Ascent - Volume One of the Galactic Citadel Series Citadel - a forgotten inheritance - An obsidian-black monument one hundred and forty feet long, thirty feet high in Redcliff, a small coastal town in Maine, prominently situated on a residential road close to the rocky shoreline, oddly out of place amongst old houses and quaint cottages, but somehow never noticed over uncounted years... until now. A lonely, pale wisp of a girl recently registered for the final year of high school. Her registration lists her as a life-long Redcliff resident and this apparently solid Citadel as her home. The lone survivor of a family car crash unexpectedly returned to consciousness after many months, moves to Redcliff to complete the final year of high school and pick up the pieces of his life. Unlike the locals, he is drawn to and fascinated by the crenelated Citadel and even more by... the girl. A physicist and his wife, guests of a rich industrialist friend, spend a day on his private cruiser, Getaway -... A nuclear submarine finds the boat strangely damaged and deserted, the occupants mysteriously missing, after being indifferently targeted and effortlessly damaged by a gigawatt-strength laser from a shadowy black shape high in the atmosphere. This laser makes the most powerful, current earth-bound prototype look like a child's worn-out flashlight. An isolated series of structures on a cold and barren planet, an almost inhuman, human jailor - brilliant blue eyes, gaunt grey skin and patchy hair, a jailor who in turn is a slave of a series of cold, ruthless 'Controllers' searching one sector of the galaxy for new options. An air force fighter jet broiled by a massive microwave beam crashes into the waters off the coast of Maine close to Citadel. An eclectic collection of items 'disappears': a trailer full of frozen food; a huge haul of exclusive jewellery; a motley assortment of vehicles and expensive ingots of super-pure beryllium. A long-overdue federal investigation. A civil evacuation, a military blockade and an attempted airborne invasion - one very ordinary helicopter against the cream of the armed forces - resulting in a deadly battle and an impossible escape. Thorby Rudbek has spent most of his life ensuring ionizing radiation safety for governments, health providers and energy companies in the West and the Middle East. He began by making radar and microwave circuitry for fighter jets. His relocations make him feel less focused on his nationality, and more like he is a Citizen of the Planet. "Ascent" is the first in the "Galactic Citadel" series about the mysterious girl from Arshonnan stock, the boy from Boston, and the Narlavs. Thorby's stories are fast-moving, feel-good SF adventures that centre around real heroes with old-fashioned values and morals. The series continues with "Passage" and "Impact." Look for "Cavalry" soon