Star Destroyers

BIG SHIPS. BLOWING THINGS UP.

GO BIG OR GO HOME!

Boomers. Ships of the Line. Star Destroyers. The bigger the ship, the better the bang. From the dawn of history onward, commanding the most powerful ship around has been a dream of admirals, sultans, emperors, kings, generalissimos, and sea captains everywhere. For what the intimidation factor alone doesn’t achieve, a massive barrage from super-weapons probably will.

Thus it was, and ever shall be, even into the distant future. From the oceans of Earth, to beneath the ice of Europa, to the distant reaches of galactic empires, it is the great warships and their crews that sometimes keep civilization safe for the rest of us—but sometimes become an extinction-level event in and of themselves.

In “Superweapon” by David Drake, a fight for possession of an ancient alien warship will determine the fate of two vast interstellar powers. Then in “Hate in the Darkness” by Michael Z. Williamson, a team of libertarian Freeholders must think outside the box to do battle with the might of the United Nations and its powerful navy. And in “A Helping Hand,” Jody Lynn Nye posits an interstellar submarine on a rescue mission behind enemy lines—with the fate of an entire species hanging in the balance.

Big, bold, and edge-of-your-seat space opera and military science fiction from David Drake, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Michael Z. Williamson, Steve White, Robert Buettner, Susan R. Matthews, Dave Bara, and many more!

Contributors:
David Drake
Michael Z. Williamson
Mark L. Van Name
Steve White
Jody Lynn Nye
Brendan DuBois
Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Susan R. Matthews
Mike Kupari
J.R. Dunn
Robert Buettner
Christopher Ruocchio
Dave Bara
Joelle Presby
Gray Rinehart

Cover Art by Kurt Miller

Paperback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, March 2018

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-1-4814-8309-4
eISBN: 978-1-62579-631-8

“Superweapon” ©2018 by David Drake. “A Sudden Stop” ©2018 by Steve White. “Another Solution” ©2018 by Mark L. Van Name. “The Magnolia Incident” ©2018 by Mike Kupari. “A Helping Hand” ©2018 by Jody Lynn Nye. “Boomers” ©2018 by J. R. Dunn. “Hate in the Darkness” ©2018 by Michael Z. Williamson. “The Stars are Silent” ©2018 by Gray Rinehart. “Excerpts from Two Lives” ©2018 by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. “Icebreaker” ©2018 by Dave Bara. “Try Not to Kill Us All” ©2018 by Joelle Presby. “Skipjack” ©2018 by Susan R. Matthews. “Homecoming” ©2018 by Robert Buettner. “Not Made For Us” ©2018 by Christopher Ruocchio. “A Tale of the Great Trek War Aboard the Starship Persistence” ©2018 by Brendan DuBois.

Introduction and all additional material copyright © 2018 by Tony Daniel and Christopher Ruocchio.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
https://www.baen.com

Electronic version by Baen Books
https://www.baen.com