Leighanne's son, Corey had been severely burned during the Transhuman War, and now due to the new health-care law, was on death's door. Her old friend, Miranda part of the Shan First Pod on Illia, was her last best hope for his survival. If the aquatics from Earth's ancient past could not help her with their advanced bio-genetic engineering techniques then all was lost.
And help they could, but Corey would never be the same again. He'd be better than he was. Better, faster, stronger..., uh... you know the rest. He'd be a Shan defender with all that entails. With the aid of Miranda's rather unique first-born, D'an'a, and the Shan colony's Electronic Personality, Mother, Corey was saved just in time to help defend the city against an unexpected threat from the UN.
The battle that follows will change the course of history for the world- in some ways more profoundly than the Transhuman or Dragon wars. It puts into action forces that will eventually see the founding of the Transentient Empire. Come along for a ride that is in the best traditions of people like R. A. Heinlein and Chris Claremont.
The cradle is the origin story of the heroes Coral and Depth Charge from the Dragon War. It explains just how D'an'a can be Corey's older brother and younger sister at the same time. It is a guided tour of the Shan culture and it also delves into the lives of one of the most divergent yet strangely normal blended families in the Atlantis Unleashed Universe.