This episode of Christie Meierz's stories set in Tolari space stars Bertie - otherwise known as Albert St. John Rembrandt, Lord Whitdon.

After being disowned by his family for not following their orders and marrying the British Crown Prince, Bertie has been making his way in alien space. Given that he is a financial genius and lawyer, he has managed to land on his feet with the Tolari. Besides running their space station, he has fallen in love with one of their rulers.

But the path to true love is running anything but smoothly. First of all, he almost dies after his first intimate moments with the Monral when he learns that not only is the environment on Tolar toxic to humans but so are some of the people. Bertie suffers from nerve damage that the Tolari can't cure despite their advanced technology and medical knowledge. His only choice is to take the blessing and be genetically modified which has all sorts of upsides including a longer lifespan. But there are downsides too.

Bertie has spent his life trying to gain the approval of his distant father. Nothing he could do has been good enough, but taking a gen mod would be the last straw. No Rembrandt has ever been genetically modified.

Meanwhile, a couple of Johnsons have arrived on Tolar under false pretenses. They want to convince their sister Laura to return home with them. The Johnson family is a bitter rival to the Rembrandts, but their hospital ship might be a way to cure Bertie without the need for genetic modifications. However, double dealing is in the works which leads to a lost ship and a kerfluffle of galactic proportions.

This was engaging space opera. It's only fault in my opinion was that it has a cliffhanger ending. Some issues are resolved but an equal, or perhaps, larger number of the plot threads were left unanswered. ( )