Scrag

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In the lead-up to the release The Callisto Connection later this month (my debut sci-fi novel), I want to spend some time introducing the people at the heart of the story. Next up: Jace. Jace is a calm, confident Fleet officer with a stubborn streak. He’s wanted to fly since childhood, and still makes time for it whenever he can. During Fleet training, he spent a lot of his spare time in the flight simulators. He liked unfamiliar approach patterns and difficult docking runs, the sort of exercise that made him slow down and pay attention. When he has a quiet hour, he often listens to the long-range bands. He keeps a list of places he’d like to visit, built from ports and settlements mentioned in the traffic. A crew talking about a decent meal or an unusual view can be enough to earn a place on it. The list keeps growing faster than he can work through it. In the book, he answers Arlen Vega’s distress call, despite being far beyond the reach of Vega’s damaged transmitter. Even once Vega finds air and shelter, Jace stays on the line. Over the long hours, they begin sharing stories from their lives. The longer they talk, the more getting Vega home matters to him. The Callisto Connection is coming later this month.

Cadet Arlen Vega’s FLEET training comes in handy when he finds himself stranded on a bizarre planet. But as Jace tells him later: “Those protocols read clean on paper, but in a situation like this, they don’t always hold up.” From The Callisto Connection, coming to Amazon later this month.

For anyone following my novel arc, I’ve added a lore section to the website. There are entries for Vega, Jace, Elara, and the Fleet, plus a look inside the Fleet Survival Field Guide. I’ve been having some fun putting that one together. The entries give me a little more room to explore the characters’ backgrounds and the world they live in. Where they grew up, what they do away from their duties, how the Fleet operates. Some extra context for the people and things you’ll meet in the book. All three books in the series share the same universe, so this will keep growing over time and as each new book comes out. It’s a small collection for now, and I’m looking forward to adding more to it.

In the lead-up to the release The Callisto Connection later this month (my debut sci-fi novel), I want to spend some time introducing the people at the heart of the story. First up: Cadet Arlen Vega. Vega is young, resourceful, stubborn, and quick with a joke, especially when things are going badly. He isn't fearless. He panics. He makes mistakes. Then he takes the next step anyway. When the Callisto crashes far off course on an uncharted world of ochre dust and towering crystal formations, Vega is left stranded. His suit is damaged, his oxygen is running low, and survival comes down to solving one problem at a time. So he sends a distress call into the dark. Against every reasonable expectation, someone answers.

The Callisto and Aeternum are two ships featured in my upcoming science-fiction novel The Callisto Connection. Both belong to the Fleet, the military service responsible for security across settled human space. The Fleet protects distant settlements, patrols transit routes, maintains stations, and conducts scientific and strategic surveys. Its ships also answer distress calls and respond to emergencies beyond the reach of local authorities. Its vessels are built for different kinds of work. The Callisto is a medium-sized survey ship equipped for exploration and research. The Aeternum is an Elysian-class vessel, nearly a kilometer long, with the personnel, specialist facilities, and resources to sustain much larger operations. Fleet Command sets policy and allocates resources. Admirals oversee major operations, while captains retain considerable authority aboard their ships, particularly when distance or changing conditions make waiting for guidance impractical. For some, Fleet service is a career. For others, it is a family tradition or the world they grew up in. Assignments take personnel between ships, stations, and planetary facilities throughout human space. A posting can become home for years, until the next assignment carries them somewhere new.

I can finally show you the whole thing. Here’s the cover of The Callisto Connection, my debut science fiction novel and Book One of the Crystalline Horizons series. It’s coming late October. Seeing my pen name, Jemison Vaughn, across the top still feels a little surreal. I’ve spent a lot of time with this story, and I’m excited to start sharing more of it with you. Cadet Arlen Vega is stranded on an uncharted world. His distress call reaches Jace, a Fleet officer who should be far beyond his damaged transmitter’s reach. Then patterns from the crystal fields begin appearing inside the signal. Cover art by Aleksandr Prilepov (@rivaisempai). I love how he captured the beauty and unease of this world.