Cassandra Chamberlain always stood out. It was hard not to at 6'1" and 165 pounds with jet black hair and sapphire blue eyes. And if that wasn't enough, she was also brilliant, having graduated from Harvard at 15, taught at MIT at 19 and been nominated for the prestigious Magellan Award at 25. But she'd never really fit in. Not with her peers, not with her contemporaries, only with her family. But everything changed when Earth was attacked. Cassandra and her niece, Victoria, were the only survivors. Suddenly, the smartest woman on the planet had to relearn everything. Everything she believed to be true was challenged and she had to learn to survive not only for herself but for Victoria because someone wanted them dead. Admiral William Zafar is the youngest Admiral ever in the Coalition of United Planets Fleet and the hero of the Battle of Fayal. At 7'1", he's 325 pounds of Carinian male in his prime who is feared and respected throughout the Fleet. He is a Royal from the House of Protection, carrying its birthmark and considers its King one of his oldest friends. But when the Regulians destroy a previously unknown planet leaving only two survivors, he found he was willing to risk everything to protect the woman he loves from the Regulians and the Carinian traitor who wants her dead.