Alex and Caleb attend Cosime’s funeral. Eren is absent, and no one knows where he’s gone. Caleb decides to try to find Eren and enlists Felzeor’s help to do so. Meanwhile, Eren travels to an underworld Anaden planet, Lethe, to acquire a dangerous black-market hypnol that will suppress his emotions and increase his reflexes. He takes the first dose, then begins planning his revenge for Cosime’s death.
In a skirmish between Savrakath ships and Casmir’s fleet, the Savrakaths deploy antimatter weapons to decimate the Machim ships. In response, Miriam issues a “red-flag” order, terminating all Concord relations with the Savrakaths and forbidding them from entering Concord territory.
Dashiel receives files from an anonymous source containing the details for adiamene production, and he begins making plans for its manufacture.
The Concord Senate approves a formal alliance with the Asterion Dominion, over the vehement objections of the Anaden senator, Ferdinand elasson-Kyvern.
During the Asterion’s battle against the Rasu in the Gennisi galaxy, an Asterion pilot, Kiernan Phillips, and a Taiyok, Toshke’phien, were pulled into a Rasu wormhole and spit out to crash land on an unknown planet. The planet is being subjected to a quantum block, meaning they can’t call home for rescue. They’ve survived until now by staying out of sight of Rasu currently roving the planet, which appears to have been home to a primitive species until recently. The Rasu discover the wreck of Kiernan’s ship, however, and take it apart for information.
Despondent over what the Rasu might learn, Kiernan and Toshke return to Toshke’s ship ahead of the Rasu and burn it. They then seek refuge in the woods for the night; the next morning they spot a non-Rasu ship overhead, and race to meet up with it.
In a distant galaxy, Danilo Nisi/Corradeo Praesidis and his granddaughter, Nyx elasson-Praesidis, visit an advanced alien species Danilo previously encountered, the Ourankeli. On arriving, they find the Ourankeli’s habitats destroyed, including a solar halo ring, and the Ourankeli massacred. Next, they travel to the home system of the Hoan, the primitive species that sheltered Danilo after his son tried to murder him. They discover Rasu ships in orbit and a quantum block surrounding the planet. They descend to the surface, where they find villages of Hoan massacred. Danilo is lamenting their fate when Kiernan and Toshke rush out of the woods to meet them. After a tense encounter, Kiernan insists that they all leave immediately, before the Rasu discover them, and Danilo agrees.
Malcolm leads a special forces squad on a stealth raid of the Godjan prison on Savrak. They are able to rescue the imprisoned Godjans, but as the last of the captives are freed, Savrakath forces attack. Malcolm is caught in an explosion and loses consciousness.
Marlee accompanies Mia to Mirai. Shortly after they arrive, word reaches Lance of Kiernan’s rescue, and of the fact that some Rasu may now know the location of Namino, where Kiernan’s ship was based. The Asterions begin preparations for the possibility of a Rasu attack, and Mia and Marlee go with Lance to DAF Command on Namino. There, Marlee meets Grant Mesahle and convinces him to take her into the city for a tour.
Caleb and Felzeor track Eren to Lethe, but Eren has already departed. Caleb searches the hotel room Eren had rented, finds evidence of the hypnol Eren had procured, and deduces what Eren is planning.
At Concord HQ, Eren breaks Torval out of detention and imprisons him in the cargo hold of Eren’s ship. Caleb and Felzeor reach Concord HQ minutes after Eren has absconded with Torval. They confer with Richard until he’s called away by Miriam, then decide to go drop in on Marlee.
Rasu arrive in the Namino stellar system, and Lance deploys his fleet. Miriam orders the AEGIS, Machim, Novoloume and Khokteh fleets to Namino and accompanies them in the Stalwart II.
On learning of the impending battle, Ferdinand elasson-Kyvern conspires with other Anaden elassons to subvert the new alliance. He kidnaps Casmir before the man can report to Namino with his fleet.
The Asterion fleet engages the Rasu. Concord forces arrives at Namino and join the battle, but the Machim fleet is a no-show. Mia reaches out to Ferdinand, who threatens an all-out rebellion against Concord. The battle is nevertheless turning the Asterions’ and Concord’s way when massive Rasu reinforcements arrive. Miriam appeals to Lakhes for the Kats to join the battle, but Lakhes declines.
