Robert M Leonard
It has been five hundred years since The Arrival. Five centuries since the governments of Earth agreed to have humanity become the sword and shield for the interstellar races making up The Compact. In that time, Earth science has conquered disease and the mysteries of genetics, mastered interstellar spaceflight, and fought the enemy to a standstill.
But much is still the same as it ever was. Pride, envy, lust, avarice, wrath, and sloth still drive many to engage in all forms of criminal behavior, including forbidden sciences and unethical, illegal experiments.
When the separate worlds of Thomas Hunter and Rachel Torrence collide, their accidental encounter soon sees them unknowingly and unwittingly drawn into a web of deceit, suspicion, and betrayal. Even from those considered close and dear friends. The two of them, having only each other to depend upon, must somehow extricate themselves from the traps and snares set for them.
Failure to reveal the truths they uncover could eventually lead to the end of the human race. But doing so could destroy the lives they have built for themselves. This is especially true for Thomas, who has deep, dark secrets of his own he must protect at all cost.