The project--the terraforming of Venus--was begun centuries ago. And generations more will come and go before the planet's surface has been fully habitable.There are those, however, whose patience has grown dangerously thin.Mahala Liangharad is a true Child of Venus--conceived from the genetic material of the cult leaders who brought chaos and horror to this planet in transition. To some, she should never have been born; others see her as the future. Now catastrophe looms once more, and it is she who must ensure that there is a future for her flawed, star-travelling kind...even if her great destiny tears her brutally away from everything she has ever known and loved.