Acorna, the "unicorn girl," has made peace with her Linyaari past, and aboard the interplanetary salvage vessel Condor, she is finally free. But dread overtakes her when a distress signal summons Acorna and her companions to a nearby planet. For among the myriad wonders of this world of sentient plants and intoxicating perfumes are unmistakable signs that everything Acorna holds dear is in peril. A promise of world - shattering devastation is in the celestial winds - and impeding catastrophe at the cold claws of the insectile race that seeks to eradicate all Linyaari and human life from the galaxy...the Khleevi!