A secret agent aboard an intra-galactic 'railroad' must derail a sinister scheme to enslave the universe in this nonstop science fiction thriller from Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn The universe is a dangerous place, a fact violently brought home to Frank Compton for perhaps the thousandth time when a stranger delivering a message dies right in front of him. An operative for Western Alliance Intelligence until his whistle-blowing activities got him fired, Compton is now being sought out