The task before Aron Nels is daunting. The lone surviving Defender of the Nuven people has challenged 19 enemy warriors to death duels. If he fails, the truth of the tragic events at Temple Darya will never be known.--Willa Sydriker fights to free her world from the yoke of the Tanlians. To do this, the young woman has convince her people to back a daring plot to hijack the space marauders' transport ship. Only the estranged "Earthers" can help their cause.--Jorn Nandez, a captain in the Colonization Alliance of Independent Nations space fleet, dreams of returning to Verde Grande, a planet his ancestor helped bioform. No one has been in contact with a former Earth colony world for more than 300 years. The fearsome Tanlians stand in his way but even they avoid the mysterious "ghost world."