Name of a Shadow

Its landscapes are washed by waterfalls of prismatic colors; its lush plains covered with turquoise aphrodisiac flowers. But soon there will be no flowers, no lovers, no tomorrows. The planet Malia has violated the Sole Restraint of Concorde, the space federation, by waging undeclared war on its former colony world, Vintra. Now Malia faces a swift and terrible fate: world-consuming molecular fire. As time ticks toward extinction for all Malians, Kayle, the mind-link, and Ryth, the pattern-master, race to discover why a people would knowingly commit an act of self destruction. Their only hope is a beautiful, unwilling accomplice, Faen, the last of an ancient aristocracy. She alone knows the secret of the sarsa, the musical instrument that can summon the undying wisdom of the shadows. She alone can call its name....