FLIGHT OF THE MOCKINGBIRDFlipspace 1
Training for the ISS Mockingbird, Colonel Sumitra Ramachandra and Major Lamarr Fitch find that they’re being deployed before certification. The ISS Astraeus, an International Space Organization vessel fails to transmit its latest exploration report in the Gliese 667 System twenty-two light-years away. Colonel Ramachandra learns that the Mockingbird she commands was built for more than intra-solar operation. Three people with complicated and enigmatic backgrounds are added to her crew roster just before launch.
BRANCHING OUTFlipspace 2
The ISS Mockingbird is ordered to Kepler 22 to check up on a research outpost set up by the Astraeus. Colonel Ramachandra and her crew discover on the planet, Kepler 22B a form of life that doesn’t need ships to travel through space. Also present is a base established by Remote Space Conglomerated Industries. Their operations put profit before the concerns of the indigenous life. An unauthorized distress call originates from the RSCI base. Colonel Rama must risk breaching their air defenses to comply with international conventions and save lives.
SOL-SIDE UPFlipspace 3
On completion of two missions, the crew of the Mockingbird returns to Earth for Grav Leave. Not everyone welcomes them back as intrepid explorers and peacekeepers. Colonel Ramachandra becomes the target of a kidnapping plot, and the abductors’ motives aren’t clear. Major Lamarr Fitch struggles with the responsibilities of filling in. He must organize the ship’s crew to get Colonel Rama back. Captain Malcolm O’Connell confronts his past and the legacy of being a reincarnated Xerces Protocol patient.