City Of Pearl

Humans in the era of early interstellar exploration. It still takes years to get to the nearest stars, most of the business therefore happens inside the Solar System. As always, the governments have hard time fighting corporate interests, creating special police units such as Environmental Hazard Enforcement to curb the worst of excesses.

Environmental Hazard Enforcement, or EnHaz, is also the occupation of Shan Frankland. A senior EnHaz officer, she really looks forward to spending her retirement years planting tomatoes on a windowsill (most likely a serious patent law offense, since all crops these days are genetically modified and therefore subject to licensing). Unfortunately, her last assignment is interrupted by an unexpected ministerial visit - and for Shan Frankland, unexpected in more ways than one, because not only she did not expect the minister to arrive, but also she did not guess the visit would propel her on a voluntary century-long journey to a distant star.

And what is the journey about ? Well, that is another catch. The reasons were so secret the minister used a special technology to pass them on. Shan Frankland will only be able remember the details when she runs into a situation that triggers their recall. But then again, arriving at a colony of religious fundamentalists in the midst of a war between three alien races should provide triggers aplenty ...