Irene Radford

C.F. Bentley

Harmony, a new utopia for space-faring humans. Or is it a thinly disguised tyranny locked into a rigid caste system, slavery by another name? Either way, xenophobic Harmony holds the secret to Badger Metal, a unique ceramic-metal alloy that protects people from the radiation and hard vacuum of space. Sissy grew up Worker Caste on the planet Harmony, her only hope for survival is to remain unnoticed, hiding her full array of seven caste marks. A devastating quake appears to be a major temper tantrum by the goddess Harmony. Sissy sings the planet, and her goddess back to benign quiet—matching the vibrations of her voice to the vibrations of the planet. This one act throws her into the role of High Priestess. Then she discovers she is the only one who can prevent her world from falling out of harmony into chaos. Jake has reinvented himself from wild pilot, to spy, to Sissy’s bodyguard while he hunts for the precious formula for Badger Metal. Can he find it and protect Sissy from outraged priests who fear change more than death, before civil war, and invasion, bury them all?

Confederated Star Systems #1

Harmony

Aboard the space station First Contact Café, Station Commander General Jake Devlin and Sissy, inexperienced and undereducated High Priestess of Harmony, confront the mystery of an odd eight-limbed stowaway, a mystical refugee who talks in circles rather than reveal the truth, and clues to the origin and genetic breakdown of enemies and allies alike. Together they fight diplomatic protocols to forge a necessary treaty between CSS and Harmony. Their efforts threaten to break the caste system and culture of Harmony by declaring their out-of-caste and out-of-culture love for each other. High Priest Gregor will veto the treaty rather than allow Sissy and Jake be together. But all of their agendas have a deadline: the space station seems determined to break orbit and plunge them all into the local sun.

C.F. Bentley

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