The Cascade Protocol

The IRIS Chronicles, Book 1

By: William Buchner

Narrated by: Darien Hunt, Casey York, Neva Fulton, Rosemary Hadley

Doug Stanton never expected his biggest hack would be an alien starship.

When a massive sentient warship crash-lands in Long Island Sound, Doug and a group of college students stumble across the wreck while working on an oyster restoration project. What they find inside is stranger than fiction: an advanced, self-repairing vessel with a damaged AI suffering from a logic cascade—and an oddly sarcastic personality.

With Doug accidentally named its new captain, the crew must navigate a maze of alien tech, military secrets, and glitchy software as they uncover the ship’s role in a brewing interstellar war just outside our solar system. But when the U.S. government takes notice and rival factions stir in the dark, Doug and his unlikely team must decide whether to hide, cooperate—or take the controls and chart a course no human has ever dared.

The Cascade Protocol is the thrilling first entry in The IRIS Chronicles, blending grounded science, sharp humor, and a deeply human story of discovery, loyalty, and the birth of humanity’s next great adventure.

©2025 William Buchner (P)2025 William Buchner

The editing of the voices was terrible

somehow it seemed like the story had lots of holes in it as well. sorry didn't like it much