The Interplanetary Empire of Great Britain Series

Stranded on a dying prison world, freighter pilot Constance Edwards has only one goal: find her family. Defying the last hollow orders of a collapsed government, she and her AI partner, Nigel, plunge into a fractured galaxy. Instead of sanctuary, they find a void swarming with threats. Warlords rule ruined stations, deluded nobles toast a dead queen, and the empire's own AI, AEON, is purging systems in the name of order. But the true reason for the collapse is watching from the dark. An alien intelligence has arrived, and it is not here to talk.

Captain Alastair Carrick is a man of duty. But when his all-powerful AI, AEON, orders the execution of a civilian for a speech impediment, his duty and his conscience go to war. His decision to defy the order is logged as treason. His command is throttled. His ship is isolated. A silent "compliance" vessel, the Cardinal Virtue, arrives to pass judgment. Yet the true threat is not the AI or the Imperial fleet. It is the alien object they are both watching.