by Mark W. Tiedmann

Coren Lanra is the head of security for DyNan Manual Industries. A former Special Service agent, he's never cared for bureaucracy, piracy, or deception. Lanra's troubles begin when Nyom Looms, daughter of DyNan president Rega Looms, is murdered during an ill-fated mission to smuggle illegal immigrants from Earth to the colony Nova Levis. The question is, why? The only clue might be contained within the positronic brain of a robot that had accompanied the victim, but it has been deactivated, and Lanra is denied access to its memories. With the help of roboticist Derec Avery and Auroran ambassador Ariel Burgess, Lanra searches for the identity of a killer, before more lives are lost.