Steven Dalt should have died in that cave on the planet Kwashi. After
all, as the natives say, of a thousand people attacked by the
cave-dwelling alaret, nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine will die. Dalt
survives, but not without personal cost: he has picked up a passenger:
an alien intelligence transferred itself from the alaret to take up
residence in his brain. Steven Dalt will never be alone again. But
Pard, as Dalt names the alien who shares his life, doesn’t believe in
freeloading. He pays his rent by using cellular-level consciousness to
maintain Dalt’s body in perfect health — no disease, no aging. And now
Dalt appreciates the full meaning of the Kwashi natives’ saying: Of a
thousand struck down by an alaret, nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine will
die. But the thousandth will not die... ever.
Spanning twelve hundred years, HEALER follows Dalt and Pard through the
centuries as they become known as The Healer, an enigmatic figure with
the power to cure diseases of the mind. And when a wave of interstellar
slaughter threatens the civilizations of the LaNague Federation, only
The Healer has the resources to face the onrushing doom.