CHANGE OF COMMAND: The Speaker of the Grand Council has been assassinated & battle lines are quickly drawn. Factions include Families keen to control the new political order & neighbouring states preparing to defend themselves. Even Fleet can no longer be depended on to keep the peace. Young Fleet officers Esmay & Barin want simply to marry. But Barin is a Serrano the most influential of Fleet families & Esmay is Landbride of the planet Altiplano. Their elders see only disaster in the match. & as Esmay & Barin struggle to reconcile their families their very way of life is threatened. AGAINST THE ODDS: The worst has happened & Fleet is tearing itself apart. Some mutineers see injustice in the unequal spread of rejuvenation drugs offering virtual immortality to the rich; others are simply thirsty for power or for blood. & when Esmay Suiza-Serrano is unceremoniously booted out of Fleet the apparent victim of Family politics she has no idea of the whirlwind of conflict that awaits.. .