The Orion War #3: Orion Rising by M.D. Cooper

Author M.D. Cooper brings us the opening battle in the larger Orion War. Tanis, and Sara face both the Orion Guard and the AI that controls the heart of the Transcend. As soon as Sara's old frighter Sabrina returns to New Cannan they are targeted by subverted crews of the Transcend who came to talk with Tanis about turning over the picotech that the newly renamed starship the I2 and the colonists of New Cannan brought with them from the past. Events start to go haywire after the Transcend's President forces Sara to give up her AI (whom Bob knows really is a human elevated to AI status) As soon as he kills her and leaves Sara weeping Tanis comes aboard their ship and her arm is cut off while trying to protect her friend. But Sabrina's return is what sets off the subversively controlled crews to try and destroy the freighter. With so much going on and it all leading to the opening of the war I highly recommend this book and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the Orion War series.