The Third Pole Job

Download The Third Pole Job PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1958606219
Total Pages : 93 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (586 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Third Pole Job by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book The Third Pole Job written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2023-09-12 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vic Harper and her gang retired wealthy from their life of thievery and heists. Whether in a luxury condo overlooking the river in Minneapolis or in a modernist mansion built into the side of a mountain in Colorado, life comes easy now. Perhaps too easy. When an old friend asks for a favor his niece, Vic and her mentor Chase Woodward leap at the chance to relieve a little of the boredom. But a quick bit of B&E in a wealthy suburb of Chicago leads to an even greater challenge. The prize? Nothing much. Just the opportunity to level a playing field for their friend’s niece. But the heist? May prove to be their toughest ever. Because to get to the prize, they’ll have to climb a mountain. And not just any mountain. Their prize waits on the summit of Mount Everest. The Third Pole Job, the first novella in the Vic Harper Caper series. For those who love capers, heists and other impossible missions.

The Third Pole Job

Download The Third Pole Job PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781958606223
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (62 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Third Pole Job by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book The Third Pole Job written by Kate MacLeod and published by . This book was released on 2022-09-13 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Third Pole

Download The Third Pole PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1524745596
Total Pages : 465 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (247 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Third Pole by : Mark Synnott

Download or read book The Third Pole written by Mark Synnott and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-04-05 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ***NPR Books We Love selection*** “If you’re only going to read one Everest book this decade, make it The Third Pole. . . . A riveting adventure.”—Outside Shivering, exhausted, gasping for oxygen, beyond doubt . . . A hundred-year mystery lured veteran climber Mark Synnott into an unlikely expedition up Mount Everest during the spring 2019 season that came to be known as “the Year Everest Broke.” What he found was a gripping human story of impassioned characters from around the globe and a mountain that will consume your soul—and your life—if you let it. The mystery? On June 8, 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine set out to stand on the roof of the world, where no one had stood before. They were last seen eight hundred feet shy of Everest’s summit still “going strong” for the top. Could they have succeeded decades before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? Irvine is believed to have carried a Kodak camera with him to record their attempt, but it, along with his body, had never been found. Did the frozen film in that camera have a photograph of Mallory and Irvine on the summit before they disappeared into the clouds, never to be seen again? Kodak says the film might still be viable. . . . Mark Synnott made his own ascent up the infamous North Face along with his friend Renan Ozturk, a filmmaker using drones higher than any had previously flown. Readers witness first-hand how Synnott’s quest led him from oxygen-deprivation training to archives and museums in England, to Kathmandu, the Tibetan high plateau, and up the North Face into a massive storm. The infamous traffic jams of climbers at the very summit immediately resulted in tragic deaths. Sherpas revolted. Chinese officials turned on Synnott’s team. An Indian woman miraculously crawled her way to frostbitten survival. Synnott himself went off the safety rope—one slip and no one would have been able to save him—committed to solving the mystery. Eleven climbers died on Everest that season, all of them mesmerized by an irresistible magic. The Third Pole is a rapidly accelerating ride to the limitless joy and horror of human obsession.

