Heat and need lie below the veil... A Heat Series story. Demoted and tossed into the farthest reaches of the universe, Trooper Callie Justice finds herself surrounded by the Ventura's crew of slackers, dimwits and delinquents. The depressing realization that her career is over, combined with her uncontrollable lust for the ship's sexy captain, confirms it--she's losing her mind. Captain Rafe Vantry led with his ego when he bet he could take the worst ship in the fleet and turn it around. But nothing on the Ventura works, least of all the crew--and the idea he's going to lose seriously pisses him off. On top of that, the Relaxation Program has malfunctioned, matching him with an unknown woman for a night of anonymous sex. His strict sense of protocol forbids it, but the lure of losing himself in a woman's body proves too great. As things heat up between Callie and Rafe in the cool, silent darkness of the Relaxation Chamber, everything around them falls apart. A supervirus is running rampant, and Rafe's suspicions of sabotage grow stronger when Callie's personnel files mysteriously disappear. When the veil is finally lifted, the glaring light of truth will reveal what is real--and what could destroy them all.