Excerpt Tour: Lieutenant Henry Gallant by H. Peter Alesson

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

In an era of genetic engineering, Lieutenant Henry Gallant is the only Natural (non-genetically enhanced) officer left in the fleet. Many of his superiors, including rival Anton Neumann, have expressed concern he is not up to the challenge. However, his unique mental abilities have proven essential to the defense of the United Planets in its fight against the Titan invaders.

Serving on the first FTL prototype, the Intrepid, on its maiden voyage to Tau Ceti, Gallant finds a lost colony on the planet Elysium. Cyrus Wolfe and his son, manipulate planet politics against the democratic opposition led by James Hepburn and his granddaughter Alaina. Wolfe has allied himself with an ancient Artificial Intelligence which had lain dormant on the planet for millennia, but is now willing to protect the colonists against the Titans.

With Alaina’s help, Gallant discovers the ancient AI has a sinister ulterior motive and he matches his unique and exceptional mind against the complexity of machine intelligence to escape the ultimate trap and prevent the extermination of humanity.

In Lieutenant Henry Gallant, one man pits the naked human mind against the perspicacity of machine intelligence.

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt:

Aliana

Bang!

The noise startled everyone.

The conference room door had been slammed against the wall with enough force to produce the loud bang—calling a halt to the proceedings and focusing attention on the arrival of a young slender blonde with a shapely figure, dressed in rugged outdoor hiking gear, who marched boldly into the room. She was about a year or two younger than Gallant, perhaps twenty.

She dominated everyone’s attention. It wasn’t because she was so shockingly belligerent as to require an immediate rejoinder, though she was clearly intent on being provocative—nor was she was so strikingly beautiful so as to inflame male passions, yet she was certainly attractive. No, she dominated the situation, despite portraying a rebellious joy of life, because of her defiant bearing, her air of resolution, and her dogged expression—all of which were so clearly evident—by marching, hands on hips, into the focal point of the room, thereby demanding the immediate and undivided attention of all present.

“Alaina, you are interrupting important state business. What do you want?” demanded Wolfe, standing up to express his annoyance with her theatrical appearance.

Wolfe’s carefully crafted mask of self-assurance had slipped.

“My grandfather is unable to attend, so he asked me to take his place, which is his prerogative. Certainly that’s allowed? Isn’t it?” she asked with an authoritative voice, shifting her gaze from one council member to another, causing them to fidget in their seats as her stare met theirs.

Clearly internal politics were at play, but Gallant was wary of how he should interact with this new dynamic in the room.

Wolfe heaved a sign of resignation and sputtered, “Well—of course—under those circumstances, you’re welcome. Please sit. Here, sit next to me.”

Alaina brushed back her long flowing blonde hair and walked toward Gallant instead. “Well aren’t you going to introduce me to this officer?” she asked.

Again Wolfe heaved a sign of resignation, this time deeper and more sustained. “Lieutenant Gallant, this is Alaina Hepburn, granddaughter of Professor James Hepburn, a leading citizen, a member of this council, and our leading expert on cybernetics.”

“I’m glad to meet you, Ms. Hepburn,” said Gallant, standing and offering his hand.

“A pleasure, Lieutenant.” Alaina bowed her head slightly, but kept her hands clasped to her hips.

A moment later, to Gallant’s surprise, she flashed him a luminescent smile and took the seat beside him, tapping her fingers impatiently on the top of the table. With her hair pulled back from her face, the creamy beauty of her skin was exposed.

Gallant took his place beside her.

She helped herself to a cup and filled it with the coffee-like beverage. She sipped slowly as if waiting for the meeting to resume, all the while studying him surreptitiously.

“Are you enjoying our local cuisine?” she asked, meeting his gaze.

“Very much so.”

“Here, try this fowl. It’s one of my favorites.”

“Thank you.”

Aliana took charge of Gallant, commandeering his attention right along with the meeting.

Gallant’s face grew rosy under her scrutiny. He felt self-conscious, because admittedly, he didn’t look his best—after all, he had recently been in battle and was forced to wear a ragged uniform.

Watch the book video:



About the Author:

As a scientist and author specializing in technology innovation, H. Peter Alesso has over twenty years research experience at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). As Engineering Group Leader at LLNL he led a team of computer scientists and engineers in innovative applications across a wide range of supercomputers, workstations and networks. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a B.S. and served in the U.S. Navy on nuclear submarines before completing an M.S. and an advanced Engineering Degree at M.I.T. He has published several software titles and numerous scientific journal and conference articles, and he is the author/co-author of seven books.

Website ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Blog

Buy Volume 1 of the Henry Gallant Saga at Amazon.

Book Reviews for Volume 1:

Past Reviews of the first volume: Midshipman Henry Galant @2013

"The author has created a wonderful piece of work with his first novel in the Henry Gallant Saga. Between Henry Gallant beginning his new life on the United Planets' battle cruiser Repulse and trying to save the world the author has came up with it all. Henry Gallant is an admirable character with many wonderful features such as courage, intelligence, humility, kindness and special powers. ... the odds stacked against him pretty high. But maybe through it all, Kelsey will see the remarkable things about him." Ashley Patts, Teenage Rush teenagerush.blogspot.com

"This story moves along at a swift pace, with interesting character development and plot surprises. The characters are complete and engaging. This could develop into a good series." Rae

"Its style and flavor reminded me of The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell." - JJH

"Space Opera at its finest. Rousing read, introverted young man against impossible odds, a girl to win or lose, an enemy or is he? Way too much fun...can't wait for the next one." - vrzepka

Buy Book Two of the series: Lieutenant Henry Gallant at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, or Goodreads. a Rafflecopter giveaway