Kiran Grace and Andrelis Rossen meet as cadets at the Officer Training Academy of the Union of Independent Worlds and, despite the rivalries and suspicion between their home planets, Akna and Parabellum, they can't deny the attraction they feel. Kiran's competence and flair impresses Andrelis and challenges his assumptions about Kiran's people. For his part Kiran is attracted to the martial society Andrelis comes from, but not their stiff-necked attitude and cultural conservatism. After they graduate and go back to serve their home planets, they know they will probably never see each other again. They can only hold on to the happy memories of that intense academy affair.
But several years later, both are serving as officers aboard starships which are the first to reach the scene of a devastating explosion at a remote Akna mining colony. The two crews work together for days to help the victims of the disaster, and the connection between Kiran and Andrelis is rekindled. Both confess they've never been able to get the other out of their minds.
But when evidence comes to light implicating Parabellum in sabotage, the two worlds go to war, and Kiran and Andrelis are torn apart again. Only after years of war will there be a chance for them to reunite to end the conflict ... if they can get past a betrayal that's left a bitter rift between them.
