Heris Serrano—formerly a commander in the Regular Space Service—must take whatever job she can get after her resignation under a cloud. What she can get is the captaincy of a rich old lady’s space yacht... a rich old horsewoman, who has little liking for the military, and whose spoiled nephew Ronnie (and his equally spoiled friends) have been foisted on her after his folly embarrassed the family. Lady Cecelia’s only apparent interest is horses—she intends to go fox hunting on the private pleasure planet of a friend of hers, Lord Thornbuckle. But events conspire to make it far more than a fox hunt

Booted from the Fleet on trumped up charges after saving a villainous superior from catastrophe, Heris Serrano has been marking time captaining the deluxe interstellar yacht Sweet Delight. Now, Heris has been offered a chance at vindication and reinstatement in the Navy. All she has to do is save the galaxy from an interstellar mafia gone berserk

When Esmay Suiza found herself in the middle of a space battle, the senior surviving officer, she had no choice but to take command and win. She didn’t want to be a hero, but Once A Hero

Esmay, a gifted Fleet officer, and Brun, daughter of the Speaker of the Grand Council, have much in common, but their enmity is the talk of the base. When Brun falls into the hands of a fanatical religious militia group, Esmay finds herself in disgrace, suspected of conniving in the abduction

Rejuvenants fear the backlash caused by bad drugs; they want to ensure that nothing interferes with their pursuit of long life—or the profit that comes from promising it to others. Neighbor states fear the aggressive expansion of the Familias Regnant, fuelled by population growth and extended lifespan. Within the Regular Space Service, those who have received experimental rejuvenations fear they may have been given bad drugs on purpose. Esmay Suiza’s family fears that her marriage to an offworlder will damage their position. Barin Serrano’s family fears that his marriage to a Landbride of Altiplano will damage his career and their reputation. Fear begets violent reactions—from foreign governments, from great Families determined to maintain or increase their power, from internal rivalries in the Fleet—and nothing escapes the resultant bloodbath unscathed. As Esmay and Barin struggle to reconcile their families, others have more cosmic struggles to win

The worst has happened: Fleet is tearing itself apart. Some of the mutineers see injustice in the unequal spread of the rejuvenation drugs that offer virtual immortality to the rich; others are simply thirsty for power, or for blood. The Loyalists, meanwhile, fight desperately to preserve the rule of law in Familias Regnant space