Third Contact — Kenneth E. Ingle

Sole survivor of a ruthless pirate attack on his planet, Joshua Penbrook vows revenge on the men who destroyed his home. Through a combination of skill and being in the right place at the right time, Joshua is able to gain control of a space warship and claim salvage rights. The Kingdom of Braeden, original owners of the ship, rejects Joshua's salvage claims forcing him into the role he most feared--that of pirate. Over time, Joshua gathers a dedicated crew and develops the reputation of one of the top pirates in human space. Braeden hasn't forgotten his disputed claim on what they regard as their ship and, over two generations, Braeden's Queens play a deadly game of cat and mouse with Joshua and his ship--sometimes using him to their advantage, and sometimes turning the planet's entire resources to Joshua's destruction. For the most part, Joshua is willing to play the game--he may be the mouse, but he's a mouse with very sharp teeth. For him, though, it stops being a game when Braeden's Queen decides to target Joshua's family as well. What nobody knows is that Joshua holds the long life gene... something that will allow him to outlive his enemies if they don't kill him first, but that would also make him the most valuable commodity in the human part of the galaxy. They also don't know that his heritage, born of the descendents of the original colonization ship Orion, gives him some unusual advantages in what is a largely unequal battle. Author Kenneth E. Ingle continues his story of the space exploration begun in FIRST CONTACT with an exciting adventure of space piracy, planetary exploration, and military strategy. Fans of the series will definitely want to read this one. If you haven't read the earlier books, THIRD CONTACT does stand alone.