History Repeats

Xanabar stretches across the Spiral Arm, a glittering hub where alien fleets trade and bribe their way through deals. It's a city of consequence: rich enough to buy mercenaries, rotten enough to need them. When Miss Vanessa Lewis vanishes into this maze of corruption, her father turns to the only pair stubborn enough to find her: Peter Hawley and Buregarde, a dog whose intelligence might just match his growl. What follows is a propulsive chase through back alleys teeming with kidnappers, corrupt officials, and mercenary muscle. Hawley and Buregarde think fast, fight harder, and uncover a web of complicity that reaches Xanabar's highest towers. The rescue is satisfying, but the real victory is exposing how easily a civilization can mistake wealth for virtue. Smith's 1950s space opera pulses with hard-boiled energy, using its futuristic setting to ask questions about power, loyalty, and what we owe to each other when the law has been bought and sold.