The Barton Chronicles

A highly regarded Lieutenant Commander, Janice Barton, is caught up in a disastrous operation to capture pirates who have been raiding the shipping routes which Earth’s colonies rely on for fuel for their fusion reactors. Janice has a gift; she is fully precognitive. During the mission she hears of the mysterious deaths of her husband and daughter and learns that her commanding officer is compromised. At a critical moment her ability deserts her, she is injured, and a planets population is incinerated. She is made to take the fall for the incident and is emotionally wrecked. She is facing a situation she has never faced before; she cannot rely on her gift and is now wracked by self-doubt. She earns a living working as a private investigator. She wants her navy career back again. Offered a simple job to collect information from a rival company but things go wrong and her partner is killed. She escapes to hand over the data to her employer. She finds that she is working for Anthony Greg, a senior vice president of Anilla Shipping the third largest shipping company in the known galaxy. He tells her that she is a clone in a world where clones have been illegal and outlawed for 50 years after clones “malfunctioned” and destroyed half of Earth’s power grid. At the same time, she hears from an officer she worked with previously, Nate Harrison. It seems that merchant ships are disappearing. Pirates are not the cause. He wants her help to investigate what is going on. He wants her to work with another officer from her past, Lieutenant Carol Anderson. Janice is reluctant, her doubts trouble her and now she believes that her whole existence is illegal and a lie. Anthony Greg and Harrison eventually persuade her to join the team. They soon discover that merchant ship navigation computers are being sabotaged, something which is supposed to be impossible. They further discover that Anilla Shipping seems to be immune from the disappearances. Is this just a corporate grab for power or something more sinister? Against her instincts, Janice finds herself digging deeper into the mystery while also trying to discover more about her origins and her consciousness and keep that from the team. Janice and Carol begin to put the pieces together and Janice begins rebuilding her confidence when Harrison tells them that their investigation is being terminated. Around this time Janice discovers a secret cloning facility operated by Anilla Shipping personnel and, surprise, aliens. While trying to escape with the information Janice is captured and interrogated by the executive assistant to the Anilla CEO, Henry Tyrell. He reveals himself to be an alien but drops another bomb on Janice. She is not a clone. She was the aliens first attempt at creating humans that worked but her precognition was an unexpected side effect. He reveals that the aliens are trying to prevent further human expansion and their discovery. They are fearful that humans will eradicate them having witnessed what humans have done to “less civilized” populations on Earth via our broadcasts. The alien race is strong in biological sciences but weak in physical. Working with Anilla, the aliens have stripped the captured merchant ships of their navigation computers. They are the hardest things to make. They built a fleet of warships with the intent of destroying the Colonial Navy. They have assured themselves of victory as they have been slowly replacing senior navy officers and members of the government with their clones. Janice is freed from capture by the reappearance of Anthony Greg. He tells Janice that he is also an alien but working for the alien government. They opposed the military plan to crush the humans, hoping to come to a diplomatic solution. He has been observing Tyrell and Janice in hopes of thwarting the military’s plan. He tells her that her husband was also alien and working for Greg, he suspects Tyrell found out and had him killed. Her daughter was simply collateral damage. He hopes that by freeing Janice she can complete his mission. Janice does escape and contacts Carol Anderson. Currently Anderson is aboard the flag ship. They rendezvous and Janice, now understanding her origin and how her gifts work, assumes command. She pulls a fleet together and they attack the alien-built ships, destroying them. The alien clones are identified and removed, Harrison is promoted to head of the navy, Janice is offered a job back with the navy but is not sure this is what she really wants. Diplomatic relations are established with the alien race.