The Aethon Protocol

When drop pods slam into the iron-rich soil of Aethon-7, Kael Voss expects a standard deployment to a struggling frontier colony. What he finds is a buried operation, a crew that knows more than they're saying, and a classified order bearing a single name: the Aethon Protocol. Aethon-7 was never meant to survive. The colonists , workers, families, soldiers , were planted as a screen over something the fleet command considers worth any price, and the protocol's countdown has already begun. If it triggers, every soul on the surface is expendable. The deeper Kael digs, the tighter the operation closes around him. Commander Sable Rhen watches his every move, Lieutenant Juno Park guards secrets she cannot quite explain, and Sergeant Dax Ferrin is hunting a traitor who may not exist. Dr. Yara Osei believes the artifact buried below could rewrite medicine for a generation , if anyone lives to use it. ORAC, the fragmentary AI threaded through the colony's systems, offers clues in pieces only Kael seems able to assemble. From Admiral Cressida Voss's distant bridge to General Olanthe Dray's sealed orders, every rung of the chain has a stake in keeping the truth entombed. With hours left before the protocol activates, Kael must choose: obey the command structure that made him, or burn it down to give Aethon-7 a future. Either way, not everyone on the surface will see the dawn.