Release date: May 20, 2019
Subgenre: Space opera, Military science fiction
About Raiders: The Secret War:
Everyone has been scarred by the war, and Sam Willet is no exception.Sam is convinced she has what it takes to become a fighter pilot... to hunt down and destroy the enemy in deep space.
Instead she's assigned to Tactical Operations training. It's vital work, but it's still a desk job, far from the front line.
Then, terrible news: Sam's older brother is killed in combat.
Sam is given leave to attend his memorial service, but she's barely boarded the transport when the enemy launches a surprise attack, striking far behind friendly lines to take the entire sector.
Desperately short of pilots, the transport's captain asks Sam to step up.
Now, at last, she has the chance to prove herself.
But will that chance end in death... or glory?
Instead she's assigned to Tactical Operations training. It's vital work, but it's still a desk job, far from the front line.
Then, terrible news: Sam's older brother is killed in combat.
Sam is given leave to attend his memorial service, but she's barely boarded the transport when the enemy launches a surprise attack, striking far behind friendly lines to take the entire sector.
Desperately short of pilots, the transport's captain asks Sam to step up.
Now, at last, she has the chance to prove herself.
But will that chance end in death... or glory?
The Secret War: Raiders is a complete, standalone novel. It does not end on a cliffhanger.
Excerpt:
Sam was in a state of shock as the lift carried her down to the
lower levels. Her brother Lim had been her guiding light for as
long as she could remember. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't be!
The lift opened on a lower deck, where the sleeping quarters were. Sam took the familiar passage in a daze, barely able to process the sudden turn of events. The war claimed fresh victims daily, she knew that well enough. But not her brother! When she joined the navy she intended to follow in his footsteps, hoping to become an elite fighter pilot and perhaps one day command a squadron of her own. Instead, her psych profile led her to TacOps. At first she'd been bitterly disappointed, especially since fighter pilots saw TacOps as a cushy posting. Lim and his friends joked about the 'back room boffins' all the time... when they weren't cursing them.
Eventually Sam had come to accept her role in the war, but she'd always held out hope that one day she'd be able to transfer to fighter ops. All recruits got to fly trainers, and during flight lessons she'd tried to shine so brightly that the instructors would be forced to recommend their star pupil transfer to fighters. Unfortunately, she was far better at tactics than piloting. In that, the psych profile had been spot on.
These thoughts and more raced through Sam's mind as she made her way to the dorm. Above all was the realisation that she'd never fly in a combat wing with her brother.
Sam didn't meet anyone else on her way to shared quarters, and she was grateful for that. She didn't feel like explaining, she didn't want to be treated with pity, and she knew the first kindly word or expression of sympathy would have her bursting into tears.
Sam stumbled into the sleeping quarters, barely noticing where she was going. Luckily her bunk wasn't far from the door, and she propped the mattress up to get at her things. She packed her kit automatically, stuffing in everything she thought she'd need over the next couple of days. When she was done she lowered the mattress, and then she laid down and buried her face in the pillow.
Only then did the tears finally come.
The lift opened on a lower deck, where the sleeping quarters were. Sam took the familiar passage in a daze, barely able to process the sudden turn of events. The war claimed fresh victims daily, she knew that well enough. But not her brother! When she joined the navy she intended to follow in his footsteps, hoping to become an elite fighter pilot and perhaps one day command a squadron of her own. Instead, her psych profile led her to TacOps. At first she'd been bitterly disappointed, especially since fighter pilots saw TacOps as a cushy posting. Lim and his friends joked about the 'back room boffins' all the time... when they weren't cursing them.
Eventually Sam had come to accept her role in the war, but she'd always held out hope that one day she'd be able to transfer to fighter ops. All recruits got to fly trainers, and during flight lessons she'd tried to shine so brightly that the instructors would be forced to recommend their star pupil transfer to fighters. Unfortunately, she was far better at tactics than piloting. In that, the psych profile had been spot on.
These thoughts and more raced through Sam's mind as she made her way to the dorm. Above all was the realisation that she'd never fly in a combat wing with her brother.
Sam didn't meet anyone else on her way to shared quarters, and she was grateful for that. She didn't feel like explaining, she didn't want to be treated with pity, and she knew the first kindly word or expression of sympathy would have her bursting into tears.
Sam stumbled into the sleeping quarters, barely noticing where she was going. Luckily her bunk wasn't far from the door, and she propped the mattress up to get at her things. She packed her kit automatically, stuffing in everything she thought she'd need over the next couple of days. When she was done she lowered the mattress, and then she laid down and buried her face in the pillow.
Only then did the tears finally come.
Amazon
About Simon Haynes:
Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock series, the Hal Junior
series, and the upcoming Harriet Walsh series, as well as several dozen
short stories. He is also the programmer and designer behind Spacejock
Software, and is responsible for popular programs like yWriter and
yBook.
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