The Twentyman's House

The cease-fire is about to end.

In a distant Earth colony the so-called ‘Eden-seekers’ are on the point of resuming their war with the Union States in their bid to expand the territory run according to their religious beliefs. The Union States need all the help they can get and hope to form an alliance with their alien neighbours, known as Freelanders. They use their rescue of Reever, the kidnapped ruler of Sickle Bush city-state, to force an agreement between their two countries, and Resistance leader Hester Laing is sent to Sickle Bush to act as an adviser and liaison officer.

All she has to do is get the alliance up and running, and then somehow keep it alive long enough for it to have an effect on the course of the war. But Reever is a newly appointed Twentyman with few allies amongst the other rulers of the Freelander city-states, and he has his own battles to fight.