Quadrail

The universe is a dangerous place, a fact violently brought home to Frank Compton for perhaps the thousandth time when a stranger delivering a message dies right in front of him. An operative for Western Alliance Intelligence until his whistle-blowing activities got him fired, Compton is now being sought out by the Spiders, the robotic alien beings responsible for the upkeep and operation of the Quadrail transportation system, which connects the galaxy's twelve inhabited empires.

Frank Compton saved the universe once—and for that he must die. Having temporarily stalled the Modhri, a sinister alien group intelligence, in its evil schemes for universal domination, the former Western Alliance Intelligence operative just wants to relax in first class with his stunning, half-human partner, Bayta, aboard the worlds-linking intra-galactic transportation system, the Quadrail. But when their peace is disturbed by an annoying human passenger spinning wild tales of alien art objects, and the pest is discovered dead soon after, Compton and Bayta realize there can be no rest.

Frank Compton is glad he's finally back on his home planet of Earth—galaxy-hopping aboard the Quadrail on his continuing mission to prevent the Modhri group mind from ruling the universe is exhausting business—but hadn't expected to find a young woman waiting for him in his New York apartment with a loaded gun in her hand. Ignoring her demands that he rescue her ten-year-old sister, the former Western Alliance Intelligence agent sends his unwelcome guest packing—only to find himself under arrest the following day for her brutal murder.