The Spaceship Destroyer Repulse has just fought against a Hunter Killer ship and is surprised to still be alive. While the severe damage is repaired they can see the shell of the ship they faced in combat. Commander Johnson makes the decision for a boarding party to head across. While they were winning the war, these new hunter killer ships had turned the tide, and this is an opportunity to find something, anything out about them. As the boarding shuttle prepares to leave, there is a catastrophe with the Repulse and it breaks apart as it tries to move off, leaving a few escape pods fleeing for a nearby planet and the shuttle all alone and facing the Hunter killer in front of it. On board the hunter killer, one lone consciousness tries work out what is happening and how they can help repair the ship and start it working again. Matters come to a head as the shuttle crew boards the hunter killer and both sides look to survive.

This is a short sci-fi story, telling the tale of two sides caught in a war and the effect that the single encounter has on them. While the setting is set in the far future, it still concentrates on Commander Johnson and her crew, the decisions she makes and the impact it has on her. The science may play its part, but it is not as important as how the crew reacts to the situation making it easy to relate to the characters as they strive to recover from the situation. The writing makes the most of this as it skilfully shows the working of the ships and it’s crew. As a result, you hear not just the everyday thoughts and feelings of Commander Johnson, but how she relates to it and what her crew means to her. I will be honest, it did take a couple of readthroughs to put all the pieces together and determine what each part is referring to, but having done so I realised how well constructed the story is. It also helps to make you think about what is happening on both sides and keep the twist towards the end well hidden until it became the right time to reveal it.

Looking through the book the formatting and layout of the book is fine, and it is easy enough to see the switches between the various points of view and scene changes. Important enough when trying to understand both sides of the story. I didn’t notice any spelling or grammar issues, indeed the use of language is cleverly used to hide some of the secrets within the story.

Overall, this is a definitely one for fans of the genre and with several stories, both short and long, set in the same universe there are plenty of further books to read if you enjoy this one.