**The “blockbuster” first novel in the action-packed Rissa Kerguelen space opera (** Seattle Times **).** Rissa breathes a sigh of relief as the ship lifts off. It seems she has escaped danger, and no one has recognized the scientifically altered being as the beautiful young heir to the Hilzein Establishment—or so it seems. Possessing the only force capable of challenging the tyranny that devastated the Earth and universe, Rissa can do almost anything—then again, almost anything can happen to her while she is doing it too.