Alex arrives at Namino to find the battle going badly for the good guys. After checking in with Miriam, she leaves the Siyane in Valkyrie’s hands and goes to the Initiative to warn Nika that they’re about to lose Namino. Nika and Dashiel decide they need to get the Vault to a safe location, and they’re debating where and how when Mesme shows up and offers to safeguard the Vault. Nika is skeptical, but Mesme’s pleas and Alex’s promise that she trusts Mesme convinces Nika to agree to it.
A Rasu leviathan attacks the Stalwart II. When it can’t do any damage, it changes shape and surrounds the Stalwart II, enclosing it entirely. Rasu then melt and infiltrate the ship via tiny seams in the hull; once inside, they solidify and attack ship personnel. When the Rasu are about to reach the bridge, Miriam activates the ship’s self-destruct mechanism.
Valkyrie shows Alex what happened to the Stalwart II. Alex tells Nika that whatever she’s going to do to rescue the people still on Namino, she needs to do it now, then opens a wormhole and vanishes.
Nika prepares to go to Namino and fight the Rasu invaders. Joaquim Lacese arrives at the Initiative, eager to join her. Joaquim leads the way through the d-gate to Namino; just as Nika is stepping through, the d-gate shuts down, as does every d-gate leading to Namino.
Caleb learns that Marlee has gone with Mia to the Dominion. He sends a furious message to Mia, demanding that she get Marlee out of the warzone immediately. Mia insists that she’s trying (unsuccessfully) to get Marlee to leave, and Caleb tells her to open a wormhole to her office and he’ll personally come retrieve Marlee.
Marlee gets separated from Grant and begins trying to get pedestrians into the DAF Command basement as Rasu land in the city and go on the attack. Caleb arrives at Mia’s office, and Mia opens a wormhole, joining him just as Rasu reach DAF Command and attack Marlee. Caleb is rushing through the wormhole to rescue her when it shuts down, denying him access to Namino. When Mia is unable to reopen it, Caleb announces he is going to get his niece and walks out.
INVERSION
On learning the Stalwart II has self-destructed, Alex returns to Concord HQ, only to find it embroiled in a coup attempt by rebel Anaden forces. Caleb’s plans to travel to Namino and rescue Marlee are delayed as he helps Richard defeat the Anaden rebels.
On Namino, Grant and Joaquim rescue an unconscious Marlee from the Rasu and retreat to an underground bunker. Marlee awakens several hours later to find her injuries treated; Grant fills her in on events, and she meets Joaquim, Selene and Xyche’ghael. Joaquim and Selene clash over how to protect those trapped underground while fighting the Rasu invasion.
With their fleet decimated and Namino occupied, the Advisors gather at the Omoikane Initiative and review their limited options for how to respond. Unexpectedly, a fleet of Kat superdreadnoughts arrives to defend the remaining Asterion Axis Worlds from Rasu attacks.
At Concord HQ, David tries to keep the Concord infrastructure functioning while Miriam undergoes regenesis. Caleb convinces David to help him steal a CINT Ghost ship so he can sneak onto Namino.
The Savrakath ambassador tells Mia that Malcolm died during the Savrak raid. She immediately starts the regenesis paperwork to bring him back, only to learn that he had a ‘no regenesis’ clause in his will. On Savrak, however, Malcolm wakes up to find himself injured and chained up in a dungeon.
Eren delivers Torval to the Savrakaths so they can punish him for destroying their antimatter lab. Eren returns to his ship, intending to commit suicide, when he’s knocked unconscious. He later wakes up to find himself restrained in the cargo hold, where his friend and teammate, Drae Shonen, intends to help him detox from the dialele.
On Epithero, the elassons Ferdinand elasson-Kyvern has
gathered in his faltering rebellion against Concord bicker over how to move forward. Meanwhile, in the Dominion, Corradeo Praesidis/Danilo Nisi shows up at the Omoikane Initiative after rescuing Kiernan, stunning Nika and Lance, who remember him as their enemy during the SAI Rebellion.
Joaquim and Selene deploy drones to track the Rasu on Namino. Footage from the drones reveals widespread destruction, but also a massive Rasu compound being constructed on the edge of the city.
