Vigilant

The Story

From James Alan Gardner, the author of Expendable (which Robert J. Sawyer called 'the best first novel I've read this decade') and Commitment Hour (declared 'intriguing' by the Denver Post) comes a new novel of adventure, danger and suspense on a strange new world.

VIGILANT

Two species lived in peaceful coexistence on the planet Demoth until a deadly plague wiped out millions of the winged Ooloms while leaving humans untouched. Faye Smallwood saw the horror firsthand, caring for the plague victims in her father's hospital. She was there when he discovered the cure that made him famous. She was also there when a freak accident killed him.

Desperate to escape her past, Faye joins the Vigil, a band of fiercly independent monitors charged with rooting out government corruption. To help in this struggle, her mind is linked to the powerful datasphere that regulates the planet. While on her first Vigil assignment, however, Faye discovers she is the target of unknown assassins in a sinister conspiracy.

For humans and Ooloms were not the first species to inhabit Demoth. Somewhere in the ruins of long-abandoned stettlements, something was left behind: an alien technology of unimaginable potential to build -- or destroy. Enemy agents will stop at nothing to find it. Some of Faye's own people will kill to uncover its secret. With no one else to trust, she turns to the one person who can help unravel the mystery: Festina Ramos -- Explorer, outcast, ever-vigilant champion of those whom society deems expendable.