Bedlam: Book One of the Prison Ship Sheol Saga 2023

The Bedlam Galaxy lies at the heart of the Laniakea Supercluster and is a focal point for all of the wormhole transits spanning that great expanse. Among the many races drawn to and inhabiting its 10,000+ stars, humanity is one of the most recent and longest anticipated additions. Once nearly driven to the brink of extinction by violent and irreconcilable gender divides within the dominant cultures of their homeworld, new technologies emerged to save the species from their own folly and helped propel them into a new age of interstellar exploration. Inevitably, that drive into the stars led to the discovery of their own wormhole transit at the edge of the solar system, and from there they ran straight into the waiting arms of Bedlam's great multi-species intergalactic trade and defense alliance, known colloquially as the Alliant. Vahkis Greye was born a century after those treaties were signed, but such lofty things held little interest to the son of a poor asteroid miner and his synthetic companion. All Greye wanted out of life was to make enough coin to open his own service and repair shop somewhere in the galactic rim, where his talents were really needed and would be appreciated. No more bouncing between odd jobs on far-star space stations, outer-system asteroid mines, and deep space hauler lanes. He wanted a place he could call home, and after two decades of scrimping and saving every last coin he earned, he finally had just enough for tuition to an accredited Systems Repair Tech simulatorium and the rare and expensive Adjustable Hard Light Projection multi-tool required to complete it. Degree in one hand, A.H.L.P in the other, Greye thought he might finally have a shot at his dream. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans. An unexpected early-morning service call from one Captain Rita Mari of the Prison Ship Sheol arrived with an offer he literally couldn't refuse. Within hours the unlucky technician found himself alone and trapped aboard an un-crewed and mortally damaged Megalith Class Supercarrier surrounded by violent gangs of murderous female inmates, hounded by a genocidal race of alien shock troopers, demonized and hunted by his own kind, and welcome pretty much nowhere within the galactic spiral. All he'd ever wanted was to be left alone with his reasonable little dream of repairing the space ships he'd always found so interesting. Instead, fate threw him into a situation so absurd even a life-long survivor of the worst hives of scum and villainy the Rim had to offer cannot see a way out of it. At least not without help. Be forewarned! In addition to bawdy action-filled adventures, criminal hijinks, and the occasional exploration of dark and heavy topics, this series contains depictions of alien morality and cultural norms, as well as relationships that could be considered non-traditional... you know, for humans.