Dust Knights - Böcker

A CITY DIVIDED For centuries, the City of Cries—one of the most desired locales in the Skolian Imperialate—has existed by the thinnest of threads. On the dying world of Raylicon, the “haves” live in great luxury in Cries while the “have-nots” scrape by, eking out a marginal existence in the notorious Undercity beneath the desert. Major Bhaajan, formerly of the Pharaoh's Army, knows both worlds. Born into the Undercity, she nevertheless has made a name for herself in the Imperialate. And now, she has the chance to help her people. HOPE FOR RECONCILIATION For the first time, a member of the Royal class wants to extend an olive branch to the Undercity. Hoping to build bridges, Colonel Lavinda Majda recruits Bhaaj and her Dust Knights to act as guides and bodyguards on a mission of goodwill to those who live below the surface of their parched world. THE DOWN DEEP But the problems of the Undercity run deeper than anyone knows. To help find peace, the Dust Knights must reach the most hidden rungs in that mysterious underground world, a place known only as the Down Deep, where the scars from centuries of distrust are greatest. There they will face an unseen enemy that may destroy the lives of everyone they know—and threaten interstellar civilization.

BORN TO RUN, BORN TO FIGHT DUST KNIGHTS COMPETE IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES The worlds of three interstellar civilizations vie for honors in the Olympics. The more populous worlds have always dominated the Games. The team from Raylicon, a dying world of scorching temperatures, has never won honors. But Mason, the coach for the Raylicon track and field team, makes a startling discovery: in the Undercity, a place where crushing poverty exists alongside a culture of dramatic beauty, a group of spectacular runners has existed for millennia. The Dust Knights are the best of those marvels. With the help of Major Bhajaan, an Undercity native, Mason recruits the Knights. The Undercity faces a civilization they've never trusted, one that sees them as barely even human. Now, they must all learn to work together. The Imperialate of Skolia needs the Undercity to trust them—for hidden within its enigmatic population is one of humanity’s greatest resources. Their population has a uniquely large concentration of Kyle operators. Kyles can do more than run; only they have the neurological makeup needed to utilize a vital technology, one that gives Skolia its sole advantage over their enemies. The army needs the Kyles, but after centuries of being despised and left to die by the rest of humanity, the Undercity wants nothing to do with them. Until Angel, one of the top runners among the Knights, joins the Kyle Corps—and dives into a world of neurological marvels, including star-spanning networks that access a dimension with dramatically different laws than our space-time universe. THE STAKES COULD NOT BE HIGHER AS THE DUST KNIGHTS COMPETE FOR THEIR WORLD—AND THE FREEDOM OF HUMANITY