Embrace — T.D. Wilson

Hope. James Hood, the most decorated Captain in the history of the Earth Defense Force, remembered what it felt like. It had surged through his very being the day he watched the gigantic colony ship rocket away from Earth carrying his uncle and over five thousand colonists to a new world light years from home. In the early 22nd century, Hood, like so many others on Earth, dreamed of following in his uncle's footsteps. He wanted to travel to a new world, to be something greater.

Then came the War.

An insectoid alien menace, known as the Cilik'ti, swarmed into Earth's solar system like a plague. After years of vicious conflict, humanity was left battered but not broken. Thanks in part to Hood's tactical genius, Earth's forces had finally driven the invaders from the solar system.

Now, six years after the war, new word arrives, informing Earth's leaders that two of the three colony ships that left Earth have arrived safely. One of them, the Magellan, was his uncle's ship.

Earth desperately needs those new colonies, but the Cilik'ti are still out there. If Earth sends out a fleet in force, it could start another war. Reluctantly, Earth's leadership agrees to send one ship to make contact. Hood is given command of a new ship, the Armstrong, and is ordered to proceed to the Cygni solar system -- the same system to which his uncle's ship was headed -- with best possible speed.

Hope. Hood needed it now more than ever. Hope to find the colonists alive and hope that he could one day forgive himself for his actions that cost so many lives during the war. Hood and his new ship set out to Cygni, but what he discovers along the way could be more dangerous to Earth than their formidable foes.