Slow Boat to China

Pegram Kimble, an above-average storekeeper, is on his way to Tedesco in the Vasco de Gama system. For years, the Federation Navy dumped its malcontents here. As a result, morale suffered and the system became vulnerable. Kimble's task-to whip the main supply base into shape, the first step in the Navy's return to Vasco de Gama. From the day he first sets foot on Tedesco, however, Kimble finds shoot outs, smugglers, ambushes, pirates, mercenaries, traitors in his own ranks and even the eyes of Tedesco's most powerful beautiful and powerful women. Kimble must take on new duties and missions far above his abilities, moves that may cost him his life. Kimble and an overwhelmed Navy must rebuild a broken system and hold the line against a brutal enemy hell-bent on bringing its fruitless war to Vasco de Gama and imperiling the lives of millions.