THE SUN Source of most of the solar system's power and proving ground for the Sundippers, brave men and women who fly their specially-designed ships directly into the sun to tap its devastating energies. THE GIFT Legendary sensation of great warmth and power, long fabled in old Earth literature, experienced by the Sundippers after prolonged exposure to the sun's deadly radiation. THE SUNDIPPER Matthew Lawton is the finest Sundipper of all—until he meets Sasha, a beautiful woman on the run from the men who think she killed her husband. But Sasha is really an alien being who feeds on the human life force... and her uncontrollable hunger is growing. Matthew thinks the Gift may be the answer—but before he can get her into space, he finds himself involved in a deadly race for his life...