Mike Barretta is a retired U.S. Naval Aviator having deployed across the world flying the SH-60B Seahawk helicopter. He currently works for a defense contractor as a maintenance test pilot. He is married to Mary Jane Player and they have five children. He holds a Master's degree in Strategic Planning and International Negotiation from the Naval Post-Graduate School, and a Master's in English from the University of West Florida. When the obligations of the day are over, he writes. His stories have appeared in Baen's Universe, Redstone, New Scientist, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show and various anthologies such as War Stories: New Military Science Fiction, The Year's Best Military Scifi and Space Opera and the Young Explorer's Adventure Guide.