Duel in the Dark by Jay Allan

War beckons, and all along the disputed frontier the forces of the Confederation are deployed to face the fleets of the totalitarian Union. But there is trouble elsewhere, on the far Rim, hundreds of lightyears from the battle lines…and only a single ship is close enough to respond, an aging battleships called Dauntless.

Captain Tyler Barron is the grandson of the Confederation’s greatest hero, the father of the modern navy. His family name has always carried privilege with it, and crushing responsibility too. Now he must prove he has inherited more from his famous grandfather than the Barron name. He and the crew of Dauntless must face a deadly invader, alone and without help, and win the victory by whatever means, at whatever cost…before the Confederation is caught between two enemies and destroyed.

Duel in the Dark is book one of Jay Allan’s Blood on the Stars series.

Category: Science Fiction – Military

The alert has gone out. Tyler Barron and the crew of the battleship Dauntless rush to the front lines, driving their battered old ship with everything she’s got. When they get there, they find they are too late. Nothing remains of the defense save for wreckage and shattered fleets.

The Confederation is losing the war, and Dauntless finds herself cut off from the rest of the fleet along with one other battleship, and a trio of small escort vessels, deep behind the rapidly moving lines.

Barron must make a choice. Pull back, try to find a way to rejoin the fleet. Or press on, strike deep behind the enemy advance, his small force alone and far from help, an almost suicidal thrust toward the Union’s main logistical supply base…and the one way Tyler Barron can think of to buy the fleet the time it needs to regroup. To survive.

Book 2 of Jay Allan’s Blood on the Star series.