Chapter 1Derek Herman stared at his front door shaking on its hinges when Ocren Starburst, his downstairs neighbor, pounded on it.
“Let me in, Derek!”
The growl didn’t make it easier to understand the heavily accented words. It made Derek shiver, but he didn’t reply. Instead, he ran to the door and leaned his back against it. If Ocren broke the deadbolt or the hinges, he’d have to get past Derek too before he got into the apartment. Derek had no illusions: Ocren was strong enough to do it.
Years ago, long before Derek was born, the intergalactic council deemed humans unfit to rule Earth. From what Derek had learned in school, they might not have been wrong. Humans had done a good job ruining the planet, but it was only one piece of the puzzle. The Pacurians, one of the more powerful rac
