Description
I was born in 1942, so I'm an autumn rather than a spring chicken. I live outside of Tampa, Florida with my fabulous wife Anita, and one remaining son at home, Montana. I have three older boys, Mark, Gary, and Anthony, all of whom have married and presented us with terrific grandchildren. My early reading interests were arguably all sci-fi related, from Doctor Doolittle, Captain Marvel, to Superman. I then transitioned to "real" science fiction on black and white TV, such as Captain Video and Flash Gordon. I read hundreds of books by the science fiction greats growing up, and thousands of fair to not so greats in dual novel paperbacks and magazines. My education gravitated to science, starting out as a physics major and my depression era folks told me I'd never make a living as a theoretical physicist (probably right, and Cosmology wasn't a career field then), so I moved to Electronics Engineering. I did most of that in the aerospace field for MacDonnell Douglas Corp, in St. Louis, Mo. I worked on the F4 Phantom project, and briefly on Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), before the fickle fates of government finance forced contract cancelations. I devoted (read: I was drafted into) two years' service for the US Army from 1965 to 1967. A great two years, and the Army, caring not a whit for my electronics background, offered this draftee a job as an Air Traffic Controller. Cool! After discharge I spent a short time back at MacDonnell Douglas before the contract reductions laid me off, and was hired by Emerson Electric (1968), working on the design of a neat heads-up fire control system for the Army's new Cheyenne Helicopter (to be a 270-knot hybrid fixed wing/rotor craft). Never heard of it? The fickle fates of Army finance is why this time, plus Lockheed didn't keep the airframe part from crashing and burning at a crucial point in development. I taught Electronics for about eighteen months, then finally decided to try my hand at actually supporting my family again. I hired on with the Federal Aviation Administration as an Air Traffic Controller in 1970. I spent exactly forty years in federal service, deciding in 1979 to use my technical background to work on writing features for the software of the FAA's Terminal Automation Systems (for 28 of 40 years). Retired from the FAA, I now work as a consultant/contractor for the FAA, supporting a software feature I helped create. I finally decided to try my hand at writing what I love to read, Science Fiction.
Features & Highlights
- This is Book 4 of the popular and high rated Koban Series.The Kobani continue their offensives against the Krall, attacking production worlds, and destroy or steal ships from the Krall fleet, which the enemy needs to resupply their invasions. The Kobani create a multispecies settlement on Haven, a gentler habitable world near deadly Koban. They gain the trust and technological assistance of freed former Krall slave species, the Torki, Prada, and resurrected Raspani. Their ranks and Mind Tap learned skills are increased by spec ops recruits from Human Space. Mirikami engineers an assault on the Krall base world, K1, in cooperation with a skeptical human navy by sharing new technology, revealing Kobani physical capabilities, and providing intelligence on new Krall invasion plans. Despite knowing the Kobani use illegal gene mods, the navy high command decides to hit the Krall first, with the help of their secretive tough Kobani ally.After the attack, a mauled Krall fleet still heavily outnumbers the navy, and the damaged human fleet withdraws. A vengeful Krall warlord, the Kobani’s old nemesis Telour, summons an ancient Olt’kitapi ship that can shatter an entire planet. He has a devious plan for remote strikes that will initiate delayed deaths on multiple human worlds, all before a ship imbued with morality can learn it’s been duped. Telour wants the home world of humanity to see death approaching, one world at a time.Mirikami expected a strong Krall reaction, but not this extreme. He scrambles to head off inexorable destruction of multiple planets. Failing to save some worlds, he’s the final hope for billions of people on others. The Kobani will need the strength and speed their genes provide, plus luck to save humanity. Book 1 Koban, Book 2 Koban: The Mark of Koban, Book 3 Koban: Rise of the Kobani
