Book excerpt: The Destroyers used to be the stuff of legends, of myths, of bedtime stories told to alien children to scare them into living well. They... used to be. The galaxy is still reeling from the recent incursion of the Destroyers, an all-too-real enemy that more than lives up to their name. With another strike looming on the horizon, humanity leads the charge to uncover the secrets of subspace—a technology in widepread use across the galaxy but truly understoon by no one. The race is on for the scientific breakthrough that will save the Milky Way. Oh, and there's also some pirates having an adventure. But one thing at a time...