Air Command pilot Nova Whiteside is assigned to a remote outpost to guard the construction of a new tethered orbiter, Skyranch Twelve, against rebel sabotage. The difference between the well-ordered Union air fields and this dusty garrison is made painfully clear when she runs afoul a brutal commander of ground troops. Her assignment takes her from the midst of a bloody uprising to the elegant new space station where she hopes to train for her Hunter Class pilot grade. But not all runs according to protocol and she soon suspects that more than farming is being done up there. When she uncovers the treacherous and illicit schemes taking place, it seems that local riots are the least of their troubles.

Lieutenant Nova Whiteside, on an apparently routine assignment aboard an interstellar transport, finds herself the target of an assassination attempt. Her escape leaves her with no option but to rely on Seth, a former lover, for help. Unfortunately, she realizes that they are now on opposite sides of an escalating war between the Commonwealth Union of Planets and an increasingly dangerous rebel organization. In trying to find who is threatening her life, they discover a plot to destroy a distant planet - a world inhabited by creatures that are the key to Nova's survival - and a conspiracy that threatens the stability of the Union Commonwealth. Can Nova go beyond her strict military training to cooperate with people whom she is sworn to destroy?

Captain Nova Whiteside, on a brand new assignment to help rid the Commonwealth Union of Planets from a growing rebel force, is teamed up with Tychon, a straight-laced Vanguard commander. His opinion of Humans, and of subordinate officers, is less than stellar. Their pursuit of a ruthless rebel leader takes them through the worlds and dangers of the Centauri-occupied Targon sector where the line between their personal lives and their mission quickly begins to blur. On their quest to recover a dangerous, living weapon in rebel hands it seems that the greatest opposition comes from among their own people and Nova must choose between duty to her Command and loyalty to her friends.

Captain Nova Whiteside receives new technology designed to change the dynamics of the Commonwealth wars. Enemy factions conspire and so Nova finds herself aboard a rebel ship where her value as hostage isn't nearly as great as her value as a defector. Also suspected of collaboration, her Delphian Vanguard partner Tychon sets out to track her down. He discovers a puzzling piece of Nova’s past when a motley alliance of strangers comes to his aid and their search leads him deep into rebel territory. When the full consequences of the rebels' ambitions become clear, far removed from the intervention of Air Command, Tychon and Nova are forced to consider the unthinkable. This is Book Three of the Targon Tales although it is, like the preceding volumes, a complete stand-alone story.

By the author of Only Human and Rebel Alliances An immense asteroid field is on its way to deliver a torrent of pathogens into this galactic sector, guaranteeing the destruction of any civilization in its path. Cyann, astrobiologist and Human-Delphian hybrid, is eager to join the research expedition dispatched to investigate. Before they depart, she is called upon by the secretive members of a Delphian sect who believe that the elusive Tughan Wai, a supernatural creature of their own making, plays a part in this calamity. Her own genes hold the key to finding the Tughan and so she and her teammates are sent on a separate, secret mission to the outer rim. She is not prepared when they are stranded among an alien species whose motivations are enigmatic at best. It seems that nothing can be done to stop the lethal asteroid as it barrels into a densely populated region. The mighty Tughan is not their salvation and so Cyann is forced to draw upon the mental aptitudes of her father's people and the intrepid resolve of the Humans to find her purpose in this fight for survival.

Short story - All is right with the world when five-year-old Cyann visits her doctors about that odd synaptic anomaly. Nothing to worry about, they said. The voice in her head is just an imaginary friend for the daughter of two busy career officers. But even they cannot protect her when the rebel wars deliver devastation right to their door. This story is part of the Targon Tales series, offering a closer look at some of the characters. As a tale, it stands alone but should be read after Only Human (possible spoiler).