Hurray, Peace is here! Hurray! And half the fleet is back in mothball. The other half is left to face the Drug Lords, Pirates, and Slavers out on the rim of space. And one Marine is having a particularly bad month. He's been captured by the slavers not once but twice, but the real problem is that both times, he woke up chained to the same attractive lady. And he's starting to like it.
The war is over. The treaty is signed. And all is well in the galaxy…
Izzy Umboto is a hero of the conflict between the Society of Humanity and the Unity Party. She could have retired, taken a job as a merchant ship captain, and lived out her days quietly. But she’s always wanted command of her own military ship.
Lieutenant Terrence Tordon, called “Trouble” by both his enemies and his friends, is a career marine. The word “quit” isn’t in his vocabulary.
Now Umboto has her ship — a bucket of bolts named the Patton. And Lieutenant Trouble and his troops have signed on with her, trading a higher paycheck for the promise of action.
For all is not well in the galaxy. On the scattering of planets along the Rim, remnant thugs of the Unity Party still hold power. In the shipping lanes of Rim Space, pirates roam freely.
Umboto and Tordon will soon learn that enforcing the peace can be just as expensive as fighting the war — and the cost will be counted in human lives…
