All Raban had ever wanted was respect: respect for his city, respect for his father, and respect for his way of life. Independence was the only way to get it. To free his people from their bonds however, he must prove that the City of the Chosen is more than just a backward farming community. He must show its citizens that they belong in the world of business. That dream will drive him from his idyllic home, and into the cutthroat game of interplanetary politics. In the midst of his struggle Raban is derailed by a mystery. An empty shuttle hurtles out of the past and slams into the planet. Amid the rubble is the key that unlocks an ancient, scrambled prophecy. As the shuttle and its secrets become his father's obsession, Raban suddenly finds himself fighting to save the lives of his parents and the lives of the entire City of the Chosen. Betrayed and battered and with the fate of his people at stake, he comes up with a desperate plan to force peace by using his unique abilities to ignite a global war.