The Kif Strike Back: C.J. Cherryh

Book III of Chanur. In Compact Space, where some seven species have staked out their oft-disputed interstellar frontiers, events move with speed, surprise and tendency to escalate into shattering violence. Confrontation is routine and treachery - to some - is a way of life. So when the kif seized a human and a hani from the crew ofThe Pride of Chanur, the gauntlet was down. Captain of the Pride, Pyanfar Chanur, was not one to ignore that challenge - a challenge that was to take Pyanfar and her shipmates to Mkks station and into a deadly confrontation between kif, hani, mahendo'sat and human. And what began as a simple rescue attempt soon blossomed into a dangerous game of interstellar politics, where today's ally could become tomorrow's executioner, and where methane breathers became volatile wild cards playing for stakes no oxy- breather could even begin to understand…