Preface

Some Attributions...

I first began to dream up this tale way back when I was a freshman or sophomore in college. I clearly retain memories of thoughts about this storyline while sitting through Sociology 101. I doodled at drawing interstellar ship designs between taking notes. I imagined encounters between alien human and humanoid populations. Not aliens - but, instead - humans and humanoids with shared DNA links; deeply shared ancestries that existed across interstellar space; and sometimes having the ability to successfully reproduce with one another; and yeah - possessing an interest in trying to reproduce...

This was back in '74 or '75 and reruns of Star Trek were playing on one the four local TV stations. I had seen the original Star Trek as a kid and then when I was in college I was getting re-acquainted with its stories. Green-skinned Orion Slave Women just might have contributed a bit to my thought processes...

SERIOUSLY, I had read the stories written by E.E. 'Doc' Smith, Arthur C. Clarke, Poul Anderson, Gordon Dickson, and I can't recount how many other creative and skilled writers of Science Fiction. Then too, I started reading Larry Niven and many other writers of a then newer school of 'hard' S-F. Robert Heinlein stands prominently amongst my list of authors. And some of the folks whose works I was reading were 'students' of Heinlein's school, style, and intent.

More recently, I've enjoyed the Military-styled S-F of authors like David Weber and Steve Weber. Other names in this genre' include David Drake, Eric Flint, John Ringo, and S. M. Stirling. Professional Historians such as Harry Turtledove who've also written S-F have also molded my views.

So, while my story has its origins back in the day-dreamings of a bored undergraduate student of the mid-'70s - it's styling and presentation is likely to seem more akin to that of the writers from the late '90s and this here first decade of the 21s century. More to the point - thanks to David Weber for reviving an interest in the military organizations of WW-I. Destroyer flotillas, light cruisers as flotilla leaders, battle divisions, and all that British Naval tradition! It's convenient to think that way about underlying organizational characteristics while getting the story moving along and having the principal characters get on with their interactions.

Oh, the basic premise of this story might seem strange and unfamiliar with someone unfamiliar with human evolutionary studies. Paleoanthropology and studies of human genetics have really begun to tease apart the story of our very recent shared origins. This story line will play along with some of the more traditional theories and also the most recent discoveries that have been uncovered.

Basically, my contention is that human evolution just might be a galactic occurence! I.E., somebody other than human sampled hominid (and other terrestrial mammalian) populations over the course of human evolution during the late Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene. Various populations of sophants resulted from these extra-terrestrial samplings and interventions.

Now, drop back about twenty years in time and contemplate the possibility that a bunch of extra-terrestrial adventurers with giant corporations' backing had attempted to conquer our dear ol' Earth and had flubbed it. Not only flubbed it, but allowed their support train to be overrun and captured in near-Earth orbit. And their support train included vessels set up to revolutionize a newly conquered planet! Talk about the possibility of a jump-start with regard to a military response to an attempted invasion. Just follow through to the logical possibilities - a la the U.S. response to the Pacific campaign during WW-II.

I hope that you enjoy the read as it progresses.

Chapter 1 »