Ethan Hawk is nobody. A third-class petty officer from a dirt-poor colony world, he has spent his short military career cleaning equipment and collecting disappointments. When an accident in a sealed compartment ruins his uniform, he pulls on the only clothes available: a captain's jacket bearing the insignia of the feared Special Operations Service.

Before he can strip it off, the starship launches. The crew believes an elite SOS captain has arrived to take command, and Ethan has seconds to decide: confess and face imprisonment, or become the officer everyone thinks he is.

Using a stolen neural interface that floods his mind with military knowledge at the cost of crippling headaches and nosebleeds, Ethan teaches himself to command a warship. He navigates the suspicions of his sharp-eyed executive officer, earns the loyalty of a crew that would die for a man who does not exist, and falls in love with Dr. Kate Haliday, a brilliant physicist whose dark matter research could reshape the galaxy.

But something is watching from the dark between the stars. An ancient alien civilization has been observing humanity's reach into the Cygni system, and they do not intend to share. When first contact turns to confrontation, Ethan must lead a fleet into battle knowing that every act of heroism brings him closer to the moment his deception unravels.

The line between the fraud he is and the leader he has become grows thinner with every order he gives.

Book 1 of the By Any Other Name Saga. Perfect for readers who love The Martian, Honor Harrington, and Vorkosigan Saga.