How does a starship pilot, trapped on an alien world with no memory of his past, save the woman he loves? Jak has loved Tessa for as long as he can remember. Unfortunately, the last four years are all that he can recall. When Tessa—the beautiful, clever Hired Companion—pleads with Jak to protect her from the local crime boss, there's no way he can refuse. But the trouble only gets deeper when they get mixed up with the heiress of one of the Thousand Families of Terra who's trying to discover the host body of a sientent bacteria before it destroys everyone on Shadriss. Can one man save them all? If it means winning Tessa, Jak will find a way.