THE SHADOW Wealthy, powerful and majestically handsome, he is a man of dark secrets--a master of the ancient martial arts of an exotic distant land. Scarred by a childhood of shocking degradation, he has sworn to love chastely... but burns with the fires of unfulfilled passion. THE STAR Lovely, innocent and nearly destitute, she is drawn to him by a fevered yearning she could never deny -- following her enigmatic "shadow warrior" into a dangerous world of desire and righteous retribution.

The discovery of instantaneous space travel that average people could afford saw thousands of Terra's best race to the stars before governments could react. New Empires emerged through luck, treachery, or purpose. This series chronicles the survival and growth of the small Teaman Empire and the Shadow Warriors that made it possible. Shadows are unique, symbiont-enhanced warriors used as counter-insurgents by the Teaman Empire. The Teaman Empire is small compared to its two Alliance Partners. It survives being gobbled up by its partners or by the other two Alliances because of its Teaman University, the hundreds of Empire owned research companies the University spawned, the huge Teaman Empire driven banking industry, and by providing small Shadow teams to solve large problems for a steadily increasing number of planets. GalTech is the business started by Teaman's young emperor, a successful businessman and former shadow, the Empire's top banker, and a beautiful and lethal Shadow that never saw a fight she wanted to avoid. Military action, martial arts, business, humor, and relationships are all made more interesting as the meld between Shadows and their symbionts grow in strength and ability.