Shasti Rainhell has begun rebuilding her life at the commander of her former lover's privateer, the
Sidhe
.
The war with the Conchirri is over, but a new threat appears rom furth in toward the galactic core as an Evolver warship attacks a Confederate world. Confederate Spymaster Mandela returns to recruit Shasti to take his team of scientists and soldiers into unknown space where she will encounter old friends, and enemies.
A handsome linguist draws her interest, while her old adversary, Kyle Mmok, now completely in a robot body, mirrors some of her own struggles about what it means to be human. But a totally unexpected addition throws the expedition into chaos when Mikhail Vaugh, master assassin from Olympia, appears on the scene.