Not Without Honor: The MacCollie Series, Book One
Dennis E. Smirl
- Naomi
- Bricklin
- is
- a
- MacCollie
- scout,
- tasked
- with
- visiting
- unexplored
- solar
- systems
- in
- hope
- of
- finding
- uninhabited,
- earthlike
- planets
- that
- can
- be
- colonized
- by
- the
- Fellowship
- of
- Humanity.
- As
- she
- is
- passing
- through
- an
- ordinary
- star
- system,
- her
- ship
- is
- suddenly
- attacked
- and
- destroyed.
- Naomi
- is
- lucky
- to
- escape
- with
- her
- life,
- taking
- the
- single
- lifeboat
- to
- the
- surface
- of
- the
- planet
- she
- had
- been
- approaching.
- Upon
- landing,
- she
- finds
- a
- planet
- that
- is
- anything
- but
- uninhabited.When
- the
- MacCollie
- Company
- learns
- that
- one
- of
- their
- ships
- has
- been
- destroyed,
- they
- ask
- Fleet
- to
- investigate.
- Fleet
- Cruiser
- DeBellevue,
- Captained
- by
- Commander
- MacMillan
- wing
- is
- dispatched
- with
- a
- mandate
- to
- return
- with
- the
- scout
- pilot,
- if
- she
- survived,
- along
- with
- all
- intelligence
- that
- had
- been
- gathered.On
- the
- way
- to
- the
- rescue
- attempt,
- DeBellevue
- is
- met
- by
- another
- starship,
- and
- military
- personnel
- from
- the
- Directorate
- of
- Special
- Operations
- board
- the
- starship
- to
- provide
- additional
- security.
- Commander
- Wing
- isn't
- happy—particularly
- when
- the
- leader
- of
- the
- extra
- unit
- of
- Marines
- is
- an
- old
- nemesis—but
- orders
- are
- orders.While
- DeBellevue
- travels
- toward
- her
- destination,
- Naomi
- Bricklin
- is
- learning
- the
- ways
- of
- a
- very
- different
- human
- society—if,
- indeed,
- the
- society
- is
- human.
- As
- she
- gets
- acquainted
- with
- new
- characters,
- all
- of
- whom
- have
- similar
- appearances,
- she
- begins
- to
- sort
- them
- into
- two
- categories—human
- and
- non-human.
- One
- of
- those
- she
- sees
- as
- non-human,
- a
- male
- named
- Kanayo,
- becomes
- her
- mentor
- and
- companion
- without
- either
- of
- them
- wishing
- it
- so.Upon
- arrival
- at
- the
- planet,
- Commander
- Wing
- deploys
- his
- forces
- in
- an
- attempt
- to
- find
- the
- missing
- scout.
- His
- efforts
- are
- frustrated
- by
- the
- surplus
- Marines
- and
- their
- commander,
- Colonel
- Kiddeman.
- In
- short
- order,
- Kiddeman
- takes
- her
- entire
- complement
- of
- Blackjacket
- Marines
- to
- the
- planet's
- surface,
- along
- with
- three
- containers
- that
- Wing
- later
- learns
- contain
- planet-busting
- nuclear
- devices.Through
- electronic
- contact
- with
- Naomi
- Bricklin,
- and
- good
- intelligence-gathering
- on
- the
- part
- of
- his
- people,
- Wing
- begins
- to
- understand
- Kiddeman's
- mission.
- She
- has
- been
- assigned
- to
- destroy
- all
- life
- on
- the
- planet,
- and
- then
- kill
- Wing
- and
- his
- entire
- crew.
- Wing
- needs
- an
- ally,
- and
- finds
- it
- in
- the
- society
- on
- the
- planet
- below.
- During
- the
- final
- encounter,
- Wing's
- people
- are
- being
- overrun
- by
- Kiddeman's
- Marines
- until
- those
- fighting
- for
- the
- survival
- of
- their
- planet
- intervene
- in
- Wing's
- favor
- and
- destroy
- Kiddeman's
- force.When
- the
- battle
- is
- over,
- and
- the
- dead
- have
- been
- buried,
- Wing
- talks
- with
- a
- representative
- of
- those
- who
- live
- on
- the
- planet,
- Madame
- Chen.
- She
- explains
- the
- existence
- of
- those
- who
- don't
- quite
- look
- human,
- and
- tells
- Wing
- that
- for
- two
- hundred
- years,
- elements
- of
- the
- Fellowship
- of
- Humanity
- have
- wanted
- to
- destroy
- them.
- To
- prevent
- that,
- she
- and
- the
- rest
- of
- her
- society
- are
- going
- to
- board
- star
- ships
- and
- travel
- to
- a
- very
- distant
- new
- world,
- where
- they
- hope
- to
- remain
- unmolested
- for
- hundreds,
- if
- not
- thousands
- of
- years.
- Wing
- takes
- the
- scout
- pilot
- and
- the
- remainder
- of
- his
- forces
- up
- to
- DeBellevue,
- and
- heads
- for
- home port.
