The Empress Capsule: 1 (Audacity Saga)

PRODIGY. DESERTER. COMMANDER. At 22 Commander Ellen Ryu is a little young to be retired. Yet shes planned--and bled in--more battles than veterans twice her age. And well she didnt exactly retire so much as desert. Betrayed by her superiors turned into a science experiment and nearly driven insane Ellen seized the chance for freedom when a shadowy organization offered her a ship of her own and an elite all-female crew. Shes got a new mission now: get revenge on the scientist who almost destroyed her. Nobody is going to get in her way this time. Especially not the merc whos just shown up at her cargo hatch looking to hitch a ride. MERCENARY. CONVICT. RENEGADE. In the middle of an op gone wrong cyborg mercenary Kael Sidassian gets stuck with a mission he cant refuse: carry a capsule to safety the contents of which would bring the galaxy down on his head if anyone knew what was inside. But hes also got damaged hardware in his head and a plan to escape from the barbaric merc company that forcibly conscripted him over a decade ago. So when a humanitarian ship grants him passage he thanks his lucky stars for a job thatll solve all his problems at once. That is if the attachment hes forming to the ships commander--one that goes way beyond duty and loyalty--doesnt get in the way. As a new threat rises the prodigy and the renegade discover far more in common than they ever thought possible. Now both their missions will have to wait because if they arent audacious enough to work together theyll never survive whats coming for them. For lovers of romantic space opera Lois McMaster Bujold and David Weber THE EMPRESS CAPSULE is the first volume in the new Audacity series.