Sarah Emma Edmonds enlisted because she believed in the Union cause; Melverina Peppercorn joined to stay near her twin brother. Although women were not allowed to enlist as soldiers in the Civil War, many disguised themselves as men and fought anyway.
When space pirates captured a little girl named Sassinak and murdered her parents, they had no idea they were sowing the seeds of their own destruction.
Young Commander Harrington's brilliance annoys her superiors who sweep her to the frontier backwater of Basilisk Station. There she finds unexpected opportunity for to display her talents for command. Shades of Horatio Hornblower.
