When the Vellouwyn is attacked by a species of mysterious pack hunters bent on hounding them before the kill, First Officer Paine Thomas is among the injured who miss out o the siege. When the ship finally rallies, there is a long journey back to Federation space ahead, and many questions about the circumstances of her recovery, and her fitness to serve. To cope with the trauma, Paine is prescribed a course through the Ten Thousand Step Journey, a popular-- if unconventional-- Holocomb program that pits her against more than just a simulation as she strives to re-learn her relationship with herself.