In 2513, six months after the Sol Federation ships Nightwing, Shadow Storm, and Darkfire made their historic voyage to M�r Zh�n--the homeworld of the M�r Tua'ansa Star Empire--the Terran embassy was established in the capital city of Zh�n'ana. The human husband and wife Diplomatic Corps team of William and Cassandra Nicolini were excited when they learned of their assignment to the new Terran embassy on M�r Zh�n, where they would be in charge of Cultural Exchange. The Nicolinis would be bringing their twenty-year-old son, Craig, with them to M�r Zh�n with the idea that it would at least benefit his interest in Xeno Art and Music--and perhaps help his social skills. Craig Nicolini was, by all accounts, a kind-hearted, generous, and helpful--though inept--young man. His well-meaning actions seemed to go astray more often than not, and his social skills were such that he tended to be a "wall flower" at parties and other functions. Craig was fairly intelligent, and was--once he opened up--rather conversant on popular art and music from several worlds in the Sol Federation. He had a growing collection of exotic musical instruments, some were difficult--if not impossible--for most humanoids to play. His favorite instrument was the ha'nurideen, a traditional nine-stringed instrument favored by current �lendorian pop music bands. When Craig's parents told him that they were going to M�r Zh�n and would be spending the next five Standard Terran Years in the new embassy, he wasn't particularly thrilled at the idea of leaving home. The thought of being on a world with an ancient civilization whose people were tall, nocturnal, possessed incredible psi abilities, and were decidedly scary looking, made him nervous. For a young M�r Tua'ansa woman, Ilen-Saa'an, Fourth Daughter of the House of Ilen, a lower house of M�r Zh�n's Third Circle, life was about to be turned upside-down. Ilen-Saa'an knew her place in society--almost no chance of being paired with a mate from a house with higher status. She worked as the Second Assistant to the owner of a small eatery, a job that allowed her to purchase the one thing in her life she could enjoy--her Tal'esna Je-mah, a type of speeder bike. Although Ilen-Saa'an could simply teleport to work from her home, she preferred riding her bike for the thrill it gave her. Life for Ilen-Saa'an was predictable, and that was enough for her, but one evening a chance encounter with a strange alien male changed everything.