In Darkness Bound

Captain John 'Barsoom' Carter:

      John Carter was born and raised a spacer, his life determined before he was even born. Now a captain in Fleet, he finds himself questioning his commitment to a path in life he did not choose. But Fleet is all the life he has ever really known; and in a world where spacers are ‘crippled’ and essentially outcasts, he is a man with few choices. To leave Fleet would be to leave life itself. But Fleet is old and battered, a pale shadow of the force it once was in the Earth Empire, and its enemies are powerful and growing stronger by the day.

      On Inkasar he watches as a mission he should never have had degenerates into chaos. He is lucky to escape alive, and the fleet he commands limps out of the system in need of repairs and R&R. But the political leaders of the Federation have other ideas, and Carter’s fleet, beaten and weary after the debacle on Inkasar, is ordered to Obsidian, a backwater world of religious fundamentalists, out on the Fringes.

      In the Obsidian system the two most powerful corporates in the empire are set to wage war. At stake: an inhabitable planet and the transit point that lies close to it, a gateway to a possible treasure-trove of riches that will make the victor the most dominant force in existence. But Danielle Grenier, the Secretary General of the Federation Assembly, is determined they will not have it, and she doesn’t care what she has to do to stop them—even if it means bending the very laws that are the foundation of the Federation she so strongly believes in.

      Tensions rise as Fleet takes up position around Obsidian and on the surface of the planet. Fleet Marines, under the command of Colonel Suzanne Morrow, prepare to evacuate the population. In orbit, Carter’s ultimatum to the commanders of the corporate fleets lays the groundwork for all out war. As the situation deteriorates, the citizens of Obsidian scramble to secure allegiances.

      Back on Isis station near Earth, Grenier wages a silent war with Admiral Christiana Novarro, abetted by her ally Admiral Silas Jackson, the head of Naval Intelligence, a man with ambitions of his own who is determined to replace Novarro and return Fleet to its former glory. Using the resources of his division, Jackson has conspired to send one of his operatives to Obsidian to ensure that Fleet is the victor.

      As ships battle in orbit about Obsidian and conflict rages below, the odds seem stacked against Fleet. But Carter knows his enemies well, and events are about to take place that will change the face of the empire forever. The question is, will history remember Carter as a hero or as the man responsible for setting the Federation on the path to destruction?

      One thing is certain: lives will be changed, and nothing will ever be the same again.
      
     
Commander Annie-Marie Montagne:

 Born in Luna to immigrant parents, Anna grew up in the warrens of the lunar city with a strong sense of who and what she was. Unlike many spacers, she did not resent her parents for having chosen to have her genengineered a spacer, and was ever eager to leave the Moon and enter the Academy as soon as possible. On the Moon she was committed to fulfilling the requirements of Fleet and drove herself relentlessly to achieve the physical standard. In the Academy she was considered one of the best students, both imaginative and tough when it came to making difficult decisions.

 

She could have had a command of her own, but chose, instead, to serve as First Officer on the FS Goliath. Determined to eventually attain the captaincy of one of Fleet’s ‘heavies’ rather than be stuck with one of the smaller frigates, she believes that serving under Carter might eventually be the ticket to the fulfillment of her ambition.

 

Although she has only served under him for a little more than two years, Anna has gained Carter’s complete trust. She doesn’t always agree with him on issues of a moral nature, but she is loyal to a fault and would do nothing to betray him or Fleet. She is committed to doing her duty, even when it is at odds with her own personal ethic. But Obsidian is a strong test of her character, and events there may well prove the undoing of her relationship with her captain and with Fleet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colonel Suzanne Morrow:

 

Born on Isis station in Earth orbit, Suzanne Morrow was the oldest of five children in a family with a long and storied military past, stretching all the way back to the Royal Marines. Both her parents served in Fleet, and all her siblings were genengineered to continue the commitment. She never questioned her destiny, always certain that regardless, she would have been a Marine.

