A secret agent aboard an intra-galactic railroad must derail a sinister scheme to enslave the universe in this nonstop science fiction thriller from Hugo Awardwinning author Timothy Zahn The universe is a dangerous place, a fact violently brought home to Frank Compton for perhaps the thousandth time when a stranger delivering a message dies right in front of him. An operative for Western Alliance Intelligence until his whistle-blowing activities got him fired, Compton is now being sought out by the Spiders, the robotic alien beings responsible for the upkeep and operation of the Quadrail transportation system, which connects the galaxys twelve inhabited empires. The discovery of a sinister plot to use the Quadrail for ill has brought the Spiders to Compton—for only someone possessing the former agents unique skills can stop the scheme for good.