The Travels of Scout Shannon Books 1-3

Download The Travels of Scout Shannon Books 1-3 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1946552763
Total Pages : 676 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (465 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Travels of Scout Shannon Books 1-3 by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book The Travels of Scout Shannon Books 1-3 written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 676 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scout Shannon's whole family died the day the Space Farers dropped an asteroid on their domed city. Now she lives alone, out in the wild with only her dogs for company. She prefers it that way. But Scout finds herself at a crossroads. One road leads back to a quiet life snug under the protective dome of a city. The other road leads to a life in the rebellion, a life of adventure and excitement but also danger. Dare she try to find the rebels hiding in the hills? Then a chance encounter with a stranger from the other side of the galaxy threatens to derail what remains of Scout's life. The entire galaxy awaits her, if she survives the next four days. "Under Falling Skies", a young adult science fiction novel, set on a remote planet with a distinctly Old West feel. For fans of gunslinging women and young girl assassins. And dogs. After spending the last four days of her life hiding out from a deadly solar particle storm in an underground bunker, trapped with six treacherous women and a trio of girl assassins, Scout Shannon just wants to find the man who conned her mentor and leave her home world for good. Alas, the long-threatened war draws nearer and Scout finds herself caught in the middle, surrounded by rebels and bandits. Worse, she carries a pocketful of dangerous secrets with no one to entrust them to. And the hills keep shaking. Something lurks deep underground. Something massive. Something world-destroying. Scout leaves in three days. If she lives that long. "In Quaking Hills", the sequel to "Under Falling Skies" and the second book in "The Travels of Scout Shannon" series, a young adult science fiction novel for fans of plucky heroines, complicated boys, and loyal dog sidekicks. Scout Shannon wants nothing more than to leave her home world and its petty squabbling factions behind. Galactic central with all of its excitement and opportunities awaits her. She makes it as far as her own planet's orbit before the snares of bureaucracy close around her, trapping her on a space station populated by her people's oldest foe. Then her rescuer, her only friend in the galaxy, disappears, abducted by a group of strangers the moment he steps off his ship. Alone in a strange place, surrounded by the old enemies she knows and new enemies just making themselves known, Scout faces a challenge like none before. But with her dogs at her side, Scout stands prepared for anything. "Among Treacherous Stars" the third book in "The Travels of Scout Shannon" series, a young adult science fiction novel for fans of plucky heroines, girl spies conspiring in political intrigues, and loyal dog sidekicks.

The Slums of the Solar System Books 1-3

Download The Slums of the Solar System Books 1-3 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1946552771
Total Pages : 1110 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (465 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Slums of the Solar System Books 1-3 by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book The Slums of the Solar System Books 1-3 written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 1110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This box set collects the three novels in the Slums of the Solar System shared world: MITWA, THE MARS OF MALCONTENTS, and A WHOLE WORLD FOR EACH. MITWA: When a deadly plague ravaged the Earth refugees fled into space, crowding into any space station or lunar colony that would take them. Decades passed and the descendants of the survivors struggle to live in anything remotely spaceworthy. Omesh, banished from his Earthly home, finds himself in Barnacle Town. A collection of salvage clinging to the hull of a space station in lunar orbit. Thousands of lives cling precariously to the hull, at the whim of the corporation that owns the station. The station manager welcomes everyone. But then the CEO arrives, intent on scraping the hull of his craft clean. Omesh and his family, friends and neighbors? Not the corporation’s problem. With nowhere else to go, Omesh vows to fight for his new home. But physics? More merciless than any CEO. THE MARS OF MALCONTENTS: Valentina knows how to live in the community spread throughout the old mining caves under the Martian ice cap. A violent place in a forbidding climate, but home for her and her brother. Until she wakes from a coma to find her brother gone. Her father thinks her incapable of following them back to the equatorial cities. He underestimates her – her stubbornness, her courage and her inventiveness. But she underestimates the cold, airless surface of Mars. A journey from the polar ice cap to the Martian equator? Not enough to stop Valentina. Not with her brother on the line. THE WHOLE WORLD FOR EACH: After humankind fled Earth for space they discovered one inescapable truth. People die in space. And lots of dead people means lots of ghosts. April Nguyen earns a nice living getting rid of those ghosts. People all over the Solar System clamor for her aid. April's only problem? Never actually seeing a ghost. She pretends, she feigns, she completely convinces her clients, but she fears her inevitable exposure as a fraud. And then comes Hakim, the ultimate suspicious sceptic watching her every move. And yet April feels herself drawn to him. He knows a whole other world. "The Whole World for Each", a story about belief and disbelief and how we jump between the two. Humankind escaped Earth, but not death and what comes after.

