About the Book
A first contact unlike any other
When those strange entities
called "humans" sent their first exploration ship into Compact space,
the delicate power balances of the seven races of the Compact were
catastrophically disrupted. And by giving shelter to Tully, the only
human survivor of his mission, Pyanfar Chanur, captian of the merchant
vessel "The Pride of Chanur", jeopardizes the safety of her ship and
het crew, placing them in the center of a political mealstrom –
inadverdent key players in a power game which could cause an
interspecies war or, conversely, enfold humanity, a previously unknown
sentient species, into the protective arms of the Compact.
Now,
with a new fleet of human ships approaching Compact space, Meetpoint
and other Compact stations nearly destroyed by rival factions, the hani
unwillingly "allied" with the devious and untrustworthy kif, and forced
to doubt their longtime comrades, the mahendo'sat, Pyanfar and her crew
facethe ultimate threat to their species. For the hani home planet lies
in the path of an impending space battle which may wipe the very memory
of their world from the galactic maps. Will Pyanfar be able to avert
disaster for her homeworld and win herself the ultimate reward – a
treasure beyond measuring – an exclusive trade contract with Earth?
