The premise for the novel 'Intrepid'.

I finished the novel 'Intrepid' in 2010. It took nine months to write, including two months of research. 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;

When Barack Obama became US President in 2009, it didn't take him long to announce that support for the space shuttle program would stop. NASA were scheduled to introduce the new X-33 shuttle from 2016, replacing the retired fleet, but the project was quickly suspended. More recently, however, an intention to re-commence the shuttle program using commercial funding has been announced.

The premise of 'Intrepid' is that post-Obama (assuming his re-election through to January 2017), the X-33 replacement shuttle program will be rolled out. NASA remain the only experts in the field, and even if Government funding doesn't re-commence, it's pretty obvious that any commercial funding will be used for the X-33. The design is already complete, and a scale model of the silver, black and blue craft has already been produced.

In my novel, the first X-33 shuttle is named 'Intrepid', after a famous Essex-class aircraft carrier that served in World War 2 - all of the existing shuttles are named after sailing ships. My protagonist, US Air Force Colonel and shuttle Commander Lance Tucker takes his crew on Intrepid's second flight to the International Space Station, against the backdrop of a New Cold War on the ground - post-Obama, Russia has re-commenced its excursions into Eastern Europe, following the effective occupation of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008.

An accident in space prompts a rogue Russian General to push the nuclear button, and a devastating war ensues. Feeling responsible, Lance comes up with a plan to use Intrepid to travel back in time and change history, by preventing his latest launch.  He faces the following obstacles along the way;

His crew - they don't believe the plan can work....

His conscience - there are elements of the plan that he can't tell the crew....

Hostile cosmonauts at the Russian-controlled ISS - there is a new, large, installable fuel source attached to the ISS, that Lance must acquire....

The American military - if the voyage back in time is successful, he must race against the clock to Houston Mission Control, and convince four-star General Jack Nelson to abort the launch. The General might well not believe Lance's story, and is protected by elite Army guards....

New Orleans street and biker gangs - if the voyage back in time is successful, Lance must obtain something important from the notorious Ninth Ward, before travelling on to Houston....



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 realises that his actions and words have produced a terrifying conclusion, from which there is no apparent escape....

'Intrepid' - a top 100 Kindle bestseller in science fiction, military and war. Available from http://steven-stone.blogspot.com/, Amazon, Smashwords, Goodreads and ebay. 106,870 words.
For a review, see http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-novel-intrepid-by-martin-ince.html

Paperback - ISBN 9781453891797 £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!

For the sequel to this novel, 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', see http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/premise-for-novel-intrepid-two-storms.html