Hellhound: Encirclement

Lieutenant Maker has been fighting for the Coalition for eight years. In that time she has learned three things: no amount of illegal moonshine changes the taste, a soldier’s respect is hard to learn but worth the struggle, and there is something very, very wrong with her brain.  She had always been aware that she was a minority in the Sol Confederation. Aside from her restricted genetic engineering, she could speak Culler – along with less than 1% of the population. While on a special ops mission, and later at RB10, Maker began to realize that what she was able to do was more than just imitating speech sounds. She could hear what Cullers were saying. Feel it. In her mind. After she ran into the mysterious Team Leader of the Legion, Maker became concerned that her headaches and nosebleeds might indicate that her abilities were dangerous to her. Certainly, knowing what she did about the Legion was a health hazard – and she has no intention of sharing that knowledge with anyone else. Maker is content to avoid the Legion, Cullers, and attention from the Sol Intelligence Service for as long as possible. Hopefully forever.

Malak will ruin that resolve. The Coalition is increasingly placing the Legion at the heart of the Culler War. That is bad for Cullers, because Malak and his people are the best at what they do, but it may prove disastrous to the Legion as well. If the secret of their existence is revealed, Malak may face a choice to protect his pack or turn away from the species that created him and their conflict. The decision would be easy, if he had never known there were humans worth his respect. Worth defending.

The underhanded tactics of former Prime Minister Helen Maker, the horrifying implications of a new Culler weapon, and increasing political tension between the divisions of the Ministry of Defense will pull two polar opposites closer together. A reluctant soldier. A resentful hero. An unaltered human. An engineered weapon. They will have a choice – work together, even violating their sworn duties, or face the consequences of a future out of their hands.

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Excerpt coming soon!