by H. Peter
Alesso
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Sci-fi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Jamie
Hawkins was living on an obscure planet in the twenty third-century when on one
fateful night--his life changed forever. His heroic effort to save the lives of
innocent women and children, caught in the cross-fire of war, placed him
squarely in the cross-hairs of avenging soldiers.
Hawkins
was stunned when his rescue effort was seen as treachery. Unfairly convicted of
treason by a corrupt judge, he was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor
on an infamous penal colony.
Once in
prison, his courage and perseverance won him the admiration and trust of his
fellow convicts. While he was plotting his escape, an enemy attacked the
planet--giving this daring warrior his chance. Together with his fellow
prisoners, he launched a bold assault and high-jacked an enemy warship.
From then
on, Captain Jamie Hawkins and his ship the Indefatigable fought against a
corrupt government--only to discover a mysterious alien presence behind the
war.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
“Sir,
I was working with the data techs trying to analyze the communication patterns
of the enemy fleet,” said Joshua, licking his dry lips, excitedly. “And I’ve
came across a very unusual signal.”
Hawkins
gave him an encouraging nod.
“It
was a burst of radio signals from deep space. I traced it to either a 4
billion-year-old star in a constellation 44.4 light years away, or to another
star in that same constellation, but much farther away. That means that the
radio waves have been travelling to us for at least forty-four point four
years.”
Hawkins
said, “Deep space radio signals have many plausible explanations, such as radio
interference from planets, or rogue signals caused by local planet microwave
devices.
“That’s
true, Captain. It could be just the effect of a natural space object like a
pulsating quasar, but it’s also possible . . . I think maybe . . . it could be
a message from another civilization.”
Now
smiling broadly, Hawkins said, “Given the unlikeness of that, why are you
concerned?”
“Because
it was not a one-off event,” said Joshua excitedly and then pausing to catch
his breath. “I’ve recorded a half dozen repeating signals from the exact same
source.”
Nodding,
Hawkins said, “That’s a little more interesting, but there are explanations for
that too.”
“But
Captain, the implications could be mind-blowing. Imagine, what if it was an
alien civilization, and they were far more advanced than us, and they were
trying to make contact? After centuries of fruitlessly scanning the stars and
finding no evidence that anyone else is out there, this could be . . . could be . . .”
Joshua
became paralyzed by his own imagination.
“Joshua,
even if this signal were not natural, it might still be the product of one of
Earth’s colonies—not aliens.”
“No
sir, I’ve checked. There were no Earth colonies in the vicinity of the signal’s
star cluster when we last had contact with Earth, fifty years ago,” said
Joshua.
Joshua
wanted to argue further, but couldn’t offer any additional proof for his cause.
Hawkins
said, “I agree, we should continue to monitor this frequency, but for now,
it’ll have to remain a mystery.”
It
was only a few days later that Joshua returned to argue, “I’ve been working to
decrypt the deep space signal using our AI computer with the help of a data
tech.”
Hawkins
was surprised, but also impressed with Joshua’s initiative.
“What
does a deep space signal have to do with our enemy’s Top Secrets communication
network?”
“Everything.”
“You’ll
have to explain that.”
“Let
me give you a metaphor for how I solved this puzzle, because it is a puzzle.”
“Go
on.”
“Think
of a portrait of a woman, say the Mona Lisa. Now consider a jigsaw puzzle of
the Mona Lisa—a picture of a woman cut into a thousand irregularly sized pieces
and spread out for someone to reassemble.”
“A
kid’s game.”
“Yes,
sir.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REVIEW:
Captain Hawkins is a fast paced story. The action goes nonstop and keeps the characters in a constant state of change. This is space opera with enough actioned and adventure to keep anyone reading. I never know what Hawkins was going to face next but I did know it would lead to another heart stopping situation. A good pick for anyone who loves Science Fiction and Space Opera.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
As
a scientist and author specializing in technology innovation, H. Peter Alesso
has over twenty years research experience at Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory (LLNL). As Engineering Group Leader at LLNL he led a team of
scientists and engineers in innovative applications across a wide range of
supercomputers, workstations, and networks. He graduated from the United States
Naval Academy with a B.S. and served in the U.S. Navy on nuclear submarines
before completing an M.S. and an advanced Engineering Degree at M.I.T. He has
published several software titles and numerous scientific journal and
conference articles, and he is the author/co-author of ten books.
personal
links
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner
via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Visit all the blogs on the tours for additional chances to win:
January 18: Magic and MachinesJanuary 25: Journey of a BooksellerJanuary 25: Romance and Authors That RockJanuary 25: Mixed Book BagFebruary 1: The Reading AddictFebruary 8: The Avid ReaderFebruary 8: Fabulous and Brunette
