When a spaceplane and its pilot disappear during a shady, off-the-books job, Noémie Charter Services has to send a risky rescue mission to find him. Mechanic Lyssa Ruiz and pilot Erin O'Connell must brave the most remote, dangerous, and pirate-infested region of the Darklands to get the job done. Out here, in the Backwater Cluster, everybody is an enemy. Welcome to the Darklands.