The novel “The Fortress in Orion” by Mike Resnick was published for the first time in 2014. It’s the first novel in the Dead Enders series.

Colonel Nathan Pretorius is entrusted with the most difficult secret missions behind enemy lines and at the end of the last one he died for a few minutes before the doctors managed to bring him back to life. For this reason, he no longer wants to be involved in more missions on behalf of the Democracy but General Cooper finds a way to convince him to lead a very important mission for the fate of the war against the Transkei Coalition.

The Democracy has managed to grow a clone of Michkag, a key General in the Transkei Coalition: being able to replace the real one would mean allowing him to influence their enemies to positions more oriented towards a peace treaty. Michkag is constantly under protection and Nathan Pretorius chooses a group of unlikely heroes to infiltrate the fortress on Orion to proceed with the replacement.