Alex belatedly learns Caleb has gone to Namino and that her father helped him; she and David argue, and she confesses how she’s afraid that due to his bond with Akeso, Caleb won’t survive this trial. Caleb reaches Namino, battling both Rasu and Akeso’s protests as he crosses the city to try to reach Marlee.
Miriam wakes up from regenesis in a new body. She struggles to accept what happened, what it means to have been dead and the incongruity of a new body. That night, she’s consumed by nightmares of the Rasu imprisoning her.
Caleb reaches the underground bunker and reunites with Marlee. He tries to convince her to to leave Namino with him, but she insists on staying to help everyone trapped there, and he agrees to stay as well.
Parc Eshett’s Plex twin was injured during the initial Rasu attack and is now trapped on the streets of Namino. Parc’s other incarnation on Mirai reaches the Omoikane Initiative and reveals that he can communicate with his Plex twin on Namino despite the quantum block.
Mesme offers the Asterions a Rift Bubble device, which will prevent any Rasu from reaching the surface of a planet. Corradeo Praesidis tells Nika about the destruction he and Nyx saw at the Ourankeli’s halo ring. Nika urges him to go home to Concord and bring the Anadens in line.
Miriam gives the eulogy at Malcolm’s funeral, and Alex vows to do something to stop the spiraling carnage. Mia, in mourning, tries to convince Richard and Miriam to send Casmir and a Machim fleet against Savrak targets. When they refuse, she enlists Devon Reynolds, now in charge of Special Projects, to hack into the CINT servers and send a message directly to Casmir. Richard and David argue over David using Richard’s credentials to help Caleb steal a Ghost. Casmir receives a message he believes is from Miriam, authorizing him to send Machim ships against Savrakath military targets.
Alex returns home to find Akeso in a full state of revolt, with thunderstorms and flooding consuming the planet. She enlists her father’s help to steal a Machim Imperium, and they deliver it to Kennedy, who reverse engineers the Imperium’s double shielding in order to install it on Concord ships.
On Namino, a team from the bunker finds an injured Parc and brings him back to their hideout. Caleb suffers through the intense negative physical reaction of Akeso to the violence he committed during the excursion.
Dashiel develops a way to meld kyoseil into adiamene, allowing the kyoseil to dynamically alter the shape of adiamene hulls, and begins building a new, more resilient fleet.
Parc on Mirai passes along a message for Alex from Caleb, then tells Nika what’s happening on Namino. Dashiel announces that his people have developed a virutox that should disrupt Rasu functionality, and Nika asks Dashiel to create a kyoseil-infused body she can use to reach Namino and deliver the virutox.
Nika passes along Caleb’s message, and Alex decides to take the Siyane to Namino. Devon provides her with new toys to combat the Rasu, including a negative energy handgun called a Rectifier. Alex seeks out Morgan Lekkas, who since Brooklyn Harper’s death six years earlier has been running a bar on Chalmun Station, and convinces Morgan to accompany her to Namino. Alex then asks Akeso for help in tracking Caleb. They bond, and Akeso grants Alex the ability to sense the location of Caleb’s heartbeat.
Corradeo returns to Concord space for the first time in fourteen years. On learning that all the Praesidis Inquisitors who didn’t commit suicide after The Displacement have gone missing, he asks Nyx to try to find them.
Nika’s new body is awakened, and she’s overwhelmed by the effect of so much kyoseil flowing through her veins on top of the surreal nature of being a Plex. Alex and Morgan pick her up, then take the Siyane to Namino. Alex leaves Morgan in charge of the ship as she and Nika set off toward the occupied city.
Joaquim and Selene deploy a drone to investigate the mysterious Rasu compound. Parc asserts that the centerpiece of the compound is the source of the quantum block, and Caleb and the others decide to test out the compound’s defenses. They sneak across the city to fire a rocket launcher at the compound, but the rocket is shot down before reaching its target. In response to the attack, Rasu track down the group.
Meanwhile, Alex and Nika fight Rasu through the city as Alex follows Caleb’s heartbeat. They reach Caleb and the others just as Rasu forces attack; Alex uses the Rectifier to vaporize the attackers then reunites with Caleb.
