The second book in the action-packed Peacekeeper series, a continuation
of Tanya Huff's military sci-fi Confederation series following Torin
Kerr.
Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr had been the very model of a Confederation
Marine. No one who'd ever served with her could imagine any circumstance
that would see her walking away from the Corps. But that was before
Torin learned the truth about the war the Confederation was
fighting...before she'd been declared dead and had spent time in a
prison that shouldn't exist...before she'd learned about the "plastic"
beings who were really behind the war between the Confederation and the
Others. That was when Torin left the military for good.
Yet she couldn't walk away from preserving and protecting everything the
Confederation represented. Instead, ex-gunnery sergeant Torin Kerr drew
together an elite corps of friends and allies - some ex-Marines, some
civilians with unique skills - and together they prepared to take on
covert missions that the Justice Department and the Corps could not - or
would not - officially touch. But after their first major mission, it
became obvious that covert operations were not going to be enough.
Although the war is over, the fight goes on, and the Justice Department
finds its regular Wardens unable to deal with violence and the people
trained to use it. Ex-gunnery sergeant Torin Kerr has a solution: Strike
Teams made up of ex-military personnel, small enough to maneuver
quickly, able to work together if necessary. Justice has no choice but
to implement her idea, and Torin puts her team of independent
contractors back into uniform. It isn't war, it is policing, but it
often looks much the same.
When the scientists doing a preliminary archaeological dig on a Class
Two planet are taken hostage, Torin's team is sent to free them. The
problem of innocents in the line of fire is further complicated by the
fact that the mercenaries holding them are a mix of Confederation and
Primacy forces and are looking for a weapon able to destroy the plastic
aliens who'd started and maintained the war.
If Torin weren't already torn by wanting that weapon in play, she also
has to contend with the politics of peace that have added members of the
Primacy - former enemies - to her team. Before they confront the
mercenaries, Torin will have to sift through shifting loyalties as she
discovers that the line between "us" and "them" is anything but
straight.