A Tanjo, Two Knives and Three Cups of Chai Makhani

Download A Tanjo, Two Knives and Three Cups of Chai Makhani PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1951439937
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (514 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Tanjo, Two Knives and Three Cups of Chai Makhani by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book A Tanjo, Two Knives and Three Cups of Chai Makhani written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2022-04-01 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elyot loathes the massive Commonwealth ships that hover menacingly over his home world of Adghal. He hates the Commonwealth enforcers who harass the populace even more. But with his mother missing so long she surely must be dead, Elyot keeps his head down and strives to avoid notice. And he succeeds until the day two strangers appear in the tavern where he waits tables. One dressed in rags with her hands bloodied and bruised, the other in finery beyond the means of the average citizen of Adghal, but both sharing an anxious jumpiness and a fondness for deep hoods to hide their faces. Then a squad of enforcers troop in. Just looking for an after-shift drink? Or something more sinister? Elyot knows with enforcers, one shifts to the other in the blink of an eye. And that squad sits between everyone in the subterranean tavern and the only way out. "A Tanjo, Two Knives and Three Cups of Chai Makhani" is the first episode in the ongoing monthly science fiction adventure serial TALES OF THE CHAI MAKHANI TRIO.

An Undiplomatic Murder

Download An Undiplomatic Murder PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1951439805
Total Pages : 239 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (514 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis An Undiplomatic Murder by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book An Undiplomatic Murder written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2022-03-15 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cadets Ritchie and Fitz finally face their last year at the Oymyakon Foreign Service Academy. Which means decision time for what comes next. The golden wings and ivory robes of a diplomat? Or the crossed spears and navy blue uniform of a guardian? Before they decide, they and the other last-year cadets first spend a week on the university planet, visiting both of the colleges. A single day at the guardian school exhausts even the most highly trained of the cadets. But the first night visiting the diplomat school ends in a very undiplomatic murder. One of the guests at a mock state dinner dies in the middle of the dessert course, a victim of a very gruesome poison. And the only suspect? Cadet Shackleton Fitz IV. So Murdina Ritchie finds herself alone on a strange planet with its own set of rules, desperate to prove her partner's innocence. Hard enough under any circumstances, made harder still by the presence of two former Oymyakon cadets: Finn and Feena Berweger. Can Ritchie defeat her old nemeses one more time? Maybe. Can she do it with her best friend and close partner in crime-solving trapped in police custody? She has to. An Undiplomatic Murder, book five in the Ritchie and Fitz Sci-Fi Murder Mysteries.

A Lethal Betrayal

Download A Lethal Betrayal PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1951439899
Total Pages : 253 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (514 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Lethal Betrayal by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book A Lethal Betrayal written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Murdina Ritchie left her childhood home of Buennagel when a volatile, very alien species abducted her father during a failed diplomatic meeting. Six years later, she finds herself flying back. Her best friend Shackleton Fitz IV needs her help. His father's increasingly bizarre behavior demands an explanation. And Ritchie and Fitz specialize in finding explanations. But when another guest at the house dies when brutally attacked their first night home, Ritchie and Fitz find themselves caught up in two cases. Someone in the house is the killer, and anyone in the house could be next. A Lethal Betrayal, Book 6 and the concluding chapter in the Ritchie and Fitz Sci-Fi Murder Mysteries.

Over Freezing Altitudes

Download Over Freezing Altitudes PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1946552682
Total Pages : 238 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (465 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Over Freezing Altitudes by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book Over Freezing Altitudes written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2018-09-12 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Having escaped yet another closing trap, Scout Shannon finds herself on a snowbound mountaintop far from civilization. With assassins eager to kill her, laying low on an alien world is the smartest play. But wherever Scout goes, trouble follows. And a hamlet in the mountains gets far more remote when girl assassins destroy the only means back to civilization. Now Scout and her dogs face a long, cold climb back to the frozen star port city, her only guide, a girl whose sister Scout killed when fighting for her life. Can she get to safety before the girl learns the truth about Scout? And what secrets of her own is this strange girl keeping? "Over Freezing Altitudes" the fifth book in "The Travels of Scout Shannon" series, a young adult science fiction novel for fans of resourceful heroines, survival in extreme environments, girl assassins and loyal dog sidekicks.

