Margot Gunder is a student of magic--who can't do any magic. But that isn't stopping her. She believes in science, and you know what they say about sufficiently advanced magic... Unfortunately, the wizards on her thesis committee don't feel the same way. Suddenly she's out of academy funding, out of her degree, and out of luck. And that's before a death ray accident gets her robbed blind and in hot water with the intergalactic goblin mafia. There's only one thing to do--get a job in the private sector. Sure, her new employer isn't wearing any pants, his operation isn't exactly legal, and she's pretty sure his spaceship achieves propulsion by violating causality. But hey, a job's a job. Because Margot is a scientist, degree or not, and she's determined to crack this nut--if it doesn't crack her first.