15-year-old Ran lives in Dodge City, Kansas, at a time when half the world's landmass has been returned to the wild, interstellar travel is possible, and ID chips implanted at birth trace the whereabouts and ensure the safety of every citizen. No one goes hungry, no one dies in senseless violence. Certainly no one goes missing. Or do they?Ran doesn't think so, but as an underage orphan with an uncanny empathy for smart machines, his main struggle is to find work. But when his only two friends turn detective - Pel researching disappearances and Hallie a bombing - the three of them are swept up in a dangerous mystery.Rather than achieving answers, their investigations draw unwanted attention. A violent event frames Ran as a criminal and he is forced aboard a starship, destination unknown, unaware that his friends are also aboard.Nor has Ran left his troubles behind. Something is wrong with the ship, and Ran's machine empathy may not help him against determined saboteurs who would prefer none of the passengers arrive at all.Pawn Quest is Volume I of the Pawn Quest trilogy by Kate Harrington. Join these teens as they and their fellow passengers journey into the unknowns of the universe, a journey that will force them to know their own hearts as well.