Once they return to the bunker, Alex and Caleb argue over his deception about his plans, until they both have a breakthrough and reconcile. Alex discovers that, much like his heartbeat, she can feel what Caleb physically feels. She convinces him to remove the wall he’s erected between himself and Akeso, at which point he can feel her as well. A sensory-overloaded sensual encounter ensues. Afterward, Caleb reluctantly rebuilds the barrier blocking Akeso off so he can continue to fight the Rasu.
Nika devises a plan for them to destroy the quantum block at the heart of the Rasu compound. Her twin and Lance brief Miriam on the plan, and Miriam agrees to bring a Concord fleet to try to free Namino. Miriam takes command of her new ship, the CAF Aurora, which has the Imperium’s double shielding installed on it.
Richard discovers that Mia hacked the CINT server and sent messages in his and Miriam’s names. He reluctantly moves to arrest Mia, but she vanishes through a wormhole before he can do so.
The Savrakaths offer to return Torval to the Anadens in exchange for a one-week cease-fire. Ferdinand accepts the offer but intends to break the terms and bomb the Savrakaths once Torval is safe. Eren recovers from his detox, only to learn that the Savrakaths plan to hand Torval back to the Anadens. In exchange for agreeing to reconnect to the regenesis network, he convinces Drae to help him stop the prisoner exchange. Eren arms himself with antimatter and literally dive-bombs the exchange, killing himself, Torval and many Savrakath military leaders.
Malcolm’s prison is located beneath the site of the prisoner exchange, and the bombing creates enough damage and chaos to allow him to free himself from his cell. He escapes his crumbling prison and reaches the surface, then calls AEGIS for an extraction. When he arrives at the Presidio, he discovers that the world thought him dead and learns that Mia has disappeared.
On Namino, Morgan brings the Siyane into the city, and everyone in the bunker is evacuated to the ship. Nika, Joaquim, Alex and Caleb infiltrate the Rasu compound. Alex and Caleb create a distraction to enable Nika and Joaquim to reach the quantum block mechanism. As they engage the Rasu in earnest, Caleb almost kills Alex with unintended friendly fire.
Joaquim sacrifices himself to buy Nika time to implant the virutox. Once the virutox is activated, Morgan fires on the compound, destroying the quantum block. Nika, Alex and Caleb narrowly escape the compound and call the cavalry in.
Miriam faces the Rasu for the first time since they killed her, this time from the bridge of her new and improved ship. Mesme delivers a Rift Bubble to Namino, preventing any more Rasu from reaching the surface, and Alex shows Nika how to extract the code powering the Rift Bubble. Miriam, Lance and their fleets defeat the Rasu orbiting the planet, and DAF ground forces arrive on Namino to remove the remaining Rasu from the city.
After regenesis, Eren returns to his and Cosime’s home on Hirlas, where he finally lets his grief overtake him. Corradeo arrives at the elasson gathering on Epithero in dramatic fashion.
The Siyane returns home safely, and Marlee reunites with her mother. Caleb and Akeso re-bond and seek a new, more sustainable way forward.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to my beta readers, editors and artists, who made everything about this book better,
and to my family, who continue to put up with an egregious level of obsessive focus on my part for months at a time.
I also want to add a personal note of thanks to everyone who has read my books, left a review at a retailer, Goodreads or other sites, sent me a personal email expressing how the books have impacted you, or posted on social media to share how much you enjoyed them. You make this all worthwhile, every day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
G. S. JENNSEN lives in Montana with her husband and two dogs. She has become an internationally bestselling author since her first novel, Starshine, was published in 2014. She has chosen to continue writing under an independent publishing model to ensure the integrity of her stories and her ability to execute on the vision she has for their telling.
While she has been a lawyer, a software engineer and an editor, she’s found the life of a full-time author preferable by several orders of magnitude. When she isn’t writing, she’s gaming or working out or getting lost in the mountains that loom large outside the windows in her home. Or she’s dealing with a flooded basement, or standing in a line at Walmart reading the tabloid headlines and wondering who all of those people are. Or sitting on her back porch with a glass of wine, looking up at the stars, trying to figure out what could be up there.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Amaranthe Universe
Dramatis Personae
Maps
The Story So Far
Contents
PART I KINDRED 1: CAF Aurora
2: AFS Tamao
3: Katasketousya Superdreadnought
4: Ireltse
All Our Tomorrows Page 45
