Hazel d'Ark, ex-clonelegger and ex-pirate, is an official hero of the great rebellion - but she's also been kidnapped; now it's up to the legenday Owen Deathstalker to venture into the Obeah Systems to find and rescue his companion in arms. But there's more behind the kidnapping, for the Blood Runners, Hazel's evil captors, have been influencing present day affairs in the Empire far more than anyone realized - and they have stolen a part…