The aliens called her Kièrshia. Toxin.

Captain Jani Kilian’s life should have ended in front of a firing squad. Instead, she evaded battlefield justice by dying in a transport crash. End of story, according to official Commonwealth Service records.

But doctors repaired her in secret, using the most advanced Service Medical technologies available, or so they assured her. In the last days of the idomeni civil war, she escaped their homeworld of Shèrá, and spent the next 18 years on the run.

But someone like Jani leaves a trail no matter how hard they try to hide it, and she soon learns the Service hunt for her never ended. When Interior Minister Evan van Reuter, her former lover, tracks her down and begs her help in finding his wife’s killer, she has no choice but to agree.

The search takes her to the Commonwealth capital of Chicago, a hotbed of political intrigue as dangerous as any warzone. As the danger mounts, so do Jani’s struggles. Her rebuilt body is breaking down, and memories long suppressed are flooding back. Of one horrible night 18 years ago, and the gut-wrenching decision that changed her life forever.

First Book of the Jani Kilian Chronicles

REVIEWS

“Smith’s tightly plotted SF thriller debut is an ace–sure to appeal to readers who appreciate well-drawn characters and sophisticated milieus…Smith balances a taut mystery with vivid characters and a complex, ever-evolving plot–a feat more experienced authors don’t always achieve.”
-Publisher’s Weekly

“Impressive and entertaining . . . perilously fascinating.”
-Locus

“[An] extraordinarily solid first novel . . . Smith creates a complex and deftly shaded background populated with vivid, memorable characters—a universe of power politics, commercial and political espionage, and personal and interpersonal relationships . . . Code of Conduct is a novel for adults who have lost their illusions but not their love of story.”
-Elizabeth Moon, author of Once a Hero

“The most fascinating alien culture since C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner . . . Code of Conduct gives SF fans who demand strong characterization something wonderful to read when there’s no new Bujold or Moon novel.”
-Katharine Eliska Kimbriel, author of Night Calls

“Code of Conduct is good science fiction, good suspense, and an all-around good read.”
-SF Site

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Kristine Smith is the author of the Jani Kilian series and a number of short stories, and is a winner of the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. She worked as a pharmaceutical process development scientist for 26 years, but now writes full-time. Find out more at her website: www.kristine-smith.com