TOUGH FEMALE PI EXPLORING THE UNDERWORLD OF A VAST STAR EMPIRE Book two in a new series set in the world of Catherine Asaro&39;s Skolian Empire seriesMajor Bhaajan achieved the impossible Born to the Undercity the slums below the City of Cries on the planet Raylicon she broke free from crushing poverty and crime to become a military officer with Imperial Space Command Now retired from military duty she walks the mean streets of Undercity as a private investigator And she is about to embark on her most challenging case yetSummoned by no less than the Ruby Pharaoh herself Major Bhaajan is tasked with finding a killer But this is no ordinary murderer The Ruby Pharaoh witnessed a Jagernaut cut down Assembly Councilor Tap Benton—which shouldn’t have been possible The Jagernauts are the elite of the elite soldiers in the Imperial Space Command What’s more the spinal node implanted in all Jagernauts should have prevented the murder But the Ruby Pharaoh is sure of what she saw and she has reason to believe that the Jagernaut will kill againNow Major Bhaajan must hunt down a killer before it is too late To do so she must return to the one place on Raylicon she knows best UndercityAbout the AuthorTwo-time Nebula-award winner Catherine Asaro has an MA in physics and a PhD in chemical physics from Harvard A former ballet and jazz dancer she founded the Mainly Jazz Dance program at Harvard and now teaches at the Caryl Maxwell Classical Ballet She has recently taken up singing doing several gigs with contemporary and jazz styles She’s the creator of the popular Skolian Saga science fiction series with The Ruby Dice Diamond Star and Carnelians published by Baen Her other books include near-future technothrillers Alpha and Sunrise Alley Asaro lives in Maryland with her husband and daughter