Synopsis: The Ninth Planet

Everybody wants a piece of the Ninth Planet -- either its largely unmined mineral and coal/uranium deposits, its vast forests, its religion-free culture, or its hard working peoples, the Pfren. Wars between the planets have been eliminated due to the practice of TradeChildren, essentially hostages for peace traded under the auspices of diplomatic service and cultural education. It's also supposed to have ended the slave trade. But the Pfren are being preyed upon by slave traders determined to keep their activities secret.

Priestess Domini is wracked by guilt over the suicide of her niece a TradeChild sent home at her mother's request who commits suicide shortly thereafter. A former TradeChild herself, Domini must shepard the newest batch of human children while she negotiates and translates for the Pfren with the mining- and trade-oriented Hiron of the Third Planet, a race Domini despises for their ecologically disastrous practices.

The Hiron negotiator, Turen, also has his work cut out for him... he can't eat anything on Ninth Planet, his translator hates him, and has been tapped by the 12 Planet Council to investigate allegations of slave trading, a job for which he is spectacularly unequipped. It's a good thing he has six arms. It's too bad he's going to have to rely on Domini to tell him how to use them.