Outcast's Parallax

Humanity expanded into the stars until encountering a hostile alien race. After a confrontation, authorities negotiated a treaty, establishing a fragile peace and restricting human settlement to within a 1000-light-year bubble around Earth.

Cal is a former military contractor hiding out on Earth and nursing a vendetta against Hawk, the man he blames for his wife's death. When an old comrade tracks him down with news about Hawk conspiring with the alien enemy, he is forced to confront his past. Returning to the life he forsook could offer him the opportunity for vengeance and redemption, but can he keep his desire for personal revenge in proper perspective if it conflicts with the greater good of the galaxy?

Evie is a journalist and mother in one of the largest colonies in the galaxy. She finds herself thrust into a nightmare. Abducted and isolated in an interrogation room, she's at the mercy of unknown captors with cryptic intentions. Can she find a way to escape her captors, and if she does, can she ever return to her life again?

They will both have to navigate conspiracies and hard truths they might not be ready to face.