 

After the Academy she rose quickly through the ranks, but an incident early in her career almost prematurely ended her future in Fleet. That episode remains a tightly guarded secret, known to only a handful. Despite this trauma, she went on to command the Marines on several ships and was commanding officer of the Marine contingent attached to the Archimedes when the infamous massacre on Kesselus occurred. She was among the first to set foot on the world and to witness the devastation of the ten thousand Marines who had been sent to hold the world against corporate interests. Her brother Mitch was among the dead.

 

On Inkasar she was chosen by Captain Carter to serve as a mediator with the Khalud, in the hopes of bringing peace to a world that had known only war for the last five decades. When the mission failed it was her skills as a Marine that helped save many assigned to the mission.

 

On Obsidian she is given the unenviable task of fulfilling the objectives of the Assembly, but her commitment to doing so will be sorely tested by events that will evoke the dark moment from her past that has remained buried for decades. In the end it is that past that will rule her future and determine her fate.

 

 

 

 

 

Ensign Lara Jhordel:

 

Born on Terra Pardus, Lhara Jhordel was conceived as the token contribution to Fleet from her world. As such she was a rarity in her society and grew up more isolated than spacers on most other worlds. Nevertheless, she maintained a fairly strong relationship with her family – especially her brother Jhonny. A few years before she left Pardus to enter the Academy, she served in the Prime, the militia on her home world. During that brief stint she gained valuable soldiering experience, a fact that would not escape her superiors during the Obsidian mission.

 

Lhara proved herself a worthy candidate for officer training in the Academy and after graduation was given a plum assignment on the FS Goliath. Inkasar was her first real mission, and her first real experience with combat in space. But when the Goliath was sent to Obsidian it was her experience in the Prime that would become central to the duties she would be asked to perform.

 

Lhara has caught the eye of her superiors, and it is believed by them that she will become a key figure among Fleet’s command in the years ahead. But she must first survive Obsidian and the dangers that await her there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sergeant-Major Josh Mackay:

 

Sergeant-Major Josh Mackay was born on New Hebrides, one of the strongest worlds in the Earth Empire and a planet firmly committed to the Federation. Mackay has served under Suzanne Morrow for decades, and they have been through many difficult campaigns together. During the Inkasar mission Mackay was tasked to remain on the ships with most of the other Marines, a decision made by the Assembly. It was one of the few times when they had not been together since Suzanne’s days as a Lieutenant.

 

On Obsidian Mackay is once again at Suzanne’s side, watching over her protectively, pledged to give his life to insure her survival. He is a soldier’s soldier, and has never questioned his destiny. But even Mackay will be tested on Obsidian, and events may find him wanting. His commitment to Fleet may not survive what lies ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

Captain Karen Morrow:

Born on Isis Station, Karen Morrow is the middle child of a military family. In her early years she was closest to her sister, Elsa, one of Fleet's most decorated officers. Although bred like her siblings to be a spacer and brought up in a profoundly military culture, Karen has often questioned her destiny as an officer in the Marines. Growing up, she was often caught ini the middle of disputes between her siblings, invariably called upon to referee between the two older and the two younger brothers and sisters. As a consequence, she has always felt like something of an outsider in her own family.

Despite her misgivings about a career in Fleet's Marine corp, she has proven herself to be an able and effective commander, with a good head for tactics -- a talent she will be called upon to use on Obsidian. The mission on that world will be the greatest challenge she has ever faced -- and possibly her last.

 

 

 

Captain Elsa Morrow:

 

Born on Isis Station, Elsa Morrow is the younger sister of Colonel Suzanne Morrow and Captain Karen Morrow. Like her siblings, she was bred for the Marines, but since childhood there has always been a wild streak in her. In the Academy she was considered better suited for a non-com role, but was fast tracked through officer training at the insistence of Admiralty, largely because of her mother’s position as the highest ranking Marine officer in Fleet. Elsa, however, has always bridled at the constraints of being an officer, and as a consequence has made a reputation for herself as one of the boldest Marine officers serving. She has risked life and limb on many an occasion, and has been decorated several times accordingly. And while she is a source of pride for her family, her escapades have long been a source of consternation.

 

Her daring may be the key to her survival on Obsidian. Or it may result in her death.