Beyond the Orion Nebula

Book excerpt: The Alidonian System of Worlds is in turmoil. Princess Arianne Alidan runs away from her cousin, Prince Narbonne-the leader of a rebellion trying to dethrone her father-setting course for a hidden base located beyond a nebula in an unexplored region of the galaxy. But her fleet gets thrown out of course by a cosmic event. When the fleet comes out of hyperspace, badly battered, they take refuge in an unknown solar system, with a habitable planet, The Waterworld. There, the illness of her sister, Princess Amelie Alidan forces them to set up a base. When Amelie meets Gus Schneider, a former air force pilot, and falls in love with him, Princess Arianne devices a scheme to fortify the remnants of her fleet, hoping for a rendezvous with her people, and confront Prince Narbonne in a final and decisive battle.