While the Republic of Cinnabar is at peace with the Alliance,
warriors like Lt. Daniel Leary and Signals Officer Adele Mundy must
find other work—like escorting a pair of wealthy nobles on an
expedition to the back of beyond! The
Princess Cecile, the
corvette in which they carved their reputations in letters of fire, has
been sold as a private yacht, but she still has her guns, her missiles,
and her veteran crew. Daniel and Adele will need all of those things as
they face winged dragons, an Alliance auxiliary cruiser, jealous
lovers, and a mysterious oracle which really does foresee the future.
That won't be enough, though, when they penetrate a secret Alliance
base and find a hostile fleet ready for a war that will sweep Cinnabar
out of a strategically crucial arm of the galaxy. Preventing that will
involve skill, courage, and more luck than a sane man could even pray
for; and it will require a space battle on a scale that a tiny corvette
like the
Princess Cecile has no
business being involved in. But she'll be in the middle of it anyway,
because Daniel, Adele, and their Cinnabar crew would never turn their
backs on a fight!