The Squatter’s Guide to Defending the Universe

“Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock! Tear it down, tear it down, tear it down! I’m the strongest bomber!”

Fifteen years in the interstellar demolition business. Four hundred and thirty-seven planets. He was the company’s sharpest weapon. Negotiations, evacuations, crackdowns, cleanup: he’d handled them all.

This time, he was ordered to demolish a dying, abandoned planet. He thought it would be just another forced eviction, but the moment he landed, he ran into a group of desperate holdouts, a mysterious little girl, and an old case buried thirty years ago.

His missing mentor, falsified records, a vanished death list, a forbidden device hidden deep in an abandoned mine… Every clue pointed back to the company he’d served for half his life.

Worse still, the person the company sent to oversee the mission was his ex-girlfriend.

She was an inspector, sent to investigate him;

And he had just decided to betray the company.

He used to tear down other people’s homes for the company.

This time, he wanted to tear down the whole company for this planet.