W D Smart

The Seven Scepters of the Acrocryph W D Smart

The Seven Scepters of the Apocryph is a fast-paced, fantasy-filled, space opera. It tells the story of Jack Finder, a disgraced and dishonorably discharged Valiant Space Forces captain, who bought an old spacecraft, the Ace of Spades, and now engages in unauthorized space salvage and gray-market trading. His constant companion and only "crew member" is the Ace's onboard AI, Ephemeris. Finder and Ephemeris have a complicated relationship. They depend on each other to accomplish their missions and keep their ship safe, but these two activities are often at odds with each other. The resulting conflicts are worked out between the two in stark, contentious, and sometimes very biting interchanges. The story centers around a client who seeks out Finder to take her to various planets, most of which have highly restricted access, to find a series of ancient scepters thought to have special powers. Her name is Carlina Jubilant, and she is a young, carefree, and very naïve xenoarchaeologist. The three of them, Finder, Ephemeris, and Carlina, join together to go on an extended and adventure-filled search through many different worlds full of fantastical creatures for The Seven Scepters of the Apocryph.