Billy McGuire, its only human and an orphan, is unwanted, scorned, and forced to steal for his living. But now he has a patron, a mysterious Alien trader and a new ambition--to become the Shop's first human Merchant no matter what the odds! On that path to becoming a merchant Billy finds a friend in the panda bear Melisay, a mentor in the plant-anemone Zilkie, a master trader in the matriarch Ding do-wort, some mobile plants that have secrets they might share, and a whale-like creature who runs a Trading Guild that is multi-species and which may just accept him as a Trading student. If, that is, Billy can survive the guild's Pathway of Challenges! If he can survive starships blowing up, laser attacks, battles with deadly robots, and messianic Aliens! And if he can survive the Alien killers of his parents.

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