Convicted of fraud and condemned to serve as an indentured miner on a backwater way station, intergalactic translator Dolan knows more about Molten, the liquid metal that fuels the Parkeet station, than most. So when he's ordered to mate with a being that on first contact looks like a pool of the stuff he's been mining, he's less than enthusiastic. But his alternative is death. Xzavia'n has been searching the universe for Molten embryos that were lost when their solar system underwent a catastrophic event. His hunt leads him to Parkeet Station, where he plans to negotiate—or just plain steal—his babies back. From Xzavia'n, Dolan learns more about Molten with each passing moment. Dolan's first priority is to keep his newfound information from the station researchers. The second is to help Xzavia'n get his embryos off the station and back to the new Molten homeworld. But once Xzavia'n's escape is secured, Dolan must choose—return to the only life he's ever known, or follow his heart—and Xzavia'n...