Synopsis: The exiled daughter of a Salukan traitor, Melaethia was tormented by memories of the past ... the father who lost his life, the brother who lost his honor – both were now ghosts, all but forgotten. Until Melaethia's young son, heir to the Salukan throne, becomes the most wanted soul in the galaxy. And Melaethia's brother, bitter and vengeful after years of enslavement, is unleashed as his hunter. Mother and child are the prey. Their only hope is Operation Starhawks. (from the back cover of the Ace Books first edition)