Carl Obermeier, a cadet at the Time Corps Academy, discovers he has been admitted to his second year on Conditional status. This is due to his high “emotional liability.” He is advised to mediate and study the precepts and disciplines of the Corps. But on his first day back, his class is shown an example of Temporal Crime committed by the Time Pirates, enemy of the Ordered Society, and he is smitten by the pirate Armand’s beauty. Troubled, Carl remains true to the Corps when he is kidnapped by the pirates and meets Armand face to face.<br><br>Armand lives a free and easy life with the pirates ... until he sees Carl, and realizes the cadet has fallen for him.<br><br>As the pirates deprogram Carl from the rigid tenets of the Ordered Society, the two men fall in love. But a pirate’s life is never safe, and when Armand fails to return from an Action against the OS Marines, Carl steps up to save him. Unfortunately the men are caught on either side of the Time War. Can they find their way out?

Renegades from the Time War

They passed several other pirates, who made derisive remarks, evidently directed at him. When they were about to enter another room, the small white man called to another pirate who was approaching them along the hallway.


“Hey Armand! You caught us another recruit! Thanks, man!”


Carl turning his head and saw the grinning face of another pirate. Despite his lopsided perspective, Carl caught a sense of this pirate’s beauty—and thought it might actually be the pirate he had seen in the probe field committing robbery and sexual assault.


They entered the room, and the big man deposited Carl with unexpected gentleness into a large chair fixed to the floor, and strapped him in place. Sensor units were positioned around Carl’s head.


Chapter 11