{"product_id":"the-resisters-4-operation-inferno-isbn-9780307978554","title":"The Resisters #4: Operation Inferno","description":"Million-copy bestselling Halo author and game developer Eric Nylund brings action-packed science fiction to a young audience with the fourth book in the Resisters series. As Ethan and the other Resisters explore Titan Base, they learn more about human technology prior to the alien Ch'zar's conquering of Earth. But before they can fully understand the weapons now at their disposal, the Ch'zar find their new base! The Resisters have just one chance left—if they can destroy the aliens' huge industrial complex, they can buy themselves some time. But to do it, they'll have to infiltrate the Ch'zar collective and risk being absorbed by the hive mind.Eric Nylund is a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling and World Fantasy  Award nominated author. He has written science fiction and fantasy  novels, comic books, and has helped make many blockbuster video games.    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Eric has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in chemistry. He graduated  from the prestigious Clarion West Writer’s Workshop in 1994. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his family.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e You can learn more about Eric at www.ericnylund.net.Ethan Blackwood set the report he'd been writing on his desk. Well, technically, it wasn't his desk. He ran a hand over the worn plastic simulated wood-grain surface. He was just borrowing the thing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Like the room. Like the entire base.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He sat alone in a huge office. The walls were covered with dead computer screens, bookshelves (minus the books), and blank spots that might've once been covered with pictures or maps. The room was three times the size of Colonel Winter's office.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He glanced at the status report he'd just written.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sterling Squadron was falling apart. Sure, this base had saved their lives. They'd all gotten a second chance. But to do what? Fight the entire Ch'zar alien race by themselves?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Impossible odds were one thing. Ethan's stomach churned. He'd faced impossible odds before--and won.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This time, though, there was zero chance of winning.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Not without the Seed Bank and all its resources and technology. And not without Colonel Winter or Dr. Irving.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan buried his face in his hands. He'd been strong for the last few days. Now, he was exhausted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Over the last few months, he'd come to think of the secret Resister base, the Seed Bank, as home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Dr. Irving, and in some ways even Colonel Winter, had been like parents. He didn't think they loved him or Emma like their real parents, but they had cared. He knew they would've rather died than betray him. But if the adult Resisters from the Seed Bank had been captured, then their minds would now be part of the alien collective. The Ch'zar would know his tactics, tricks, everything.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut to keep back the tears.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The colonel and the doctor always knew what they were doing when it came to fighting the aliens. No one was here now to help Ethan make the hardest decisions of his life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan pulled a photo from the stacks of technical manuals piled on the desk. It was the picture he and Emma had found at Titan Base. It was as if the picture had been waiting for them there for fifteen years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The yellowed photograph was of Melinda and Franklin Blackwood, their parents. They wore white uniforms with silver infinity symbols on the lapels. The picture had been taken here. Ethan could see the computer displays and panels in the background.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But then they'd left. They had to have known about the Ch'zar, and yet they'd picked Santa Blanca to raise him and his sister. How could they have done that, knowing their children's minds would be at risk when they became teenagers?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Being a teenager and hitting puberty was when the big changes in brain chemistry happened and the Ch'zar's mind-control powers got you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan traced the edges of his parents' faces in the photograph. There was so much more to his parents than he knew.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e They'd abandoned him and Emma when the Ch'zar got suspicious about them, but Melinda and Franklin Blackwood had left their children a trail of clues to find this old base, too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan had come full circle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e If only he could talk to his parents. He had a million questions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A knock on the door snapped him back to reality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan hastily slid the picture under his paperwork. \"Come in,\" he said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The door opened, and Felix entered the office. He snapped off a quick salute. He carried a rolled-up blueprint.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan's best friend had bloodshot eyes. His massive shoulders sagged. It looked like he'd aged a year in the last week.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Status?\" Ethan asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Felix stared past Ethan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan bet Felix was thinking of his mother's office back at the Seed Bank. How could his friend not think about his mother?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan stood and walked around his desk. He wouldn't let his friend down by being weak.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Status, Sergeant?\" he asked again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Felix's eyes refocused. \"Right.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Felix marched to a table covered with maps of the American Southwest and unrolled the blueprint. It showed corridors and rooms, huge fusion reactors, coolant pumps the size of houses--all hooked to a jagged line that said NOT TO SCALE, which then connected to a line of satellite dishes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e They'd found the plans for the base's communication system the day before. Ethan had ordered that section explored. It had looked promising. They needed electronic eyes and ears out there to see what the Ch'zar were plotting.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The great thing about Titan Base was that it was big. There were a half dozen fighter jet bays with parts, ammunition, and fuel for their I.C.E.s. There were food warehouses full of freeze-dried meals that could feed an army for a hundred years (although after having tasted one, Ethan thought starving might have been better). There was a hospital. There were enough beds and bathrooms for a thousand people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Had this place been built for the Fourth World War, before the Ch'zar invaded fifty years ago? It seemed at least that old, with rusting pipes and tunnels. Some sections were filled with mold and sealed off.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sterling Squadron had only explored a fraction of the place in the last eight days.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan had no clue how big it actually was. Who knew what else was there?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"I sent Lee and Oliver here.\" Felix pointed to a room labeled SATELLITE RELAY CONTROL. \"They turned on the system with a jerry-rigged power supply. But there's no signal.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"A signal from the satellite dishes?\" Ethan tapped the schematics of a dozen satellite dishes. \"They can't still be out there, intact, after all these years, can they?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Felix stood straighter. \"That's why we sent a sortie to look.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan waved his hand and nodded. \"Yeah, I remember. Sorry.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e They'd discussed this the night before. If they could connect to those dishes, they might be able to tap into the satellite network in orbit. Ethan was so tired he was forgetting critical things . . . like dangerous missions into unknown airspace to find critical communication installations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Who'd you send?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Madison. And Angel.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan flashed him a hard look. Those two didn't get along.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Their wasp and dragonfly are the best ones for the mission,\" Felix explained. \"Those I.C.E.s have stealth.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"It's not the I.C.E.s I'm worried about. You sure those two won't blast each other out of the air?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"I've talked with Madison,\" Felix told him. \"She's okay.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan crossed his arms over his chest. This scouting mission should have never slipped his mind. His pilots' lives were at stake. All their lives were at stake every time they went out.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e After the Ch'zar had reduced the Seed Bank mountain into gravel, Ethan had no doubt that if they ever found this place, they'd bomb old Titan Base until a million tons of rust buried the Resisters alive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Secrecy was their first, best, and maybe their only dependable weapon.","brand":"Yearling","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301415211237,"sku":"NP9780307978554","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780307978554.jpg?v=1767741218","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-resisters-4-operation-inferno-isbn-9780307978554","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}