Renegade, the second of the five-novel Marq ssan Cycle, opens in August 2077 as the Pacific Northwest Free Zone, having survived the first year of its existence, faces both internal and external challenges. The US s Security Services has deployed a paramilitary covert action team to capture Kay Zeldin, Security s most wanted renegade, and destabilize the Zone s civil order. Nevertheless, Kay ventures outside the Free Zone to search for her spouse and dozens of other scientists who have disappeared, travelling through a war-torn American landscape she barely recognizes. When she encounters Security s formidable Elizabeth Weatherall, each woman risks all she has become in no-holds-barred, mortal combat.