Tale of a Fox

Download Tale of a Fox PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1946552208
Total Pages : 33 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (465 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Tale of a Fox by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book Tale of a Fox written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2018-09-12 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nagano nestles amongst the highest mountains in Japan, far from the fashionable life of the capital city of Heain-Kyo. Asuka wishes to never leave her mountain home. But her husband’s career beckons him to the capital. Mountains covered in forests, forests filled with foxes. And with things more than foxes. No one says the word out loud, but Asuka knows it. Kitsune. The kitsune understand her love of remote Nagano. They share it. Asuka just wants her husband to share it too.

The Body in the Catacombs

Download The Body in the Catacombs PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1951439643
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (514 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Body in the Catacombs by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book The Body in the Catacombs written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Murdina Ritchie and Shackleton Fitz IV start their junior year at the Oymyakon Foreign Service Academy finally feeling like they belong in that world. They stand as equals among the other cadets. And the crushing load of schoolwork? Surprisingly manageable when you're not trying to solve a murder at the same time. But the rumors of big changes in the political universe reach even the depths of the Academy. Distrust and secretiveness invade the minds of all of the cadets. Something dark and tumultuous hangs over all of them, and not just the ever-present storms of Oymyakon. Then someone finds a body in the lower levels, and the accusations fly. A murder, but committed decades before. Long before the time of any of the cadets. But not before the time of the instructors. In fact, exactly at the time Colonel Hansen was Cadet Hansen. Can Ritchie and Fitz solve the coldest of cases and prove the colonel innocent? Or worse, guilty?

The Fair Folk

Download The Fair Folk PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1958606847
Total Pages : 33 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (586 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Fair Folk by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book The Fair Folk written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2024-01-03 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every midsummer, young Peter and his family visit the fair. His siblings love the fair. They look forward to it all year. Peter hates the smells, the noise, and the crowds of people. But this time, it’s Peter who has been anxiously waiting all year for the fair to come again. Because the year before, something happened to his sister Elinor. Something bad. And this year may be his only chance to fix it. “The Fair Folk,” a fantasy short story of magic and tricky bargains.

AI: Aesir Intelligence

Download AI: Aesir Intelligence PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1946552607
Total Pages : 35 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (465 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis AI: Aesir Intelligence by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book AI: Aesir Intelligence written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2018-09-12 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Linnea lives alone in the remains of shuttle her parents died in. The only survivor of the crash years before, she takes care of herself. No other human dwells on her remote world, but the old gods surround her. Thor protects her, Skadhi hunt with her, Frigg and Freya talk with her, Loki teaches her all the inappropriate things the others disapprove of, and Odin watches over all from the distance. Her gods love her, but Linnea needs a human family. The only solution means a sacrifice. But whose? "AI: Aesir Intelligence", a science fiction short story about love and loss and indescribable solitude.

Sword and Tattoo

Download Sword and Tattoo PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1946552801
Total Pages : 23 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (465 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Sword and Tattoo by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book Sword and Tattoo written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2018-09-12 with total page 23 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the center of the known world lies a village with no name. Few traverse the heart of the Sea of Grass, fewer still stray from the main road. But from time to time a traveler loses the way back to civilization and find themselves in this strange village. Such as a man with a broken sword and the tattoos of one of the bandit tribes. More dead than alive, the villagers leave him to the care of the last ward they took in. Just a girl when she appeared among them, a woman now, she never speaks a word. But everyone hides their own secrets, especially those who live in hidden villages. "Sword and Tattoo", a fantasy short story which originally appeared in the ages of Mythic Delirium.

Tear of a Sphinx

Download Tear of a Sphinx PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1946552429
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (465 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Tear of a Sphinx by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book Tear of a Sphinx written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2018-09-12 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One day a sphinx came to the city at the center of the world, ate half of the guests at the prince's wedding, and settled to roost atop the palace. The cost to free the city of this beast? A single tear from her eye. The cost of failure? She eats you. Sacmis watches as her mother dances for the sphinx. The beast crushes her under one lion's paw and leaves her broken in the sand. Her mother, the finest dancer in the known world, failed. The sphinx remains, her stony heart still unmoved, waiting for the next artist to try. A tale of finding your place in the world even under the most difficult circumstances, "Tear of a Sphinx" brings to life an Egyptian-like city on a river that ties into the "Goddess-Bereft World" series.

