STARHAWK

Priscilla Hutchins has been through many experiences.
This is the story of her first unforgettable adventure

Priscilla Hutchins's parents definitely had very different ideas for their daughter's future. Her mother encouraged her to be a lawyer, and still longs for grandchildren. But ever since she was young, Priscilla has dreamed of the stars, and now she is taken the first step toward realizing her lifelong wish: she's completed a nerve-wracking qualification flight for a pilot's license.

The timing could be much better, however. Faster-than-light travel has only recently become a reality, and the World Space Authority's success and safety records are terrible. Meanwhile, private corporations have been attempting to colonize worlds, and their inept efforts have caused scandal and protest. Public support for interplanetary programs is now at an all-time low along with the demand for space pilots. Priscilla begins to wonder if her career is over before it's even begun.

But her ambition and determination won't be denied, and soon Priscilla is on the bridge of an interstellar ship. The trade-off is that she's working for the corporation that is responsible for terraforming new colonies, which ultimately gets her caught between militant activists trying to sabotage the colonization, and the corporation determined to succeed at any cost. Her working conditions include bomb threats, sabotage, clashes with her employers — and a mission to a world adrift between the stars that harbors a life-form unlike anything humanity has ever seen. Overcoming these hurdles will be the true test of her capabilities and her character.

"No one writing today is better than McDevitt at combining galaxy-spanning adventure with the genuine novel of ideas." - Washington Post Book World

"The logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke." - Stephen King