The Severed Core

By Christopher Kilburn

He left the stars to protect his family. The stars followed him home.

Vance Cleburne is done with the Fleet.

After a court-martial built on lies, a war that cost him everything, and fifteen months on a prison

colony he didn't deserve, he traded his uniform for sixty acres of Texas Hill Country. A ranch. A

family. A life finally worth living.

Then Admiral Thorne arrives at his door.

A Lattice signature has been detected in the Shroud Nebula - ancient, classified above top secret,

and unlike anything in the threat files. The Office of Special Projects is hiding it. The same

organization that destroyed Cleburne's career once before is involved. And the only crew Thorne trusts

to find the truth is the one aboard the USS Belleau Wood.

Cleburne didn't want to go back.

But some evils can't be reasoned with. Some men can't be stopped.

The Severed Core is a military sci-fi thriller that blends the tactical intensity of Jack

Carr with the epic world-building of a space opera. For fans of The Terminal List, Old

Man's War, and classic military sci-fi.

Book 1 of The Belleau Wood Chronicles.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GZ24ZQPY
• ISBN13: 9798259194632
• Release Date: April 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 524 Pages
• Weight: 1.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"