The Beings — Kenneth E. Ingle

It was supposed to be a pleasure cruise. A group of students from the Royal Polytechnic University were given a trip to Planet Las Vegas as a reward for early graduation but their spaceship was captured and they were taken prisoner. Now, in the midst of a galactic war, they find themselves struggling to stay alive and anxious to be reunited with their distant families. Teen Matt Harmon is thrust into a leadership role but he wonders about his own sanity when the ship's computer starts talking to him about an interdimensional alien contact. With the galaxy at war and Matt and his fellow teens in constant danger, the last thing they need is a defective computer. or an alien being attempting to use them as a cat's paw. Their journey home takes the teens into little-explored portions of the galaxy where they find hidden secrets that might change human history. if only they can survive. It also brings them into conflict with galactic dictator Feron Pasha and his tame assassin, Bok Van Nu who see the teens as tools in their dreams of conflict. or worse. War between humans threatens to destroy civilization but humans aren't the only dangers in space. When Matt and his teenage crew are hunted down by a massive battleship crewed by aliens with a grudge against humans, it seems that their dreams of returning safely home may never be realized. Then again, at times, the teens' greatest enemy is themselves. Author Kenneth Ingle (originally writing as Wynner White) writes a fast-paced adventure. His teenage protagonists combine youthful confidence and optimism with teenage angst as they struggle to come to terms with each other and with a harsh galactic environment that cares little whether they live or perish. White's clear identification with the teens should make this book popular with young adults while his timeless space opera style will appeal to those looking for space adventure.