Birth of the Rim series Book 1

A distant Star Empire ruled by ancient Amazon warriors, forgotten by Earth for 3,000 years. In the other direction, an implacable alien enemy, poised to destroy every human on Earth. A final warning from an AI starship, who just happens to like humans. All dumped into the laps of Jake, Teresa, and Kirsten – three unlikely lovers. Now they must build a space navy from scratch – forge an alliance with an ancient matriarchy who doesn't even know Earth exists – and prepare to fight a cruel and unmerciful enemy!

One path. One hope. One trio of Humans. It's all on them!

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Excerpt from Imprint of Blood © Copyright 2023 Phil Huddleston

Teresa watched the system pop into view as the Chengdu surfaced, a good 30 AU from the star.

The scoutship Acrux had been here for two months, collecting ELINT. Now they came together at this predetermined rendezvous, and the scientists of the Acrux shuttled over to meet with Atsuko’s spooks.

Settling into her chair at the head of the table in the Chengdu’s conference room, Teresa looked at the assembled teams. “What do we have, folks?” she asked.

Dr. Kenneth Speer spoke up.

“The Empire is derived from descendants of about 212 people abducted from the Western shores of what is now Turkey in about 1184 B. C.,” he said. “These were people of Greek extraction, and they called themselves Aeolians. Hence the name of the current Empire.”

“Yes, we have all that, Dr. Speer,” said Teresa a bit impatiently.

Dr. Speer nodded. “I’m just trying to make sure we’re all on the same page. Mixed in among those abductees were a dozen Amazons, female warriors caught up in the abduction. When this small band of people were abandoned on their new planet, the Amazons quickly took over. They were better fighters and more ruthless than the native Aeolians, and within a few months they had established a ruling matriarchy which persists to this day – 3,300 years later. The ruling dynasty is called the House Aronte, and the current Empress is Miranda…”

Teresa interrupted, annoyed. “All of which we know, Dr. Speer. Please get on with it.”

“OK,” responded Dr. Speer. “This matriarchy practices slavery. The majority of males are enslaved, and many of the lower-class females. The only males not enslaved are the nobility, the upper levels of the merchant class, males in the military, and mercenaries – former military.

“The Empire has a first-rate space navy, currently estimated at more than 100 warships with interstellar capabilities. And let me assure you, these are not starships you want to mess with. They are heavily armed, quite deadly. They carry a mix of missiles, railguns, and short-range beamers. Their crews are highly trained, professional. If you see one of these coming at you, please take my advice and run like hell. Now, they have right now…”

Speer glanced at his tablet.

“…forty-one populated planets in the Empire.”

Teresa nodded. “So, tell me how we insert spies into this Empire.”

Atsuko objected. “We don’t call them spies, Teresa. We call them operatives.”

“Very good,” said Teresa. “So, tell me how we insert spies into the Empire, Dr. Speer.”

Dr. Speer smiled broadly, barely able to contain his laughter. “Well, first, you need to have a preponderance of females. They need to carry themselves with a certain air of haughtiness, to pass as upper caste. In fact, the more arrogant they are, the better the chance they can pass.”

Atsuko grinned. “I think we can meet that requirement. We have some pretty arrogant assholes on our team!”

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