The Year’s Best SF 17 is a showcase of the best short form science fiction of 2011, selected by World Fantasy Award winners David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, two of the most respected editors in the field of speculative fiction.  Like the previous sixteen volumes of the series that has been called “the finest modern science fiction writing,” The Year’s Best SF 17 features stories from some of the brightest lights in sf—including Gregory Benford (Beyond Human), Nancy Kress (Beggars in Spain), James Morrow (The Philosopher’s Apprentice), Michael Swanwick (The Dragons of Babel) and Neil Gaiman (American Gods) —as well as electrifying short stories from exciting newcomers.

- From Kindle Storyteller Award Winner G J Ogden -

Some secrets were meant to stay buried in the void.

Captain Taylor Ray commands a deep space recon crew patrolling the edges of known space, collecting easy paychecks for finding nothing.

For decades, Earth Fleet has sent ships to search for remnants of the Hedalt Empire, our long-defeated alien enemy. They find only abandoned outposts and ghost colonies.

Until now.

One faint signal. One unexpected detour. Captain Ray uncovers a secret that contradicts everything he thought he knew.

The war never ended. It hasn't even begun...

Perfect for fans of "Starship Troopers," "Frontlines" by Marko Kloos, and "The Lost Fleet" series, The Contingency War delivers pulse-pounding military action with a mind-bending twist that readers won't see coming.

EXCERPT:

Suko slid down next to her, her eSMG in her hand. "Whatever we're doing, we better do it fast. Looks like they brought air support."

Sigrid didn't have to look. She could feel the low rumble of the heavy thrusters firing, growing louder. Still kilometers away, two air vehicles were moving quickly toward them. They were gunships, Thunderhawks, and they were moving fast, closing on their position. Quad cannon mounts extended from their sides, swinging into firing positions and taking aim.

They were outnumbered, and the situation was deteriorating quickly. These mercenaries might not be the enemy she was looking for, but they were still men, and they still hunted them.

"If you have a plan," Suko said, her eyes fixed on the incoming gunships, "now's the time to share it."

"Plan?" Sigrid unholstered her sidearms. "We kill them all."

SYNOPSIS: 

Alcyone is gone. The Independent stronghold on Scorpii is destroyed. Sigrid and her sisters have fled the Federation to make a new home on the remote world of Medea. 

But with a price on her head the size of a planet, and pursued across the galaxy by the Council for Trade and Finance, Sigrid knows she and her sisters are not safe. As long as there are those who would seek to control them, hunt them, they will never be safe.

Unless Sigrid can stop them first.

But to stop them, Sigrid must first find them. But how? And where? Her only clue is a mysterious coded message; one that could serve as either warning or invitation; one that will lead Sigrid to a factory world at the very edge of Federation space, and to a deadly confrontation with her most dangerous enemy yet: the machines of Bellatrix.

FROM THE PUBLISHER: A portion of this book was previously published as the short story Merchantman.

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EPISODE 1.1: "AURORA: CV-01"
A world recovering from a devastating plague…
A brutal enemy threatening invasion…
A young man seeking to escape the shadow of his father…
A ship manned by a crew of fresh academy graduates…
A top-secret experimental propulsion system…
A questionable alliance with a mysterious green-eyed woman…

What destiny has in store for the crew of the UES Aurora, is far greater than any of them could ever imagine.
And this is only the beginning.

EPISODE 1.2: "THE RINGS OF HAVEN"
A ship stranded halfway across the galaxy…
A difficult and lengthy journey home…
A home world in urgent need of their return…
And now they are running out of food…

The crew of the Aurora must now trust their new allies in order to survive. But their situation may be far more serious than they imagined, and their actions could have repercussions across the galaxy.
Their journey home may just have gotten slightly more complicated.

EPISODE 1.3: "THE LEGEND OF CORINAIR"
A captain coming into his own…
A handful of refugees stranded on board…
A possible traitor in their midst…
A voyage into the territory of the very enemy that pursues them…

Sometimes legends become realities in unexpected ways.
It seems that fate has the crew of the Aurora firmly in its clutches.
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