Freelancers of Neptune

Book excerpt: All he wanted was a simple job to make ends meet. What he got was a mysterious cat girl, a shot at a horde of treasure, and a whole lot of trouble. The Solar System ain’t what it used to be! In the far distant future, Saturn’s rings are gone, Mercury is a gas giant, and Earth is remembered only as a unit of measure. Nearly godlike AIs reshaped the Solar System in eons past, but they too are now nothing more than a fading memory. Captain Nathaniel Kade cares for none of that. He’s but a simple freelancer from the orbital ring of Neptune, struggling to make ends meet and to keep his understaffed spaceship from falling apart. All he wants is a decent, uneventful job to help put his finances back in order. What he receives instead is Vessani S’Kaari, a mysterious and beautiful cat girl who tried—and failed—to steal a ship belonging to a band of space pirates. Vessani’s in over her head and is clearly more trouble than she’s worth, but she also has a lead on what may be the greatest treasure trove of lost technology the Solar System has ever seen. Nathan pulls her butt out of the fire, and together they begin to assemble a team to seek out this long-lost bounty. But other interested parties have their eyes on the same prize; the Jovian Everlife has dispatched a fleet of warships with one of their elite, many-bodied agents in command, and he’d like a few words with Nathan and his new crewmember. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Praise for The Dyson File: “In The Dyson File, the far-future SF elements are (thank goodness) far more than window-dressing. Instead, they permeate the investigation on every level, creating an increasingly complex and very satisfying police procedural. The novel works both as a standalone and as part of the larger series.” —Jane Lindskold, author of Library of the Sapphire Wind “The Dyson File is a fun and engaging science fiction mystery, but it was the wild moments of the main characters’ highly relatable lives that made me laugh out loud so many times while reading this delightful book!” —Joelle Presby, author of The Dabare Snake Launcher “Jacob Holo’s The Dyson File blends a sci-fi backdrop with a detective story when a corporate venture comes to a halt from the apparent suicide of its lead engineer. A detective and a special agent newly returning to active duty find the diagnosis of suicide masks a deeper war that embroils them in a mystery and cultural exploration. Special interests come to light in a dark tale of mind-hacking adventure and strange encounters that will keep readers thoroughly immersed.” —Midwest Book Review Praise for The Janus File: “The highlights of this familiar procedural story are the growing partnership between the leads, moments of humor amid the expected culture clashes, and the exploration of the authors’ well-realized far-future world. It’s pure entertainment . . .”—Publishers Weekly Praise for The Valkyrie Protocol: “There’s a whole genre of movies and TV shows dealing with the mind-bending aspects of time travel and alternate universes, from Looper and the Terminator franchise to Legends of Tomorrow and Doctor Who. If you know someone who enjoys that sort of tale, here’s a book for them.” —Analog Praise for The Gordian Protocol: “Tom Clancy-esque exposition of technical details . . . absurd humor and bloody action. Echoes of Robert Heinlein . . . lots of exploding temporal spaceships and bodies . . . action-packed.” —Booklist “[A] fun and thrilling standalone from Weber and Holo . . . Time travel enthusiasts will enjoy the moral dilemmas, nonstop action, and crisp writing.” —Publishers Weekly