Acorna the "unicorn girl" - found as a baby years ago, abandoned and
floating alone in an escape pod at the far end of the galaxy - has
made peace with her past, her Linyaari heritage, and with the powerful
"differences" that set her apart from the loving humans who raised her.
But only in the deep reaches of limitless space can she truly feel at
home.
Now aboard the interplanetary salvage vessel Condor, Acorna is free
once more, traveling through space in the company of her good friend,
ship's commander Captain Jonas Becker, his gargantuan feline "first
mate" Roadkill, and Aari, a proud Linyarri survivor of torture at the
hands of the savage, bug-like Khleevi. But the journey is interrupted
when a transmitted distress call - faint but undeniable - draws
Acorna and her companions down to the surface of a nearby planet.
What awaits them is a world of wonders, shrouded in an
atmosphere of strange, intoxicating perfumes. Intelligent, sentient
plants help guide Acorna, Becker, Aari and RK to the source of the SOS.
But a broken, burned-out alien ship is all they find, the pitiful
remnants of a relentlessly brutal yet carefully coordinated assault. To
Acorna, the signs are unmistakable. This is the grim handiwork of the
cold-blooded species that seeks the complete eradication of all human
and Linyaari life from the galaxy... the Khleevi.
And suddenly all that Acorns hold dear is in grave peril.
Because the devastation that was wrought here was no isolated
occurrence, but the opening move in a planned onslaught that will
decimate the two races whom Acorna is culturally, emotionally, and
genetically tied. A worlds-shattering catastrophe is in the making -
unless one courageous and beautiful young woman with remarkable healing
powers and her small, motley group of friends can do the unthinkable;
discover the fearsome insectile enemy's greatest weakness, and strike
first!
