Commander Ellen Ryu, Lieutenant Kael Sidassian, and the crew of the starship Audacity have met every challenge thrown their way, from super soldiers, to telepaths, to former rivals with axes to grind.

Each step has brought them closer to Ellen’s ultimate goal—finding and defeating Dr. Arakovic, the scientist who stole her team and her promising Union career. The woman who nearly stole her sanity.

But the Songbirds created by Arakovic are growing in power and influence. With the clues adding up, the Audacity crew begins to suspect the problem runs deeper than they ever expected.

They’ll dive into battle—but this time they may find themselves underwater.

Not every battle can be won. Ellen Ryu never let that stop her from trying. But with his newfound daughter and new friends to protect, will the cost be too high for Kael to stay by her side?

Jump into this epic adventure in a galaxy where abuse of science is rampant and hope is all some people have left. Character-driven space opera with a mix of humor, action, and romance, SONGBIRD RISING is the fourth book in the Audacity Saga.

Now available!

Zeta Arakovic leaned back in her chair, its old joints creaking, and frowned at the steaming cup of tea on her desk. Birdsong filled the air, intertwining with a delicate symphony piped straight from Earth.

The air, the air. She wrinkled her nose. The damn recycled air. Always smelled faintly of sulfur and ozone, but it was what it was. No one ever said saving existence from itself would be luxurious.

The music—supposedly a new masterpiece by Earth standards—was tolerable, the smell barely so. But she managed. She soldiered on. Until now, she’d always thought the work was worth it. 

Yet the steaming cup held a faint question. Was it, truly? After the recent developments?

She’d learned long ago to work in tough conditions. She could ignore sub-par amenities, sub-par equipment, sub-par living quarters, in favor of her cause.

Uneasily, her dark eyes twitched from the tea to the dozen displays arrayed before her, her children and their work. Her children, her subjects, her people. Whatever they were. Hundreds of arms laboring away, roughly doing her bidding.

But not truly hers. Not anymore. Not with what they were undertaking now. That had been unanticipated. 

~~

“Is your process nearly complete, Kael?” Xi asked. “Have you located a problem?”

Kael quickly jammed shut the battery cabinet and rubbed the back of his neck. What was taking him so long? The laser artillery was just fine. He was the one malfunctioning. 

“No, no, nothing’s wrong.” He checked off the box on his tablet. “Just a little tired, that’s all.”

As if to prove his point, he yawned. 

He hadn’t been on the Audacity long enough for basic maintenance to have become boring. He hadn’t even had real responsibilities for the first month or two. Now, he’d taken over some of Bri’s engineering load, doing routine checks of the guns, plus some robotics maintenance.

Why did Xi care if he had finished, anyway? He squatted down to check for corrosion or pests behind the cooling-system control panel. 

Might as well be new, still factory-shiny. Check.

The care they’d received so far had been meticulous, the action minimal. He checked it twice anyway, then three times. He would not be the one to screw up tasks Bri or Fern had entrusted to him.

He had enough tasks to screw up already—like being Shirin’s father. The growing unease that ate at him didn’t help. What was he even supposed to do? Stop by and visit? He did stop by, nearly every day, but the sideways looks she gave him were hardly reassuring. Was he supposed to buy her things? Provide somehow? Did she even want a parent—or would she prefer he leave her the hell alone? 

Maybe his brief relationship with her mother over a decade ago didn’t entitle Shirin to anything. Or maybe it entitled her to everything. It seemed the ‘verse was leaving that choice up to him. 

He and Shirin were complete strangers. Yet they were blood. Family. He didn’t even know what that damn word meant. He’d always, always been alone.

Until this ship, and everything cradled inside it.