Showing results by author "Terry Maggert" in All Categories

Van is a veteran now, and the lessons are getting tougher. But so is he. When a ghost ship arrives in port, filled with the victims of a crime beyond imagination, Van and his crew will be drawn into a chase that goes beyond any star system the Peacemakers know.

When Van gains rank as a Peacemaker, he becomes a bigger target for the criminals scattered among the stars. And he wouldn’t have it any other way. On a distant world under an alien sun, hunters and their companions—the Rovan—bond in a ritual as old as their civilization. But one of the hunters is missing, and Van, along with his growing crew, knows where to look. Climbing up into the rarified air of the super-rich, Van uncovers a new enemy: The Fade. And they are as cruel as the stars are many. 

The guild is under attack, and Van is right in the middle of it all. When Master Yewlo is abducted by unknown forces, the Peacemakers are thrown into chaos as the rescue mission begins. Finding Yewlo will be hard, but the search reveals secrets the guild might not survive - secrets about a system so corrupt, it will take Van and his team’s best efforts to untangle the truth. And they might not like what they find.

Van's next mission has begun, and at the heart of it is the power to save lives. Meanwhile, a hungry galaxy looks to a brilliant young scientist for answers, making her the most wanted person in known space. After years of research, Adayluh Creel perfects a resource to feed sixteen races—or more—all with one golden plant capable of growing on the most hostile worlds. For her efforts, she wants nothing, but savage forces will seek to possess what she would give away for free, thus controlling the food source for billions of people.

During a routine arrest, Van discovers a stolen spacecraft, its importance far greater than it first appears. Fast, sleek, and beautiful, the ship is a cultural relic from Linulla’s people, and returning their property will set off a chain of events that reveals a new adversary. Rising in the ranks, Van’s confrontation with a pirate leader isn’t just a case of theft, but something far more sinister. And Van’s going to take this case personally. He and his crew will chase the Salt Thieves and their leader in a game that can only have one winner. 

When the Fafnir responds to a desperate distress call, their act of kindness is turned against them, making Van the most wanted man in the known universe. Targeted by a vicious, charismatic politician and his shadowy partner, Van and his friends are faced with a decision that carries long term consequences—deliver justice...or run and hide. The choice is easy. The Fafnir will attack, and criminals will pay regardless of the bounty chasing them across the stars.

Van and his crew have killed an empire. The problem is the empire doesn’t know it’s dead. Moving among the stars, the Peacemakers are faced with their greatest challenge—removing an evil so vast, it has a presence in every known star system. To that end, they’ll need to move quickly. To do so, they must be mobile, and that means big changes in their tactics. . . and their crew. With the help of a shadowy figure known as the Body Thief, Van will continue his policy of justice and freedom for all citizens, even if they began life on a computer chip.

The universe is hungry. For power. For money. For war. And—revenge. Stripping osmium from across the stars, thieves will stop at nothing to fuel the nightmarish industry of Stolen Persons, their souls locked away in chips made of the rarest metal known. Among these thieves is Helum Gauss, the visionary criminal whose empire spans a hundred worlds. But his massive corporation, BeneStar, lost—badly—to Van and the Guild, and Gauss won’t take no for an answer.

Even in space, crime still exists. After taking a Peacemaker job to find missing fuel, Perry finds something far more sinister than simple theft - a voice, crying out in a forge of heat and flame, and the discovery reveals a series of acts so vicious that nothing short of revenge will suffice.

With new, more lethal weapons being added at every turn, the Forge goes into motion, advancing across the galactic arm in furious combat, leaving wreckage in the wake. But that wreckage has a purpose, and so does Dash. Until now, the war has been Golden allies throwing themselves in front of the Realm weapons, but that’s all about to change.

Thorn Stellers and his daughter are a problem, and not just for the Nyctus. With their power taking shape in directions like no one has ever seen, the Orbital Navy is faced with an unwelcome reality: The Starcasters are beyond control. Kira and Damien are assigned diplomatic roles in the growing sphere of galactic relations, leading them to a stunning discovery - humans are not alone in their fight against the Nyctus. Worlds are being destroyed by an unseen foe, with no defense against their attacks.

Fresh off their first major victory against the Nyctus, the Orbital Navy is moving forward in confusion. Starcasters, led by Thorn Stellers, are not trusted - magic has not replaced the power of steel and naval might, and humanity is at a crossroads. As Thorn and Kira define their roles in the new navy, magic refuses to stay still. When Thorn discovers he has untapped power, Mol Wyant helps him use it. The results will change every rule, along with the known galaxy, for Thorn Stellers isn’t just a magician of unknown power. He’s a weapon of undiscovered fury. 

As the Realm grows around a Kingsport that is now more massive than any human creation, Dash will find common cause with a race who lurk in the shadows, well beyond the edge of known human space. With ships of a new design, the Realm will turn outward, striking into territory long held by the Deepers and their unholy creatures, wrapped in technology as old as the stars themselves. But the universe is shrinking, thanks to Realm scientists and the efforts of Kai and his brethren, who find that secrets still remain in the hidden places where humans store memory and history - and weapons.

Drifting in the intergalactic deep, Dash begins the final push toward peace. From the depths of Realm lore, the Kingsport takes shape, one component at a time. But the war isn't over, and the Deepers aren’t done. The space beyond our galaxy is far from empty. The Arkubators, Deeper worlds, and other secrets begin to reveal themselves as the Realm forces fight their way, gate to gate, into areas never seen by humans. Dash will journey farther than any other human has ever gone - or so he thinks. What awaits him is a secret that will change everything humans know about their origins.

Out among the stars, his cousin, Carter Yost, drags Van and his team into a criminal ring run by the High Doctor—a dangerous con artist with delusions of grandeur. Working from the abandoned world of Pathway, the High Doctor has created a cult, stealing a fortune from the fearful, sick, and scared. If there’s one thing Van hates, it’s a bully, and the High Doctor has his full attention. But in order to crush the criminal cult, Van needs bigger, better armor—and that comes with a price.

During a standard patrol, Thorn finds the scarred remains of a planet that has been reshaped by an unknown race. Massive machines were used to alter the landscape, and the only thing missing from the site is magic. Whoever is changing the galaxy, it isn’t the Nyctus. 

When the idyllic planet Nebo is scorched into oblivion, it’s obvious that the Nyctus are moving massive fleets into human space again, and their intention is clear: Even if they lose their ships, they will render planets into ash. To add to the damage, they seem to have key intelligence that could only have been obtained by a human crew. Only one ship has ever gone missing, its disappearance unexplained and its crew never to be found: The Pool of Stars, one of the first starships. And she’s been missing for centuries. Now, it’s up to Thorn to find it.

It's the 22nd century. Humanity has taken its first steps into the galaxy, and we've found ourselves in a vast playground of alien races, environments, and cultures. As the newest players on the universal stage, though, our position is readily apparent - we're at the bottom of the food chain.   

As Dash and his team begin expanding the Forge, they must focus on Dark Metal as the one thing that can give them an advantage in the coming war. Using drones and a map from an ancient library, Dash and Leira must seek out the source of a transmission coming from far away. That source, however, is something far more valuable than they could have hoped: a fleet of ancient Unseen ships, waiting to be salvaged.

Now, spreading among the new worlds of the Unseen gates, Dash and his people are building new lives, free of war and destruction. Until one of the former Unseen planets shifts in orbit - a small thing, but worth looking into. Close to this erratic world, something incredible opens, revealing a connection to stars so distant that they have no name on the Cygnus charts.