Michael Vetter

Gideon's Sword Michael Vetter

Gideon's Sword begins immediately after the Rapture when the multi-national crew of the International Space Station (ISS) watches atomic wars and their aftermath destroy most of the United States and kill one-fourth of the world's population. National allegiances on the space station soon split between the majority-Russian crew and two friends, an American and Israeli. When a Russian resupply ship approached the ISS with food and supplies, astronauts Ryan Legend and Gabriel Weiss take drastic action that saves their lives. They dub their new home Blue Star after the Star of David on the Israeli flag. Their rescue from space eventually comes from an unlikely place when the Remnant Rescue organization launches an antique rocket found in an aerospace museum and three of their own astronauts arrive at the Blue Star. What the two castaway astronauts think is a rescue mission to take them home is in fact an ingenious space shield as Jews begin a time known as Jacob's Trouble or the Great Tribulation. Gideon's Sword is also the name of the space platform from which captured Israeli atomic missiles with non-lethal electromagnetic pulse (EMP) warheads rain down on Imperium forces. A Syrian mechanized division, a strategic fortress, and the re-built city of Babylon all become targets. Not knowing the source of the mysterious attacks from space, the Imperium's kingdoms turn on each other in a fierce nuclear exchange. Before the astronauts can return home, they must evacuate a Christian from the giant Venture space cruiser that orbits nearby after a seven-year expedition to Mars. The rescue is a race to leave before a satellite collides with what remains of the ISS and kills everyone.