Jody Lynn Nye

Lt. Daivid Wolfe has been fighting for years to achieve his own goals and escape from the taint of his family. He is the eldest child and only son of one of the most powerful figures in the Thousand Worlds Confederation, who can't imagine why Daivid would ever want to join the army. Central Command is uneasily aware of his connections, and has assigned him, in hopes of making him resign his commission, to the most unsavory unit in the Space Service, X-Ray Company, also known as the Cockroaches, a repository for outsiders, oddballs, and undesirables that the Galactic Defense Force doesn't want to have to deal with but can't find a legitimate way to discharge. But Daivid takes the assignment as almost a holy cause, promising to straighten out his company and make it proud of itself. As for the Cockroaches, they've chewed up and spat out gung-ho young lieutenants before - but have they underestimated Daivid? They're sent on what ought to be a cream-puff assignment, a simple courier mission to the greatest amusement park in the galaxy, and end up defending the population from a ruthless enemy in the only way the Cockroaches know how: unconventionally.