Phil Lewis

Star Trails: the Nubian Queen: and Selected Short Stories Phil Lewis

Stax, an enlisted 3rd class Naval Yeoman gets conscripted for the first ever exploration of the red planet. His presence on the expedition brought immediate objections from the nine chosen military officers who lead the exploration. The strong resentment only feeds Stax's already rebellious attitude. Along with the nine officers and Stax, the team has ten civilian. A miscalculated Mars Storm wreaks havoc on expeditions spacecraft, the Demios II. At the same time Stax and one of the civilians gets caught in a storm, and come across a powered down alien spaceship. The alien computer aboard the discovered ship declares Stax as the Overseer, leading to deadly consequences for some of the crew. Through a mishap in the Alien ships engine, the officers and civilians, along with Stax are taken to the center of a war torn and desperate galaxy.