Description:

Carolyn Kestral’s last encounter with the hostile, spiderlike aliens known as Raians, and their attack virus—code-named Venom—didn’t kill her as expected, but all the same destroyed her career in the Orion Guard. Now the proud owner of a Quicksilver-class freighter, she gathers a small crew and goes into business on her own.

But when a clandestine first run attracts the attention of the Spiders, Captain Kestral’s crew worries that the stress could trigger the virus, turning her into a lethal human weapon at the worst possible moment…