Book excerpt: Part V of the BEACON SAGA SERIAL. Try Part I for free, where available. A family struggles to reunite in the wake of a surprise attack. Peace slips away as mankind and its allied aliens mobilize their navies. Separated and questioned, Mally confronts the growing power of a militant shiplord, while Thrat and Rurek endure interrogation. Luckily, there are other forces at work in the fleet, and the scouts are not alone. Help will come from the least expected of places. But a different revelation will change Beacon forever. A serial installment of eighteen thousand words. Continue the Saga in Part VI.