250 years after the Great Change that allowed space exploration, a race of bioengineered slaves marketed as 'angels' by Edison Angelics must serve human masters on a hundred colonized worlds. Denied birth through a womb, and controlled by corporate patents, angels hatch in an incubator now universally known as an 'Egg.

' They learn the truth of their own identity through clandestine education and with the help of an unlikely ally-a traveling bio-ship bookstore called The Book Depository. Robert Hedrock is the mysterious proprietor of The Book Depository and accepts manuscripts for publication from any angel with a story to tell.

He spreads the gospel that knowledge will free the Children of the Egg. His philosophy of promoting political change through education and critical thinking is balanced by early religious experience with the first great angel 'Saint,' Thomas Kempis of Kepler-452b.

The essential nature and 'soul' of xDNA-based life is still an open question. Can knowledge and enlightenment free the angels from the degenerate clutches of the Human Supremacy Party and the behemoth corporation that is Edison Angelics? Or will disaster strike in the form of a 'kill switch' that threatens them all?Find out in David Apricot's The Book Depository.

This Second Edition contains improved formatting with a duplex full-color cover, and is printed on high-quality 70lb paper. .