Cirrus@Austlit

'Perhaps coming to visit his mom on Teral Four without her permission had not been one of Mark’s brightest ideas. But after she cancelled his visit to her archaeological dig, he had felt he had no choice. Now he wasn’t so sure. When his dad, a Colonel in the UN Peacekeepers, found out, he was going to go ballistic.

'Unfortunately for Mark, the Llarst, violent aliens who already fought one war with Earth, have taken his mother and the other archaeologists hostage. And if the Llarst find what they’re looking for, all of Earth will be in danger.

'With just the assistance of Windracer, a young saurian on her first vision quest, and her elephant- sized groundhog, Mark must rescue his mother and her friends, stop the Llarst, and face his dad.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Tania is tired of not having any friends because every time her mother changes her job they have to move. But this time Mom had really gone too far, dragging Tania away with her to a temporary posting as senior security officer on Calista Station. Things start to look up when Tania meets Mark and his friends Windracer and Shr’un. Shr’un’s father is a technician for Malachi Mining, the same company where Tania’s mom works.

'But all is not well. Someone is stealing star-stones and smuggling them from the Station. When Shr’un’s father disappears, it appears he may have been involved, but then things go from bad to worse – Tania’s mom disappears as well! Now it is up to Tania, Mark, Windracer, and Shr’un, with a little help from Shr’un’s highly illegal AI, to solve the mystery and rescue the missing parents.

Source : publisher's blurb

'Mark’s mom has been captured by the alien Llarst. He has two days to rescue her, and to solve the mystery of the caves, before his father arrives and grounds him for life.' (Publication summary)