A modern American expeditionary strike group vanishes from a routine exercise — and reappears in the Mediterranean at the edge of the Second Punic War.
No satellites.
No resupply.
No modern nation behind them.
Only finite fuel, limited ammunition, fragile medical stores, and ships powerful enough to terrify the ancient world — but not powerful enough to survive carelessness.
Commodore Daniel Mercer commands a fleet that should not exist in 218 BCE. Around him are modern warships, Marines, aircraft, drones, engineers, doctors, and enough firepower to shatter any ancient navy. But every missile, every gallon of fuel, every aircraft hour, and every dose of medicine is irreplaceable.
As Rome and Carthage begin to circle the impossible fleet, Mercer and his command must decide what kind of power they are willing to become.
Conquerors.
Mercenaries.
Gods.
Or something harder: a disciplined force trying to build rules before fear, greed, and history turn them into another empire.
On Malta, a cord in the dust becomes a boundary. A black seep in the earth becomes a promise of energy. A rescued child becomes a witness. And the first American foothold in the ancient Mediterranean becomes the beginning of something far more dangerous than survival.
Because in the ancient world, power is never just firepower.
It is supply.
It is law.
It is the story people tell after the thunder stops.
Steel Leviathan: The Carthage Directive is a military time-travel alternate-history novel for readers who enjoy modern forces in the ancient world, naval strategy, hard logistics, Rome and Carthage, and the dangerous question of what happens when advanced technology meets history before history is ready.
