Publisher's blurb: 150 years after World War III... Spacecraft from Earth and its colonies have ventured outward to a distance of twenty parsecs from home to find hundreds of alien worlds. Humanity has carved out a very small part of the universe to call its own, but also has discovered there are other sentient races out there as well – some friendly, some neutral, some isolationist and some downright hostile. Space offers nearly infinite possibilities – both legal and not so. But come prepared, because the void is not a forgiving place. It takes a special breed to make it out in the black – tough, independent and cagey. They are exactly the kind of people who don’t do very well when hemmed in by rules, regulations and laws. They are the sorts of people who take risks every single day of their lives and call it an occupational hazard – and wouldn’t have it any other way. Welcome to the universe of Distant Worlds!