{"product_id":"dead-captain-protocol-e-m-thomben-9798293918720","title":"Dead Captain Protocol: Book One of the Mercer's Run Series","description":"\u003cb\u003eDead Captain Protocol\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBook 1 of the Mercer's Run Series\u003cbr\u003eNote: Revised Edition corrects minor text issues identified in the first release (September 2025).\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBy E.M. Thomben\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the Author: The Dead Captain Protocol began as a handful of rough notes and a half-formed idea, set aside and revisited over quite a while. Recently, I committed to finishing it-and I'm glad I did. Enjoy the read. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTom \"Irish\" Mercer didn't sign up for command. He signed maintenance logs. Re-routed coolant feeds. Filed thermal degradation reports for jump coils that never got replaced. A veteran-turned-systems tech just looking to keep his head down on the long-haul freighter \u003ci\u003eHarrowgate\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cp\u003eBut when a containment breach rocks Deck Four and wipes out the bridge crew, Mercer wakes up in a corridor full of smoke, blood, and silence-and no one left to outrank him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe AI, Gallow, is glitching or gone. Communications are down. Engineering is sealed under emergency lockdown. And worst of all, the ship's black cargo-five cryogenically-contained synthetic warforms-wasn't just classified.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of them is missing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, by sheer survival and Fleet hierarchy, Mercer is the acting captain of a ship teetering on the edge of catastrophe. With only a fractured crew, a sarcastic security officer who doesn't trust anyone (least of all him), and a sidearm that's two rounds shy of useful, he has to restore power, figure out who sabotaged \u003ci\u003eHarrowgate\u003c\/i\u003e, and stop whatever's crawling around the lower decks before it kills the rest of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause this wasn't an accident. The blast was deliberate. And someone-somewhere-wants \u003ci\u003eHarrowgate\u003c\/i\u003e to go dark.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePermanently.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDead Captain Protocol\u003c\/b\u003e is the explosive launch of \u003ci\u003eMercer's Run\u003c\/i\u003e, a new hard sci-fi space opera series from \u003cb\u003eE.M. Thomben\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Echo Cartel\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Absent Mind Protocol\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFast-paced and grounded in real science, this is a story built for readers who love \u003cb\u003egritty survival, shipboard problem-solving, dry humour under pressure, and conspiracies that unravel one failed subsystem at a time.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are no prophecies here. No chosen ones. Just a stubborn ex-tech trying to keep his ship together while someone-or something-wants it scattered across the void.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e E. M. Thomben\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798293918720\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/08\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 266\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.72lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.66d","brand":"E. M. Thomben","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49170382946559,"sku":"9798293918720","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/dead-captain-protocol-e-m-thomben-9798293918720","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}