Afterburn

Afterburn, S.L. Viehl, Roc Books, 2005

Part of a series, this novel is about the planet Kevarzangia Two, and its water-breathing inhabitants.

The Hsktskt slavers have been pushed out of the quadrant, so the four sentient races, who call themselves the Allied League of Worlds, meet on K-2 for a peace conference. The participants, two air-breathing races and two water-breathing races, don't particularly like each other. When an ambassador's shuttle is attacked prior to the conference, Sublieutenant Burn mu Znora stops the attack and rescues the ambassador's daughter, Liana (some younger 'Zangians, like Burn, have been surgically altered to be able to survive in the air for hours at a time). Having drawn the pleasurable duty of guarding Liana during the conference, Burn realizes that she knows a lot more than she is letting on, and that someone wants this conference to fail.

Meantime, the 'Zangians have a natural enemy called a mogshrike. Think of a creature bigger than a great white shark, with a lot more teeth and a much more nasty disposition. The mogshrikes have been moving into warmer and shallower water, where the 'Zangians live. They are defenseless against the mogshrikes, so the radical idea is considered of catching one to study. Dair, an elderly 'Zangian, is totally against the idea, but Teresa, his Terran mate, agrees to participate. The battle of wills gets to the point where Dair tells Teresa that they are no longer mated. A baby mogshrike is captured, and it is discovered that they have been doing some pretty radical evolving.

This is a fine piece of writing. It's got good world building, the characters are very well done, and it's a first-rate story. As with any series, reading previous books will help, but this does a really good job of standing on its own.