Everyone wants something from Venus.Dr. Helen Failia wants her orbital research city, Venera, to become a permanent Venusian colony. Dr. Grace Meyer wants to vindicate her theory of alien life. Techno-artist Dr. Veronica Hatch wants an inspiration. The U.N. wants to keep space colonies under its control, while covert rebels on Venera want to liberate the Moon and Mars from the U.N.All any of them need is a miracle, which is unlikely on an uninhabitable world of lethal heat, deadly pressure, and poison winds. But that's exactly what Venus yields, when a robot probe discovers on its surface a ruined building that promises proof of ancient extraterrestrial life.Then the humans are contacted by other, quite living, aliens. And for these avian beings known as the People, Venus is a true miracle. For the People's world of Home is dying, struck by a mysterious plague, and a refuge must be found. After centuries of desperate exploration, the People have found only one planet that can sustain them: Venus. And the aliens can't understand why humans would claim a world they can never use.Now, suddenly, a planet named for a goddess of love is primed for war, even as three females - T'sha, Veronica, and Helen ... diplomat, artist, scientist - try to keep the search for life from becoming the death of three worlds. Read Less