The Rim Confederacy Series by Jim Rudnick, Eric Martin, Shawn Saavedra

“Tanner Scott, a RIM Confederacy Naval officer, has fought many battles against both humans and aliens. Years ago, he proved victorious against a band of aliens. His ongoing fight with his own alcoholism however remains a stalemate. And suddenly, Pirates have appeared on the RIM. They have kidnapped the passengers of many craft and sold them into slavery and Scott is ordered to find them and rescue them. But the pirates aren't acting alone... more“Tanner Scott, a RIM Confederacy Naval officer, has fought many battles against both humans and aliens. Years ago, he proved victorious against a band of aliens. His ongoing fight with his own alcoholism however remains a stalemate. And suddenly, Pirates have appeared on the RIM. They have kidnapped the passengers of many craft and sold them into slavery and Scott is ordered to find them and rescue them. But the pirates aren't acting alone. They are sponsored by a powerful Royal with ambitious plans, and she isn't about to let some Navy captain stand in the way of her mining empire. Scott must rescue the slaves while simultaneously navigating the treacherous space of interstellar politics. If he fails, a Royal will gain more power, the entire Confederacy may unravel, and Scott's alcohol addiction will be the least of his worries…” less

"As penance for not being honest with his Admiral, Captain Tanner Scott has been sent on a boring routine maintenance mission of checking the RIM boundary buoys one after another and that lets him enjoy his Scotch in peace... more"As penance for not being honest with his Admiral, Captain Tanner Scott has been sent on a boring routine maintenance mission of checking the RIM boundary buoys one after another and that lets him enjoy his Scotch in peace. Imagine his surprise when a Sleeper ship suddenly arrives on the RIM and he learns that the thousands of alien Sleepers are all children! While making that known has already gotten RIM Confederacy realms fighting, the real hidden problem is the secret that a virus infects the alien Sleepers. Finding out the Sleeper’s secret is one thing but the news of what that virus could bring to the RIM and what it might do is the real reason that a powerful RIM Royal realm wants to enslave the alien Sleepers. When Captain Scott realizes that another RIM planetary realm has also learned what the virus could be worth, they too try to take over the Sleeper ship and that means that Tanner can’t as per usual self-medicate with Scotch but instead has to overcome the RIM’s adversaries and somehow save the alien Sleepers too!" less

"After a failed planetary rebellion, the rebel leader and his men are all given life sentences on Halberd, the RIM Confederacy prison planet and sent to the maximum island penitentiary—a prison that has never had a successful escape. And under his Admirals orders, Captain Tanner Scott has also been sent to do RIM Navy duty on the planet with the mission to give up his alcoholism dependency... more"After a failed planetary rebellion, the rebel leader and his men are all given life sentences on Halberd, the RIM Confederacy prison planet and sent to the maximum island penitentiary—a prison that has never had a successful escape. And under his Admirals orders, Captain Tanner Scott has also been sent to do RIM Navy duty on the planet with the mission to give up his alcoholism dependency. While he knows that this is what is expected of him by the Admiral, he finds it more difficult to do that he’d ever imagined. Tanner meets a woman—the sister of the rebel leader and while he falls in love with her, he is not sure that the feeling is mutual. Yet he tries to straighten out his life and his drinking but instead he is faced with the choice of a lifetime—love or death. Against incredible odds in the middle of a prison planet escape, he makes his choice . . . and more than his own life depends upon that choice . . . forever changing the future of the RIM!" less

BOOK FOUR OF THE RIM CONFEDERACY... "Taking on a new Captaincy with the Barony means that our Captain Scott can now live a life of ease. His drinking will be tolerated, his hangovers ignored and he will be in charge of the newest fastest Supra Destroyer in the RIM Confederacy. Life is good for Tanner who enjoys his new ship and the favors of the Lady St. August yet the PTSD he still suffers from the thwarted prison escape on Halberd still haunts him... moreBOOK FOUR OF THE RIM CONFEDERACY... "Taking on a new Captaincy with the Barony means that our Captain Scott can now live a life of ease. His drinking will be tolerated, his hangovers ignored and he will be in charge of the newest fastest Supra Destroyer in the RIM Confederacy. Life is good for Tanner who enjoys his new ship and the favors of the Lady St. August yet the PTSD he still suffers from the thwarted prison escape on Halberd still haunts him. He copes but needs support from loyal friends and that keeps him going. Except he soon learns that the simple task of doing his shakedown cruise on the BN Atlas means that he inadvertently finds a discovery that will shake the very foundations of science all across the galaxy. less

"After exploding with rage and injuring some Caliphate marines, Tanner is sent to the Barony Hospital ship on a ninety day observation to see if he's really sane. At the same time, he is challenged by his doctors and psychiatrist to see if he can defeat his alcohol addiction and to combat his PTSD too. Also on the ship is the Barony Secure labs where the research teams are trying to find the Ikarian virus vaccine to give longevity to the RIM—and the Baroness is interested in their success... more"After exploding with rage and injuring some Caliphate marines, Tanner is sent to the Barony Hospital ship on a ninety day observation to see if he's really sane. At the same time, he is challenged by his doctors and psychiatrist to see if he can defeat his alcohol addiction and to combat his PTSD too. Also on the ship is the Barony Secure labs where the research teams are trying to find the Ikarian virus vaccine to give longevity to the RIM—and the Baroness is interested in their success. While the Caliphate continues to try to find a way to steal the vaccine, they end up using a vacjumper—someone who can go right out into outer space with no suit and attempt to break into the lab that way. Called on to forget about his illness, Tanner must rise to heed the call to defeat the vacjumper and to do that he must jump out into space on his own. Death, virus vaccines and love all play a part for him and his quest…" less