William R. Forstchen (Author)
The union of interstellar exiles founded by Andrew Keane and the 35th Maine has been at peace for nearly 20 years. Keane is president again, and survivors of the once deadly Hordes have been reduced to a status similar to that of contemporary American Indians, which they don't enjoy. Meanwhile, the empire of the Kazars, far to the south and torn by civil war, still reaches north to menace the humans. Naval pilots Sean O'Donald and Richard Cromwell, sons, respectively, of a hero and a traitor, fly their aerosteamers into the jaws of the Kazar fleet. Taken prisoner, O'Donald is seduced, almost bodily, into turning colors and joining the other humans of the assassinlike Order of the Shiv. Cromwell escapes to alert the north of this new menace. The union expands its naval aviation in time to win the first round against the Kazars, but it is obvious that Forstchen is launching a new cycle of the adventures of the Lost Regiment and its descendants.