BE THE ONLY THING KEEPING YOU ALIVE
Fresh out of college with his Ship Engineer 3rd-Class certificate, Dave Walker’s only thought is to try to find a berth on a corporate ship plying the trade routes between the many habs, orbitals, and moons in the Solar System. The problem for Dave, however, isn’t his straight C average; it’s that his stepfather, a powerful Earth senator he’s never met, now wants him dead.
Forced to take the first berth he can find, Dave ends up on the Iowa Hill, an old tramp freighter running with a minimal crew and nearing the end of its useful life, plying the routes that the corporations ignore and visiting the kinds of places that the folks on Earth pretend don’t exist.
Between the assassins, the criminals, and the pirates he needs to deal with, Dave is discovering that there are a lot of things out there that he still needs to learn.
But there’s one hard lesson he learned long ago that he’s being forced to remember: how to be ruthless.
SOMETIMES A DARK PAST CAN HAUNT YOU—OTHER TIMES IT JUST MAY BE THE ONLY THING KEEPING YOU ALIVE
Fresh out of college with his Ship Engineer 3rd-Class certificate, Dave Walker’s only thought is to try to find a berth on a corporate ship plying the trade routes between the many habs, orbitals, and moons in the Solar System. The problem for Dave, however, isn’t his straight C average; it’s that his stepfather, a powerful Earth senator he’s never met, now wants him dead.
Forced to take the first berth he can find, Dave ends up on the Iowa Hill, an old tramp freighter running with a minimal crew and nearing the end of its useful life, plying the routes that the corporations ignore and visiting the kinds of places that the folks on Earth pretend don’t exist.
Between the assassins, the criminals, and the pirates he needs to deal with, Dave is discovering that there are a lot of things out there that he still needs to learn.
But there’s one hard lesson he learned long ago that he’s being forced to remember: how to be ruthless.
SOMETIMES A DARK PAST CAN HAUNT YOU—OTHER TIMES IT JUST MAY BE THE ONLY THING KEEPING YOU ALIVE
Fresh out of college with his Ship Engineer 3rd-Class certificate, Dave Walker’s only thought is to try to find a berth on a corporate ship plying the trade routes between the many habs, orbitals, and moons in the Solar System. The problem for Dave, however, isn’t his straight C average; it’s that his stepfather, a powerful Earth senator he’s never met, now wants him dead.
Forced to take the first berth he can find, Dave ends up on the Iowa Hill, an old tramp freighter running with a minimal crew and nearing the end of its useful life, plying the routes that the corporations ignore and visiting the kinds of places that the folks on Earth pretend don’t exist.
Between the assassins, the criminals, and the pirates he needs to deal with, Dave is discovering that there are a lot of things out there that he still needs to learn.
But there’s one hard lesson he learned long ago that he’s being forced to remember: how to be ruthless.
Published: 12/6/2022
More books by John Van Stry (4)
Days of Future Past, Part 1: Past Tense
Paul's been having a bad day, perhaps one of the worst days he's ever had. And now into the middle of all this, his instructor just got drafted by some mystical goddess to help save a world. As for Paul? Well, he's really not supposed to be there, and if he thought he was having a bad day before all of this, it just got worse, a lot worse. He's now on a one-way trip, forced to help a man who despises him while at the mercy of the world's biggest trickster.
Paul's been having a bad day, perhaps one of the worst days he's ever had. And now into the middle of all this, his instructor just got drafted by some mystical goddess to help save a world. As for Paul? Well, he's really not supposed to be there, and if he thought he was having a bad day before all of this, it just got worse, a lot worse. He's now on a one-way trip, forced to help a man who despises him while at the mercy of the world's biggest trickster.
Coyote has a new task for Paul, one that involves him traveling north hundreds of miles over the post-apocalyptic landscape of California, the place that Paul once called home. Thankfully, Sarah and Heather have both decided to go with him and between Heather's shooting skills and Sarah's magical ones; Paul thinks he might just live through whatever scheme Coyote has enlisted him in. If he can live through telling the girls just what Coyote's got him carrying in his pack now of course. At least he's done with Riggs and hopefully won't have to deal with him ever again, nothing could be worse than that after all!
Coyote has a new task for Paul, one that involves him traveling north hundreds of miles over the post-apocalyptic landscape of California, the place that Paul once called home. Thankfully, Sarah and Heather have both decided to go with him and between Heather's shooting skills and Sarah's magical ones; Paul thinks he might just live through whatever scheme Coyote has enlisted him in. If he can live through telling the girls just what Coyote's got him carrying in his pack now of course. At least he's done with Riggs and hopefully won't have to deal with him ever again, nothing could be worse than that after all!
Since being brought forward in time to the post apocalyptic wastelands of what was once his home, life has been pretty hard on Paul. Though it has had two good points, namely Sarah and Heather. But now Coyote wants him to take care of the task that he was brought here to deal with in the first place: Aybem. While it has always been clear that destroying Aybem is supposed to be Riggs' job, Coyote remains unconvinced that Riggs can do it without Paul's help. After seeing just what Riggs is capable of doing, Paul isn't as convinced that he needs to be there, but he also knows he's not going to get any choice in the matter. And of course, just what does happen to you once Coyote no longer needs your help? This is the last book in the Days of the Future Past trilogy, a story of a young man brought forward in time because he came to the attention of Coyote, who thought that the gods' chosen hero just might need some help.
Since being brought forward in time to the post apocalyptic wastelands of what was once his home, life has been pretty hard on Paul. Though it has had two good points, namely Sarah and Heather. But now Coyote wants him to take care of the task that he was brought here to deal with in the first place: Aybem. While it has always been clear that destroying Aybem is supposed to be Riggs' job, Coyote remains unconvinced that Riggs can do it without Paul's help. After seeing just what Riggs is capable of doing, Paul isn't as convinced that he needs to be there, but he also knows he's not going to get any choice in the matter. And of course, just what does happen to you once Coyote no longer needs your help? This is the last book in the Days of the Future Past trilogy, a story of a young man brought forward in time because he came to the attention of Coyote, who thought that the gods' chosen hero just might need some help.
If someone gave you all the money in the world, just what would you do with it?
Finally free of Earth and all of his connections to it, David can now focus on his and Kacey’s fledgling cargo company, and start considering his future goals as an engineer. There is still the small matter of the agreement he made with his grandfather, one of the richest men in the solar system, but Dave knows his brother won’t be solving the FTL issue anytime soon.
So he’s got time.
However, there are forces on Earth that while David may believe he is done with them, are by no means done with David. An escalating tit-for-tat is about to begin, over issues that will one day be worth far more money and power than he or anyone else can imagine. An escalation that will soon spiral out of all control, and David will find himself with no choice but to unleash the horrors of war on an unsuspecting populace. A war that will exact a price from his own flesh and blood before it is over.
If someone gave you all the money in the world, just what would you do with it?
Finally free of Earth and all of his connections to it, David can now focus on his and Kacey’s fledgling cargo company, and start considering his future goals as an engineer. There is still the small matter of the agreement he made with his grandfather, one of the richest men in the solar system, but Dave knows his brother won’t be solving the FTL issue anytime soon.
So he’s got time.
However, there are forces on Earth that while David may believe he is done with them, are by no means done with David. An escalating tit-for-tat is about to begin, over issues that will one day be worth far more money and power than he or anyone else can imagine. An escalation that will soon spiral out of all control, and David will find himself with no choice but to unleash the horrors of war on an unsuspecting populace. A war that will exact a price from his own flesh and blood before it is over.