by Glynn Stewart (Author)
The price of loyalty is vigilance
The price of ignorance is death
Damien Montgomery, Hand of the Mage-King of Mars, has dealt with pirates, conspiracies, terrorists and space battles in the service of his King. A warrior-judge, charged to maintain peace across the stars of the Protectorate, he is well overdue for a vacation.
Most people's idea of vacation isn't a murder investigation, but the Hands aren't most people. A quiet task on an isolated research base seems the perfect mission to Damien and his King alike-until the discoveries of that remote archeology site bring fire and death down on Damien and the scientists alike!
With more questions than answers, Damien begins to pull the threads of the attack. The trail will lead him to the last place he expects to find enemies: Olympus Mons, the Mage-King's own center of power.
And when his quest digs up the darkest secrets of the Mage-King's dynasty, he must decide which comes first: his honor, his oaths-or the truth.