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The planet they are fighting over is about to fight back.
Rayne Nielson finally has the life she wants — a growing trade network, a hard-won reputation with the bear-like alien Gr'ardeth, and Valen waiting for her at the end of every run. But when the volcanic world claimed by both the Gr'ardeth and the Federation erupts after years of warnings nobody wanted to hear, and friends ask for help, her loyalty will be tested.
The Federation moves fast to control the narrative — and the airspace — rationing aid to the one world they're determined to claim as their own. Officially, only Federation ships go in, and only to Federation settlements. Unofficially, Rayne holds an exclusive coffee contract that accidentally puts her closer to the disaster than most Gr’ardeth aid. The Gr'ardeth are asking her to bring in what their own people can't get past the blockade.
Valen's mercenary fleet gets the call too — not from the Federation, but from the Gr'ardeth themselves, who want help from a mercenary fleet that answers to neither side. It's the kind of job that could cost the fleet the reputation it's built with the Federation. It’s also the kind of job that the fleet owner won'''t turn down.
As ash falls and the death toll climbs, Rayne and Valen find themselves converging on the same disaster, bound by different contracts, different loyalties, and the same people worth breaking the rules for.
Some debts aren't measured in credits. And some lines are worth crossing twice.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rayne Nielson finally has the life she wants — a growing trade network, a hard-won reputation with the bear-like alien Gr'ardeth, and Valen waiting for her at the end of every run. But when the volcanic world claimed by both the Gr'ardeth and the Federation erupts after years of warnings nobody wanted to hear, and friends ask for help, her loyalty will be tested.
The Federation moves fast to control the narrative — and the airspace — rationing aid to the one world they're determined to claim as their own. Officially, only Federation ships go in, and only to Federation settlements. Unofficially, Rayne holds an exclusive coffee contract that accidentally puts her closer to the disaster than most Gr’ardeth aid. The Gr'ardeth are asking her to bring in what their own people can't get past the blockade.
Valen's mercenary fleet gets the call too — not from the Federation, but from the Gr'ardeth themselves, who want help from a mercenary fleet that answers to neither side. It's the kind of job that could cost the fleet the reputation it's built with the Federation. It’s also the kind of job that the fleet owner won'''t turn down.
As ash falls and the death toll climbs, Rayne and Valen find themselves converging on the same disaster, bound by different contracts, different loyalties, and the same people worth breaking the rules for.
Some debts aren't measured in credits. And some lines are worth crossing twice.
Genre: Science Fiction