book cover of Defiant
 

Defiant

(2026)
(The fourth book in the 'What-if' Thrillers series)
A novel by

 
 
What if the USA built a ship designed to fight the next war, not the last one?

The crew of the USS Defiant is alone.
Surrounded.
800 miles from safety.

It’s exactly the kind of fight she was designed for.

After ‘Western sponsored pirates’ in the Malacca Straits attack a Chinese-flagged vessel, China announces ‘Operation Harmonious Sea’ – a powerful Chinese naval presence in the vital international waterway intended to ensure peaceful passage for Chinese vessels. China warns the navies of Western nations to stay out of the Straits for the duration of its anti-piracy operation, ‘in order to avoid costly miscalculations.’

Into this maelstrom sails the floating fortress the
USS Defiant and its uncrewed escorts, deploying from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to execute a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) through the Malacca Straits and challenge Chinese control of the maritime highway that links the US 5th and 7th fleets. China warns that any US naval vessel interfering with Operation Harmonious Sea will be regarded as hostile and says it will ‘use all means necessary’ to protect the safety of Chinese flagged vessels and their crews.

In the Ship Mission Center of the
Defiant, Executive Officer Melissa Mayeaux has the deck as China sends a taskforce from its Ream Naval Base in Cambodia to intercept the Defiant and prevent it entering the Strait. China’s message is clear. The Strait is ours. As Mayeaux moves the Defiant from ‘peacetime cruising’ condition to ‘wartime cruising'' and calls her Captain to the SMC, six Chinese stealth aircraft suddenly appear on radar just 80km from Defiant, headed directly for her.

Mayeaux realizes
the Defiant will soon be outnumbered. She is 800 nautical miles from the nearest friendly port. There are no fighter aircraft stationed at Diego Garcia. No other US warships or submarines within range. If the situation turns ‘kinetic’ Defiant will be entirely alone in the Indian Ocean, facing a numerically superior Chinese force. But this is exactly what Defiant was designed for.

‘Bring it,’ Mayeaux thinks to herself.

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Genre: Thriller



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