With Fire and Armor

Information that a mysterious new force has appeared in the New World, disrupting the centuries-old order there, pours into Europe in an unending stream. Strange visitors from another world recognize no authority above themselves and, in dealing with everyone, make people act by rules they impose—successfully building their own state: “Russian America.” Any attempts to stop it by using force invariably end badly. All of Europe—and above all Spain—must make an important choice: will it recognize the right of the newcomers to live as they want, or will it call them bandits who created a bandit “state” on the territory of its overseas colonies—one that must be eliminated by any means? One of the two possible options—and the cost of a mistake is enormous. A fragile peace still holds. And then, quite unexpectedly, the past of the crew of the “Theseus” resurfaces, bringing the question to the edge—whether Russian America will exist or not…