Ship Of Storms

Mars is Earth's most distant colony, and for good reason. Apparent deep psychological problems involving the giant outer planets have barred any further outward expansion. And now even Mars is breaking away, as its rebel leaders seem more than willing to risk hostilities with Earth's formidable military. To make matters worse, in history's first interplanetary war ever, the hellish "Jupiter Effect" resurfaces. This means launching an urgent study to resolve that age-old problem before Terran authorities can even hope to put down the rebellion. Dr. Paul Werner, psyche-reader, is assigned. But the subject Werner finds best suited for the study, Marcus Ramsey-Legend, is himself a source of problems. He has already wasted one lifetime, mostly as a "Villain," trained in the role by the Enclave of the Villainy. Now, having undergone the medical process of rejuvenation, he has managed to put his second life into disarray. He's currently in the second year of a 43-year prison sentence for his violent past, and it's obvious to Dr. Werner at first meeting that he's developed a disdain for all authority. Even with his tentative cooperation, the triggers for his entire persona must be unraveled before all of the psychological implications related to The Jupiter Effect can be studied--with the added complication that he has a hidden agenda of his own. As that agenda takes him into space in Earth's premier battleship, he finds that war is just the beginning of what is likely to be the ride of his life--and death.