AcknowledgementsStarting a new series always brings special challenges. Getting the tone right, giving enough of the characters and situations to set up things that are planned for down the road while also maintaining the current story, discovering what the series really will be as opposed to what the author had initially planned -- all of this and more gets weighed and balanced. Helping me achieve my goals with the series start were many of the usual but indispensable suspects. Oftentimes these people have no clue that they have helped me since it comes through a conversation, a kind word, or a gesture. This time around I extend special thanks to fellow writers John G. Hartness, Ed Schubert, and Gail Z. Martin; also thanks to Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir, and the late Don Pendleton for cr
