Published by Baen, 1998, ISBN 0-671-57841-3, $7.99 497 pgs

This sequel to Once a Hero follows heroine Esmay Suiza as she's assigned to the equivalent of West Point/Annapolis for "command track" instructions. And then, it's onto a search and rescue ship as Executive Officer. But I get ahead of myself.

Once again, Moon excels at creating an organizational atmosphere. Copper Mountain lives and breathes and the classes and students ring out not only with plausibility, but also with realism. Here, we meet secondary heroine Brun Meager, a bio-engineered beauty with political connections, wealth, and a taste for reckless adventuring. The two don't get along, quarrel, and ultimately; little miss party girl stomps off in a huff.

So far, so good, but in comes the goofy factor. A cult of Texans, sort of a cross between the Branch Davidians in Waco and the Taliban in Afghanistan, make a living at piracy, and capture ships and crews. These "New Texas God-fearing Militia" folks like their women barefoot, pregnant, and mute. In fact, they even kidnap Brun, snip her vocal chords, and repeatedly rape her until she is pregnant.

Well, just imagine if the US president's daughter was kidnapped by bin Laden and sent to Afghanistan. Fortunately, it's Esmay to the rescue, along with a grandmother (!?), a young ensign, and a couple squads of Marines. Go figure.

There are too many implausibilities to count. And as for military operations, this is no way to run a navy. What started out as a solid sequel quickly degenerated into, well, something silly. Rules of Engagement is well written, and the characters have certain flair, but the plot trickled into a mode I couldn't envision, much less accept.