A Sort of Justice — P.E. Sibley

Revenge is a sort of justice . . . Mark Praed is a half-alien, half-human with a skill inherited from his Kyreen mother that makes him a valuable asset at the Commonwealth Intelligence Service: he can read minds. As a CIS agent, Praed uses his abilities to run a covert operation on Ludmalia, an alien planet conquered by a warrior race some three hundred years in the past. His mission is to help humans and Ludmalian rebels escape the planet after a coup by a militaristic dictator. But when his superior turns traitor and defects, Praed is captured, tortured for information by the man, and traded back to CIS. Praed vows to track down the man that betrayed him. He transfers to the Commonwealth's counterterrorist task to locate his traitorous commander. There he is teamed with operative Alexandra Lansing, an auburn-haired beauty who is also a by-the-book veteran of two years. Alex isn't fond of change and is none too happy to be working with a partner who can read her mind. Alex and Praed travel to a resort planet in an attempt to discover the source of an illegal arms pipeline. Their orders are to carry out routine surveillance on Jonathon Reul, owner of the planet, who is under suspicion of selling weapons to anti-Commonwealth terrorists. Praed finds it difficult working with a partner after two years on Ludmalia running his own show. Alex is all about the job and wants to micromanage everything he does. Her meddling more than annoying and her intense curiosity about his life is too intrusive for his liking. But as ghosts from his past rear their ugly heads, their simple observe and report operation quickly becomes a life or death battle and a race against time to apprehend their quarry before he slips away.