Apprentice Cruise

About the Book

Fresh from his commencement at the Forces Command Interstellar Fleet Academy, Midshipman Ryan Lee and three of his classmates are posted to the FCSS Lovell for their Apprentice Cruise -- a one-year final examination designed to test their mettle under conditions of actual shipboard life, and prepare them for their commissions as Fleet officers.  

Lee, Joseph Cafaro, and Everett Jefferson are all training for commissions in the Fleet, while lovely Michelle Mayorga is aiming for a Security commission.  They learn fast and are soon part of the ship's company, under the firm but friendly tutelage of the ship's captain, Lt. Commander Ben Shelhorse.  What all four had thought would be a tough twelve months quickly settles into loose, easy camaraderie with the Lovell's crew.

But when an asteroid strikes the Lovell, crippling the ship and killing most of the senior staff, Lee finds himself in a position he was never prepared to handle.  He must find out why the accident happened and where the accident sent his ship -- and how to get his ship and his crewmates home safely.

When the Lovell encounters a world of intelligent insectoids who are on the verge of war with each other, Lee is forced to choose sides -- and violate regulations -- in order to provision his ship and keep his crew alive.  And when the truth about the asteroid strike is discovered, Lee must keep a terrible secret, one that has already cost many lives.

Somehow, Ryan Lee must use all his ingenuity to find a way to cross uncharted space and the eddies and whirlpools of time to bring the Lovell home.

It was supposed to be just a final examination.  But now, a failing grade means death -- for Lee, for his classmates, and for the entire ship's company!

About the Author

Jack Bagley is a native of Chicago who now lives in LaGrange, Georgia. He is a middle school history teacher, and for 24 years has been a radio broadcaster in his adopted home town. He has been a science fiction fan all of his life, and harbors a secret dream of being a game show host some day. Jack and his wife Runette have one daughter, Melissa. Apprentice Cruise, the first of the Ryan Lee series of books, is Jack’s first novel.