Starships Saga — William L. Culbertson

Humans reach for the stars in mighty, fusion-powered ships. Each craft is controlled by an intelligent entity and is capable of carrying a whole colony to a new world. Set in the far future, this work of classic science fiction chronicles a decidedly human undertaking.Dawn: Chessa Valentine, leading research to develop the control system for the first starship, discovers evidence of a chilling murder. But is it really murder? Whatever the crime, the implications threaten Chessa's life as well as the whole Project Starship.Unbound: Captain Tak Meller commands the starship Odysseus on a mission to deliver an unprepared group of colonists to a marginally habitable world. Troubled by the ethical implications of this task, Meller's job is further complicated by his attraction to the daughter of the leader of the religious zealots who are his passengers.Resurrection: Penn is sent to stand honor watch aboard the Artemis. The former starship had journeyed to the stars but now orbits Earth, a symbol of mankind's retreat. While on duty, Penn gets new orders: The Artemis is to be scraped. This melancholy milestone is cancelled by an unexpected objection.Free Mars: Dr. Tate Richardson's trip to the Moon for a mathematics conference is interrupted by raiders from the Republic of Mars. Kidnapped to Mars, Tate's unappreciated talents prove the key to his abductors' own starship project.Song in the Dark: Griffen Kees, captain of the starship Prometheus, is relieved of his command just as the ship is given the most exciting mission in history—first contact with an alien civilization. Assigned to a bureaucratic underworld, Captain Kees's initiative forges a new destiny for himself—and mankind.