Book 5 in the critically acclaimed Caine Riordan science fiction series
by three-time Nebula nominee Charles E. Gannon. Science fiction on a
grand scale. Prequels Raising Caine, Trial by Fire, and, Fire with
Fire were all Nebula Award finalists. Charles E. Gannon is also the
winner of the Compton Crook Award and a Dragon Award nominee.
It's been two years since Caine Riordan was relieved of his command for
following both his orders and his conscience. Now he's finally received
the message he's been waiting for: a summons to visit the ancient and
enigmatic Dornaani. And this time, making direct contact is not just
professional, but personal: the Dornaani still have his mortally-wounded
love, Elena Corcoran, in their unthinkably advanced medical facilities.
But instead of arranging a swift reunion, Riordan's new Dornaani hosts
are not only disinterested in human affairs, but are in such social
disarray that they have lost track of Elena's surgical cryocell. Riordan
must blaze his own trail through dying and dangerous worlds to find the
mother of his child, her fate as uncertain as the true agenda of the
Dornaani leaders.
However, as new clues and new threats push Caine's quest beyond the edge
of known space, he discovers that the Dornaani empire is not merely
decaying; there are subtle signs that its decline is being accelerated
from without. Which means that rescuing Elena is just half the mission:
Riordan must report that the Dornaani collapse is not only being
engineered, but that it is the prelude to a far more malign scheme: to
clear a path for a foe bent on destroying Earth.