Blood and Ink

Download Blood and Ink PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1946552089
Total Pages : 29 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (465 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Blood and Ink by : Kate MacLeod

Download or read book Blood and Ink written by Kate MacLeod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2018-09-12 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sequestered behind screens, shielded from the world, Shiori hates the life of a noblewoman in Heian-Kyo.She endlessly paints the mountain home she misses. She longs to convey all, the sights and sounds and even the smells.Then she finds a most evocative technique, one that costs her dear.A story from the ornately structured world of tenth century Japan about an unusually committed artist.

The Travels of Scout Shannon Books 1-6

Download The Travels of Scout Shannon Books 1-6 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ratatoskr Press
ISBN 13 : 1946552917
Total Pages : 1360 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (465 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Travels of Scout Shannon Books 1-6 by : Kate Macleod

Download or read book The Travels of Scout Shannon Books 1-6 written by Kate Macleod and published by Ratatoskr Press. This book was released on 2019-02-12 with total page 1360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This box set collects the entire six book series The Travels of Scout Shannon. Under Falling Skies Scout's whole family died the day the Space Farers dropped an asteroid on their domed city. Now she lives alone, out in the wild with only her dogs for company. She prefers it that way. But Scout finds herself at a crossroads. One road leads back to a quiet life snug under the protective dome of a city. The other road leads to a life in the rebellion, a life of adventure and excitement but also danger. Dare she try to find the rebels hiding in the hills? Then a chance encounter with a stranger from the other side of the galaxy threatens to derail what remains of Scout's life. The entire galaxy awaits her, if she survives the next four days. In Quaking Hills Scout just wants to find the man who conned her mentor and leave her home world for good. Alas, the long-threatened war draws nearer and Scout finds herself caught in the middle, surrounded by rebels and bandits. Worse, she carries a pocketful of dangerous secrets with no one to entrust them to. And the hills keep shaking. Something lurks deep underground. Something massive. Something world-destroying. Scout leaves in three days. If she lives that long. Among Treacherous Stars Scout wants nothing more than to leave her home. She makes it as far as her own planet's orbit before the snares of bureaucracy close around her, trapping her on a space station populated by her people's oldest foe. Then her rescuer, her only friend in the galaxy, disappears, abducted by a group of strangers the moment he steps off his ship. Alone in a strange place, surrounded by the old enemies she knows and new enemies just making themselves known, Scout faces a challenge like none before. But with her dogs at her side, Scout stands prepared for anything. Against Impassable Barriers Caught between two factions of a powerful trade dynasty, Scout fights to remain free and to protect her friends. But the people trying to make her their pawn barely seem human to her eyes. Fight them? She can barely understand them. With friends on both sides of the planetary blockade, Scout just needs to find a way to get her friends stuck on the inside to those waiting for them on the outside. But foes also lurk on both sides. And they hide among her friends. How to tell friend from foe? Scout better learn before the enemies close in around her. Over Freezing Altitudes Having escaped yet another closing trap, Scout finds herself on a snowbound mountaintop far from civilization. With assassins eager to kill her, laying low on an alien world is the smartest play. But wherever Scout goes, trouble follows. And a hamlet in the mountains gets far more remote when girl assassins destroy the only means back to civilization. Now Scout and her dogs face a long, cold climb back to the frozen star port city, her only guide, a girl whose sister Scout killed when fighting for her life. Can she get to safety before the girl learns the truth about Scout? And what secrets of her own is this strange girl keeping? At Galactic Central Galactic Central, a collection of floating cities in a vast, manmade, planetless cloud. Scout longed to see it since she first heard of it. This place long represented her shining future. But in her less shiny present, she reaches it by smuggling herself aboard a cargo ship and hides in the lower sewer-like levels of the most opulent of the floating cities. Teams of girl assassins still hunt her. Worse, her friends are in danger and don't even know. Scout has to save her friends, because saving her friends means saving her entire planet from enslavement to the Tajaki trade dynasty. Caught between two sides of that dynasty, with a mysterious third party desperate to remove her from the galaxy, Scout is in way over her head. But with her friends, she just might see a path to victory for all of them.