A colonial navy officer fired for a crime she did not commit, struggles to survive while seeking a way to get revenge. A secret about her very existence leads to a devastating crisis threatening all humanity.

SYNOPSIS:

Approximately 600 years in the future mankind has discovered faster than light travel and colonized over 2,000 planets. Mega corporations on Earth, such as Anilla Shipping, derive enormous profits from the supply of fuel for fusion power generators and so jealously guard the technology. Interference in those supplies could spell the end for the colonies and kill tens of millions. Shipping routes are protected by the Earth Colonial Navy (ECN) who have been unable to prevent losses due to piracy. This leads to Earth’s major shipping companies losing patience with the navy.

Events spiral out of control when a corrupt captain on the Navy flagship, ECN Constitution, opens fire on a civilian planet killing over 100,000 people. The captain uses powerful family connections to avoid blame. Looking for a scapegoat the Navy pins the blame on Lieutenant Commander Janice Barton.

Janice is still recovering from the deaths of her family and hiding the fact that the gift of prescience she had since she was born deserted her when she needed it most, weighed down by the guilt that she should have prevented all those deaths on the planet. She now makes a living as a corporate spy and helping the local crime syndicate. She is distrustful of everything and everyone. She resents the Navy but it is the only place she’s ever fitted in. She hopes that one day she will get revenge on those who wronged her.

She is offered a routine job through her syndicate friends and when it goes wrong, she finds out she has been secretly working for Anilla Shipping. Her contact reveals himself to be senior executive, Anthony Greg. In conversation he destroys her world by revealing that she is a clone in a world where clones have been outlawed for nearly 40 years. Her very existence is illegal. [GR1]

At this time, a former colleague from the Navy, Nate Harrison, approaches her to ask for her help in solving a mystery. Merchant ships, or merchies, are still going missing. The losses are staggering and being hidden from the public, but it is only a matter of time before all human space realizes and colonies collapse through lack of essential supplies from Earth.

She is initially reluctant to help. She is still filled with doubt of herself and resentment for the navy even though Nate is dangling an opportunity for her to get what she thinks she wants. She’s also scared that someone is going to find out she’s a clone though part of her doubts Greg. She wants to get into Anilla to do some exploring but she cannot with Nate hanging around, so she agrees to help him. Joining her is a former boyfriend, Dr. Allan Cooper expert in ship design, and another former navy shipmate, Lieutenant Carol Anderson, someone Janice used to mentor. [GR2]

Her new friend at Anilla Shipping seems extremely interested in her and offers more information about her origin and about the missing ship problem but before he can tell her more, he disappears.

Barton and Cooper believe sabotage is behind the ship disappearances. They explore options leading them to investigate a manufacturing facility in the asteroid belt. Things take a dramatic turn when an attempt is made to assassinate the team and to capture Barton. They escape but in the process the base is destroyed but not before they find a clue that leads to Anilla Shipping.

They return to Earth and Barton slips away sneaking into Anilla Shipping Headquarters with the assistance of her syndicate friends. While there she is betrayed and captured. During an interrogation by the executive assistant to the CEO, Henry Tyrell he reveals that she is really is a clone, the result of an illegal experiment. He is curious about her precognition and wants to study her to find out how she got it.

Barton is rescued by Anderson, leading a black ops team to extract her. Anderson reveals that she planted a tracker on Barton at Harrison’s suggestion. Barton cannot reveal what she has learned and her evasion concerns Anderson. Barton is scared at what Anilla will do next and wonders who her parents really were.

Harrison is pursuing his own inquiries when suddenly his boss tells him that the investigation must end. Since she initiated the investigation, he is suspicious. Initially suspecting corruption, he is disturbed to find a pattern of senor officers and politicians acting strangely. As he starts to quietly investigate them, he finds that Sanmar is now working with those same officers and politicians to discredit him. Sanmar is jealous of Harrison and still fuming over the incident that cost Barton her career. He is a now a full-on narcissistic psychopath and does not believe he did anything wrong. [GR3] He is incapable of understanding the deadly danger he is placing Harrison in, and himself.

Barton and Anderson hitch a ride on a merchie hoping that it will be taken. It is and they are captured, but by whom? Barton and Anderson break out of captivity. They discover a cloning facility operated by Anilla personnel with the assistance of an alien race, The Uliratha. Splitting up, Anderson steals a ship and heads back to Earth. Barton continues exploring but is captured by Tyrell.

Tyrell reveals Barton’s real origin. She was synthesized by the Uliratha. She is not human at all. Tyrell is like her, synthesized. He tells her that the aliens are weak in technology and physical sciences, but strong in biology. They intercepted transmissions from Earth told them that humans do not treat inferior civilizations well. Their military thought that they could steal human technology, undermine Earths government structures with clones thus creating an opportunity to wipe the humans out and save themselves. They engineered events that lead to clones being banned.

As Janice is lead away, she is rescued by Anthony Greg. He tells her that he is synthetic, like her and Tyrell, but part of the Ulirathan government opposing the military. They believe they can negotiate with Earth. He gives Barton a ship and tells her the coordinates of the alien fleet. The clock is ticking, Tyrell is about to lead a devastating attack on Earth.

Janice rendezvous with Anderson, together put a rag-tag fleet together to oppose the alien forces. A desperate battle ensues. Meanwhile on Earth, Harrison and Cooper have put all the pieces together. They work to expose the clones and patch up Earth’s defenses, dispatching ships to help Anderson and Barton. It looks like they are too late but, will they succeed?

Epilogue: The battle is over and Earth wins, only just. All the clones are rounded up. A new president appoints Harrison to head up the Navy. Negotiations begin with the aliens. As Barton now tries to reconcile what she is she receives a message from the Ulirathans. The message says that they lied about what she is…