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THE GIFT OF THE TRINDE TREE
Vol. 2 of the
Terrano Trilogy
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DOUBLE-DRAGON PUBLISHING
© 2012
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Melalie Noris, cultural attaché in the Terran Embassy on the planet Thanli believes she can ignore Bailey Marshall, agent of Consolidated Associations for Trade and Transport, when he insists she take on a special assignment for CATT. She's busy puzzling over the assignment given her by her Sendoran tutor: to discover what motives impelled the Sendors, the eldest of the planet's sapient species, to present to the Terran Embassy a single trinde, a tree the Sendors hold sacred. But Marshall will not be ignored. He must find the source of murgold, a rare mind-expanding drug, before agents of a rival organization discover it. Against her wishes, the ambassador assigns Melalie to work with Marshall .
Marshall and his partner, Vic Triller, have tricked the rival agents into believing the source is in the Jungle of Arn, where a confederate is negotiating secretly with the Arnese people to secure a monopoly on the murgold trade. The supposed confederate is a decoy, while Marshall and Triller go to Chadias, where they've been told they will find the true source. Marshall has chosen Melalie as the decoy, knowing she will probably be killed by his ruthless rivals. He has arranged for her to travel to Arn and make contact with the Arnese under the pretext of studying their culture. He has leaked spurious information to the rival organization that will lead them to believe that Melalie is negotiating with the Arnese for access to murgold, thereby placing her in grave danger.
But Marshall and Triller have themselves been tricked and betrayed by their supposed allies and by China Terrano. China has maneuvered herself into a position from which she can carry out her scheme to kill Triller. Marshall falls into the cruel hands of the Chadiassans, who mean to cause him a slow and painful death . There is only one person he can call on for help. Although a great distance separates him from Melalie, a commlink connects them. Melalie has the power both to save Marshall and to uncover the mystery of the murgold source. But she despises him and abhors the murgold trade. She has acquired an alien power from the Arnese. She must decide whether to use it or let Marshall die. The riddle of the trinde tree provides the answer to her dilemma.
