Lyssa Peate has found a tenuous balance between her double lives - that of the planet-discovering scientist, and the other, the space pirate bounty hunter Razia. No longer on probation, Razia still struggles to be thought of as more than a chocolate-fetching joke. But when the tough and feisty Lizbeth Carter interferes with a bounty, Razia's worried her act is being stolen. Lizbeth's not interested in taking Razia's thunder, but she is interested in recruiting the caustic bounty hunter to help uncover a massive government insurance fraud. From the desert planet of D-882 to the Universal Bank archives to the capital city on S-864, the trail leads them deeper and deeper into a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of the Universal Government - and to one of the most painful chapters in Lyssa's past.