Justin Tiberius is a medic on the human salvage vessel Parallax . When the ship recovers an abandoned cryopod, Justin is called upon to revive the person inside: an alien Rox maiden. Mira l'Archon is the most beautiful girl in her clan, and survived assassination by a jealous rival. Terrified to return to the people who tried to kill her, she contents herself with life among the humans ... and her surprise marriage to Justin, who cannot legally protect her any other way. When the woman who tried to murder Mira stands trial, Justin and Mira are called to the Rox fleet as witnesses. Unwittingly they have placed themselves squarely in the sights of a desperate Rox woman ... a woman who will stop at nothing to eliminate anyone more beautiful than herself.