Description:In a galactic culture
that extends from quasi-Utopian worlds like new Rome to vermin-infested
slums like Old Earth, the Star-Pilots are the great heroes of the day,
and Grainger has become a legend in his own time, flying the
revolutionary ship, Hooded Swan. The rain forest of Chao Phrya seems a
more hospitable place than the Halcyon Drift or the underground world of
Rhapsody, scenes of Grainger's previous adventures. But the colonists
of the jungle planet are crazed and the indigenous population enigmatic;
and Grainger must must undertake a mission that requires a lengthy
journey on foot through the dense forest. His quest seems awkward,
hazardous, and doomed to failure--and that's before the giant spiders
make their appearance!