Central Corps Books

From debut author Elizabeth Bonesteel, The Cold Between is the start to a stellar military science fiction series that combines hints of mystery and romance with action and adventure in the tradition of Elizabeth Moon, Linnea Sinclair, and Lois McMaster Bujold. When her crewmate, Danny, is murdered on the colony of Volhynia, Central Corps chief engineer, Commander Elena Shaw, is shocked to learn the main suspect is her lover, Treiko Zajec. She knows Trey is innocent—he was with her when Danny was killed. So who is the real killer and why are the cops framing an innocent man? Retracing Danny’s last hours, they discover that his death may be tied to a mystery from the past: the explosion of a Central Corps starship at a wormhole near Volhynia. For twenty-five years, the Central Gov has been lying about the tragedy, even willing to go to war with the outlaw PSI to protect their secrets. With the authorities closing in, Elena and Trey head to the wormhole, certain they’ll find answers on the other side. But the truth that awaits them is far more terrifying than they ever imagined . . . a conspiracy deep within Central Gov that threatens all of human civilization throughout the inhabited reaches of the galaxy—and beyond.

In this follow-up to the acclaimed military science fiction thriller The Cold Between , a young soldier finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a deadly conspiracy in deep space. Six weeks ago, Commander Elena Shaw and Captain Greg Foster were court-martialed for their role in an event Central Gov denies ever happened. Yet instead of a dishonorable discharge or time in a military prison, Shaw and Foster and are now back together on Galileo . As punishment, they’ve been assigned to patrol the nearly empty space of the Third Sector. But their mundane mission quickly turns treacherous when the Galileo picks up a distress call: Exeter , a sister ship, is under attack from raiders. A PSI generation ship—the same one that recently broke off negotiations with Foster—is also in the sector and joins in the desperate battle that leaves ninety-seven of Exeter ’s crew dead. An investigation of the disaster points to sabotage. And Exeter is only the beginning. When the PSI ship and Galileo suffer their own "accidents," it becomes clear that someone is willing to set off a war in the Third Sector to keep their secrets, and the clues point to the highest echelons of power . . . and deep into Shaw’s past.

A reluctant hero must prevent war in space and on Earth in this fast-paced military science fiction thriller from the author of The Cold Between and Remnants of Trust —a page-turning hybrid combining the gritty, high-octane thrills of James S. A. Corey and the sociopolitical drama of Ann Leckie. Space is full of the unknown . . . most of it ready to kill you. When hostilities between factions threaten to explode into a shooting war on the moon of Yakutsk, the two major galactic military powers, Central Corps and PSI, send ships to defuse the situation. But when a strange artifact is discovered, events are set in motion that threaten the entire colonized galaxy—including former Central Corps Commander Elena Shaw. Now an engineer on a commercial shipping vessel, Elena finds herself drawn into the conflict when she picks up the artifact on Yakutsk—and investigation of it uncovers ties to the massive, corrupt corporation Ellis Systems, whom she’s opposed before. Her safety is further compromised by her former ties to Central Corps—Elena can’t separate herself from her past life and her old ship, the CCSS Galileo. Before Elena can pursue the artifact’s purpose further, disaster strikes: all communication with the First Sector—including Earth—is lost. The reason becomes apparent when news reaches Elena of a battle fleet, intent on destruction, rapidly approaching Earth. And with communications at sublight levels, there is no way to warn the planet in time. Armed with crucial intel from a shadowy source and the strange artifact, Elena may be the only one who can stop the fleet, and Ellis, and save Earth. But for this mission there will be no second chances—and no return.

Accused of destroying a Corps warship, the crew of the starship Galileo must prove sabotage—or face the wrath of what’s left of Central Gov. When the Central Corps warship Capricorn —silent and unresponsive, light-years from her last reported position—threatens a civilian space station, the former Corps starship Galileo comes to the station’s aid. But Commander Elena Shaw’s attempt to disarm the warship culminates in its destruction, and despite evidence Capricorn was sabotaged, Central is happy to direct public ire at Galileo . To vindicate their ship, the crew must reconstruct Capricorn ’s final journey, seeking proof of what really destroyed her. But Elena finds an alarming pattern in the evidence they uncover. It seems Capricorn ’s fate has roots not in sabotage, but in a weapon Central has been keeping secret—a weapon Elena has encountered before. A weapon whose origins may not be entirely human. Turns out Galileo has a stowaway, hiding in plain sight. And that stowaway might link Elena to Capricorn ’s destruction after all.