The Warship in the Barley

About this book

On Cauldry, a dusty barley moon at the forgotten edge of the Aurelate Empire, every child wears a tin tag stamped with the destiny the imperial engines assigned at birth. Twelve-year-old Ness Coyle's says SIGNIFICANCE: NIL. She stammers, reads slowly, and can't drive the family's ancient combine in a straight line. Six days before the Empire's great lifter lands to take its fifth of the harvest, something burning falls out of a war nobody told Cauldry about and lands in the Coyles' north field. Inside is the last living mind of a warship, which was ordered to destroy itself and didn't. It needs a body. By morning, the combine is thinking. And a recovery team is already landing in the valley, led by a young lieutenant who knows these fields better than anyone expects. What does a warship want with a girl whose destiny is nothing?