The basis of the story is time travel, but two-thirds of the action takes place on Earth, so the book should appeal to both science fiction and action adventure fans;
Post-Obama, US Air Force Colonel Lance Tucker prepares to take his crew on a flight to the International Space Station, aboard the new generation X-33 space shuttle Intrepid. The New Cold War of the era has abated, as a direct result of Intrepid's previous mission. The Russian Buran shuttle project, which was cancelled by Boris Yeltsin in 1993, has quietly resurfaced in recent years, and the first red orbiter is ready to go. Having proposed that Buran's inaugural flight should be a dual launch beside Intrepid, the Russian President sits beside the American President on the grandstand at Cape Canaveral, eagerly awaiting the simultaneous lift-off.
Notorious international assassin 'The Chinaman' strikes in the seconds before launch, gunning down both leaders, causing a geo-political storm. And as the shuttles ascend to the ISS, an underwater volcanic eruption causes local superheating of the Atlantic Ocean, transforming weakening Hurricane Ernie into the fiercest super-storm ever recorded. The hurricane tears an immense tranche of destruction, stretching from Miami to New Orleans, costing billions of dollars, and tens of thousands of lives.
During a video conference aboard the ISS, and mindful of Intrepid's previous mission, General Jack Nelson implores the Intrepid and Buran shuttles to use a large, installable fuel source attached to the space station, and travel back in time to change history. With hindsight, capturing and unmasking the assassin should prove simple, and the General also outlines an incredible plan to harmlessly destroy Hurricane Ernie at sea, using a secret large neutron bomb housed in a B-2 stealth bomber at Area 51. If one shuttle doesn't make it past the hazardous journey through time, the surviving crew can provide the advance warning needed....
Lance faces the following obstacles along the way;
The American and Russian crews - they don't believe the plans to change history can work....
Hurricane Ernie - if the voyage back in time is successful, Lance must fly the B-2 into the eye of the storm, and unleash the bomb....
The Chinaman - who is the assassin? How does he know Lance's restricted cell phone number, and every movement? A gripping game of cat and mouse ensues, as Lance attempts to unmask the killer. 'Whodunnit?' - the clues are there, but can you work it out....?
Leading Senator Darrell McKay - having escaped The Chinaman's bullet once, he's very helpful. But Lance's line of questioning on his sinister Head of Security Vivian Kort is met with a frosty reception. Has Lance seen Viv Kort, somewhere before....?
New Orleans street gang, the Pontchartrain Pirates - the most dangerous gang in the notorious Ninth Ward of New Orleans have assisted The Chinaman. Then the mother of Lance's youngest crew member is molested by a gang associate. Lance resolves to defeat the Pirates.....
And the trouble is, when you try to change the course of history, you may well make inadvertent changes, as well as the ones you intended. Just when it looks as though everything might turn out all right, Lance discovers that his actions and words have produced a terrifying conclusion, from which the only escape is the rapid solution of The Chinaman's seemingly impossible riddle - can you solve it....?
'Intrepid - The Two Storms' is available from http://steven-stone.blogspot.com/, Amazon, Smashwords, Goodreads and ebay. 83,118 words. For a review, see http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/martin-ince-review-of-novel-intrepid.html
Paperback - ISBN 9781461073277 £8.99=$14.49.
Electronic versions - iPhone, Blackberry, iPad, Kindle Reader, Kindle for PC, iPod Touch, Android £1.99=$3.21.
.pdf (with book covers) $1.99=£1.20. Wow!
The novel can be read on a stand-alone basis, but reading 'Intrepid' first comes highly recommended. For more on 'Intrepid', top 100 Kindle bestseller in science fiction, military and war, see http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/premise-for-novel-intrepid.html
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