Starflake

This is the third book in the T'aafhal Legacy series-the continued adventures of the officers and crew of the starship Peggy Sue. Once again we find Captain Billy Ray Vincent in command of the Honorable Orion Arm Trading Company's vessel Peggy Sue. After being bushwhacked in the Alpha Phoenicis system, chronicled in The Queen's Daemon, more than a year has passed and the merchant explorers are about to take delivery of a new starship, the Peggy Sue II. After becoming embroiled in war and revolution far from home they realized they need a stouter ship and more Marines, many more Marines. This time they are going far afield, headed for the Pleiades, a star nursery with a number of blue-white giant stars. They are following a hint from the T'aafhal AI they found on the planet of the Ant Queen, telling them to "find the missing Pleiad." With their new ship and expanded crew they head out on a journey that will take them more than 400 light-years from home. A journey far beyond human space and the protection of the fleet. Naturally, things do not go as planned.