Beloved by millions of readers, Anne McCaffrey is one of science fiction's favorite authors. Writing with award-winning author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, she has created the bestselling Acorna series focusing on the adventures of the brave unicorn girl.Now the exciting saga of the next generation begins.First WarningKhorii, daughter of the near-mythic Acorna and her lifemate, Aari, must contend with an overwhelming legacy to forge a path of her own through a universe filled with new adversaries and adventures.

The inhabitants of the penal planet Botany had fought a grim and dangerous war to free themselves from their Eosi overlords. Now the Eosi were gone, and both Botany and Earth were free again - free, but in serious trouble as the theft of all their communications satellites by the Catteni (working for their Eosi masters) had left them isolated and in a desperate situation. Hoping that everything stolen from them would be returned, they found that Catteni greed had triumphed. The merchants of Barevi refused to give up the stolen goods unless a substantial ransom was paid. Earth was in a particularly bad way: disease, vandalism, starvation and the breakdown of their mechanical world had left its people fighting for survival. They desperately needed the goods the Barevi were hoarding. And so Zainal, Kris, and a courageous team from Botany set off to try and outwit the thieving merchants. It was an expedition that led to a horrifying replay of an old nightmare for Kris - and only Zainal could save her and the future of both Earth and Botany.

Kai and Varian awoke from their forty years of coldsleep only to discover that mutineers had taken over Ireta. But they were determined to save their planet and its unusual dinosaurs. All they had to do was solve the planet's myriad mysteries and gain the trust of the most dangerous beings in their Universe....From the Paperback edition.