Life on Earth became difficult early in the twentieth century. Two worldwide wars. The threat of nuclear annihilation. Mankind made it to the moon, briefly and it was all downhill from there. The real struggle began in the 21st century (A Nepenthean Solution) - humanity against an elusive, unknown and faceless agent of destruction.Those first years went badly for Earth and only intervention by a third party staved off an early demise. The enemy had enemies and those became friends, but real aid was still several centuries away. Five hundred years of warfare pushed mankind to the brink of extinction before The Flight of the Solar Archangel brought help from the stars, and the allies were able to turn the tide. Next came a period of peace, of reconstruction and resettlement. A thousand years have passed since the conflict began and mankind has constructed a formidable fleet, for some folks believe the next contest will occur in space.
  Sam Weber, Ed Baylor and Stan Wozniak have been at it since the beginning - their lives extended by offworld technology. Adela Simmons, Adam Devery, and Wesley Safford, veterans of the Grim War, spent the rebuilding years in stasis. For all, life has been an incredible burden, a forever war against an unbeatable foe. They know that while they have won respite, the earlier success only means a stronger response. From Earth's allies and deadly experience, they know the enemy's tactics. Next comes orbital bombardment, or worse yet, Solar disruption. Therefore, they know survival must be secured in space, by force of arms, and thus they prepare.
In truth, Earth will face a two front war, as elements of the invader still exist on-planet. For centuries they have been rebuilding and reorganizing an invincible army of automatons deep beneath the ramparts of the Rocky Mountains. Building, organizing, and waiting.
Waiting while the principal antagonist, a group-mind known as Genkhus prepares to advance on Sol. The time has arrived and a stupendously powerful armada assembles not far from the binary system of Sheliak. They will soon jump for Sol. The goal - annihilation, extermination. High above the plane of the elliptic, men and women in the ships of Earth confront an ancient enemy - the Oo'ahan - an opponent whose form and purpose remain a mystery.
 

PREVIEW

Baylor followed Sonya onto the bridge. Upon their entry, Admiral Ichida rose from the command chair with regal grace. Rolf Bruhm, the ship's executive officer immediately assumed her place. She stepped down from the pedestal and approached the plot, while beckoning Sonya and Baylor forward. She inclined her head toward Baylor and when he solemnly bowed in return, her face crinkled with a smile. To Sonya, she said, "This officer is a student of the old ways. To be graced by his company is truly a pleasure."
Baylor grinned and said, "More a relic than a student, Admiral. Japan still existed when I was born."
"You were Navy even then, is that not so, Commodore?"
"Yes, sir. Annapolis, class of '99. Nineteen ninety-nine that is."
She studied him with interest for several seconds before she said, "Our ancestral homelands once faced each other as adversaries. Are you familiar with this conflict?"
"It was a wet-navy war, Admiral. Required study in the war-college I attended after Annapolis."
"Then this may appear familiar." She lightly touched a control at the edge of the plot. The three-dimensional display sprang to life. Unlike the tactical tank of the light cruisers, the strategic plot aboard a battlecruiser was capable of depicting conflict across several light-minutes. The holographic representation of the current struggle towered almost ten feet above the waist-high surface of the plot. A ragged crimson cone stabbed downward into a misshapen indigo bowl. The surface of the opposing forces rippled and wavered as sensors fed new data.
Baylor studied the representation for almost a minute before he said, "This can't be to scale."
"It's a cumulative representation, Ed," Sonya replied. "Would you like to see it develop?"
"Please."
Admiral Ichida touched another key and the immense representation vanished. High above the plot, a trio of blue dots swirled in space. Baylor glanced at Sonya and said, "Boorda, you and I."
"Affirmative. Now the penetrations begin."
Several red dots appeared and were swiftly engaged by the defenders. The number of blue dots doubled and then doubled again. Still the red dots came singly or in pairs. Eventually, the blue dots occupied a geometrical volume of space. There were fifty or more. The red intruders still appeared in small quantities and many were destroyed, but not all. And they took more than their due from the defenders.
The blue dots continued to grow in number until there were over a hundred, but still the intruders pushed them back, exacting a terrible toll for every victory.
"A question," Baylor said.
Riyo froze the controls.
"I've counted at least thirty Oo'ahan vessels that were not destroyed. There were no departing wormholes and yet they do not show on the plot. What happened to them?"
Sonya and the Admiral exchanged glances. "The AI indicates a hundred and sixty-one, Ed," Sonya said. "And maybe more. They're out there. Waiting for something."
"Strikers."
"I'm afraid so."
Baylor indicated to continue the plot and when it reached its current state, he braced his chin on his fist. "I see the parallel," he finally said. "Like the Japanese, they're committing their units piecemeal. Is it possible their available force is of a size similar to Captain Simmons' report from Sheliak?"
"A reasonable assumption," Riyo concurred.
"Then they could eliminate us at any time. Half an hour's work and our fleet would be nothing but expanding gas."
"Precisely so," the admiral said.
Baylor shook his head. "Japan had limited resources. Not so, the Oo'ahan. Are they playing a game or just plain stupid?"
"It is a mistake to assign human values to our opponent, Commodore," Riyo said. "The true nature of our enemy is revealed in the manner by which he struggles against us. Have you noted the precision of his movements, of his coordination?"
"Often enough," Baylor said. "It's like playing chess against a roomful of opponents, where they have a man working every piece."
"An insightful analogy, my friend. Lesser minds of the Oo'ahan do in fact control the elements of the force that strives against us. As usual, they communicate instantly, but so far they remain unlinked."
"I'll be damned!" Baylor remarked. "No groupmind and no catatonia. We've been so busy jumping from hotspot to hotspot, I never noticed. So where's Genkhus? I thought he was our principal enemy."
"Yin and Yang, my friend. The duality of nature is manifested in our struggle. For while our enemy is immensely strong, he also has a fatal weakness. Can you see the direction we must take?"
Baylor was silent for almost a minute. "It's a war of attrition," he finally said. "Somehow, we have to survive long enough to draw him in. And we must retain the wherewithal to eliminate an element of his group-mind."
"Catatonia and chaos for the Oo'ahan," Sonya said.
"We'd clean house." Baylor glanced at Riyo. "Can we do it? Can we survive that long?"
She sighed. "The trends say 'no' unless we are willing to surrender Earth."