Introduction – A Space Opera with Werewolves.
In a fractured galaxy teetering on the edge of civil war, a freighter pilot, a rogue analyst, a scholarly k’rell, and a synth with secrets unravel a conspiracy that could topple the Empire—or save it.
Kyle Tokalau is a reluctant captain with a sarcastic streak and a soft spot for stray cats. His ship, the Aranui, is barely held together with spare parts and stubbornness. When he agrees to transport the brilliant but exiled analyst Twiglet Skunks—a short-legged, long-tongued alien mahjit with a mind sharper than most supercomputers—he doesn’t expect the trip to spiral into a race against a hidden enemy.
After a tense descent onto the remote Holroyd Base on Weddell Bay, Kyle and Twiglet find themselves entangled in the politics of the ancient and secretive Holroyd Society. Once a respected institution of interspecies science, the Society is now a shadow of its former self, fractured by fear and riddled with paranoia. The werewolf infiltration isn’t just a rumor—it’s a massacre. Thousands of undercover operatives have been slaughtered in a coordinated strike, and whispers of a deeper conspiracy point to none other than Lord Volker Chang, the Emperor’s right hand—and perhaps the galaxy’s most dangerous lycanthrope.
Among the survivors is Uful’lan Siirt, a massive, winged k’rell with the nose of a bloodhound and a heart of gold (not that he’d ever admit it). Alongside him is Shirl, a reserved and observant female synth who seems eerily similar to a missing clone of the Empire’s heir, Princess Virginia. When Shirl glimpses a holo-image of the princess and falters, even Kyle begins to suspect that his trusted crewmate may not be what—or who—she seems.
As tensions rise and identities blur, Twiglet must confront painful memories and lost friendships—none more heart-wrenching than the betrayal of Durrell Wang, once her closest ally, now revealed as a werewolf spy. But was he really the traitor they claim he was? And why does Fern Lescovar, the ambitious new leader of the base, seem so eager to steer the narrative?
At the heart of the mystery lies a forgotten planet: Tr’lang, a world few dare speak of, and even fewer survive visiting. Could it be the origin of the ancient lycanthropic plague—and the key to ending it?
The Empire waits for no one. But for Twiglet, Kyle, and their unlikely companions, it may have to.
The Empire Can Wait is an intelligent, fast-paced space opera that blends political conspiracy, alien intrigue, and philosophical questions of identity, loyalty, and resistance. With snappy dialogue, multi-layered characters, and deeply imaginative world-building, this story invites you to explore a universe where not even DNA is safe from deception—and where sometimes, the only way to survive is to howl with the wolves.
