Coup DβEtat
α’αααΈααααα βααΆααα‘ααααα
An insidious cabal has decided to change the direction of the United Alliance of Stars (UAS) with a coup dβetatβbut not through a military takeover. They have devised a subtler coup: the manipulation of the Committee, the fifteen-star system that sets policy for the UAS.
This group of terrorists, calling itself WEPβfor βWe the Peopleββhave issued an ultimatum: revise the UAS Constitution, or they will kill those who oppose the change. And good to their word, shortly afterward, Committee delegates are being killed.
The UAS Committee enlists their de facto troubleshooter, Anna Paulus, to shut down the cabal, but they insists she leave the NIA and manage UAS Committee Security. For Anna itβs a nightmare scenario, leaving her safe and comfortable world for a completely new environment dominated by macho men with years of combat experience. Adding to her concerns, she can imagine herself WEPβs prime target.
Anna soon realizes that things are not what they seem, and the cabal is quick to recognize her involvement as a potential problem. To make matters worse, the cabal is only months from succeedingβand only Anna and her red-headed krait stand in their way.
ααΆαααΆααααααΆα αα·αααα·ααΆαααααα
α’αααΈβα’ααααα·αααα
Clem Daems is a native of Chicago and a graduate of the University of Arizona. He served twenty-two years in the US Air Force and has worked as a software engineer, course developer, and adjunct professor teaching mathematics and computer science. He began his first novel at age seventy, several years after his retirement. His first novel, coauthored with Jeanne Tomlin, was a 2010 Eppie finalist in Fiction/Fantasy. Daems is an active member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and lives in Tucson, Arizona, with his wife.
Gabrielle de Cuir is a Grammy-nominated and Audie Award-winning producer whose narration credits include the voice of Valentine in Orson Scott Cardβs Ender novels, Ursula K. Le Guinβs The Tombs of Atuan, and Natalie Angierβs Woman, for which she was awarded AudioFile magazineβs Golden Earphones Award. She lives in Los Angeles where she also directs theatre and presently has several projects in various stages of development for film.
