United Fleet: Book 2 of The Stardock Trilogy Four months ago, the Crickets - the Chhrt'ktk't, as they called themselves in their own language - had abandoned a mobile shipyard with a burned-out hyperdrive core in Sol system, as a decoy. They hadn't told humanity about the decoy part. Then they had picked Alex Holder to operate it, simply because he happened by chance to be the first human they found who could - because that would make it a better decoy. In perhaps as little as five years, the Khreetan would be coming. The Crickets hadn't intended for humanity to know that, either. Alex had those five years to build a defensive fleet from the spines out, recruit crews for his fleet, and find enough humans who could reach full rapport with Cricket tech to command and control them - and get all of them trained to work together despite their national differences. All this while at the same time he tried to share the Crickets' scientific knowledge, distribute their technology where it was most desperately needed, and somehow still keep the peace. Fortunately, he had help, and he was beginning to find more people who could fully link with Chhrt'ktk't technology. But would it be enough? Humanity is not alone in the universe. We are far from even the only intelligent species in our galaxy. The Chhrt'ktk't are one such intelligent species. But Sean Fenian's Stardock Trilogy is not about the Chhrt'ktk't. It's not even about humanity and the Chhrt'ktk't. It is about what happens to humanity, and how the future of humanity is changed, when the Chhrt'ktk't abandon a mobile shipyard with a burned-out hyperdrive core in the Solar System as a decoy to distract pursuit - and how it changes the life of a retired engineer who finds himself chosen, more or less by chance, as custodian of the Chhrt'ktk't shipyard, and all of the lives he changes in turn. © 2024 Sean Fenian and Fenian House Publishing