The Nowhere Hunt

From the back cover of the DAW first edition: "The Nowhere Hunt was a quest every Hunter refused. Only Aleytys, wearer-slave of the mysterious and powerful Diadem would dare try to slip unseen past starship battalions and land on a world encased in a cosmic shield which rendered all electronic equipment functionless. Avoiding poisonous flora, hostile natives, vicious predators and murderous ransomers, her job was to rescue and transport a massive, semi-intelligent insect queen off planet and save a queen's besieged race from extinction. A seemingly impossible task, but one Aleytys could not refuse, for she had been offered in payment something she desperately needed to continue her own personal quest."