Late on payments for his spaceship and abandoned by his crew, James May jumped at the chance to hire a copilot who came complete with cargo. Next thing May knew, the copilot was a washout, the cargo was worthless, and his ship had been repossessed by a chief in the Yueh-sheng crime syndicate. May needed the ship to survive, so he stole it back. But if he expected to live long, he'd have to repay his debts - so he could hardly turn down a job that promised wealth, heroism, and revenge against the Yueh-sheng. In no time at all, May was up to his neck in trouble as he and a group of deadly mercenaries planned a daring escapade with only the slimmest chance of success. Everything would have to go like clockwork - and even then only angel's luck would save them.

When Angel's Luck was blown to space junk, trader James May and his crew could not collect their reward for retrieving the stolen Essence Phials, which held the extracted minds of humanity's greatest geniuses. So they were grateful to be rescued by the luxury liner Hergest Ridge, even if the commander was May's ex-wife, who had made it plain she never wanted to see him again. Commander Margaret O'Hearn had problems. Among her passengers was a delegation of Arcolians, aliens only recently at peace with humanity. And there were rumors of an anti-Arcolian blockade along her route and the possibility of terrorists on board her ship. So the last thing Maggie needed aboard was her ex-husband and his crazy copilot Duke, who had sampled an Essence Phial and was now possessed by a second—and extremely xenophobic—personality. Somehow May had to help Maggie prevent the outbreak of another human-alien war, while protecting Duke from himself and saving his own precious cargo...

When a product called Shared Knowledge causes merchant captain James May's copilot to be possessed by the spirit of a pilot named "Reckless" Eric Dickson, the frustrated trader is determined to correct the problem