September 19, 2011
About 50 years after a disastrous first contact with the alien Lokaron, Earth has become a battleground of take-no-prisoners interstellar trade and politics among various human and alien factions. When Capt. Andrew Roark investigates the mysterious death of his boss, a respected Earth admiral, he discovers that the shapeshifting Kappainu have infiltrated Earth and plan to start an interstellar war for their own ends. Joined by Adm. Arnstein’s bereaved daughter, Rachel, and Lokaron double (or possibly triple) agent Reislon’Sygnath, Roark must take on the shapeshifter ninth column for the good of the galaxy. Set in the same universe as White’s 2000 novel Eagle Against the Stars, this slam-bang space intrigue adventure does suffer at times from egregious recaps and excessive exposition, but as a criticism of the simplistic xenophobia, isolationism, and imperialism common in human-uber-alles space opera as well as real life, it is distinctly refreshing.