Solo is the perfect soldier. He is a master of combat in all its forms. He has no family. No friends. No birth certificate. No Social Security number. No medical benefits. If he is severly wounded, he will be abandoned by his commanders. No one will cry if Solo is gone. Who, after all, would shed a tear for a killing machine? Which is exactly what Solo is, the very best money can buy. He looks like flesh and blood, but he's made of polymers and computer chips. He is the ultimate covert weapon, except for one thing: This weapon has been programmed to learn. And what Solo has learned is the value of life... which is more than enough to put him on a collision course with Colonel Madden, a man as implacable and pitiless as Solo was designed to be. Now the two are locked in a contest that will determine not only their fate, but the fate of the entire community of people who have taught Solo what it truly means to be a man.