Kai Randal wants nothing more than to fly quietly, stay neutral, and keep his apprentice Parri out of trouble. But when a covert job in the Menkalinan system exposes them to a deadly secret-one older than any star chart-their quiet life fractures in an instant.
A catastrophic test flight leaves dozens dead and one brilliant commander, Shreya Nova, desperate for the truth behind her husband's disappearance. Pulled together by disaster and circumstance, the three uncover evidence that the tragedy was no accident, and that someone powerful is willing to kill to keep the secret buried.
Hunted, cornered, and caught between rival powers, Kai must rely on instincts honed over a lifetime in the cockpit, while Parri confronts dangers far beyond any training simulation. Shreya, armed with nothing but a broken heart and razor intelligence, finds herself caught in a conspiracy that could shift the balance between empires.
The shadows gathering over Menkalinan are deep, and the truth hiding within them is older and far more dangerous than anyone imagined.
The mission was supposed to be simple.
Instead, it awakened something no one was prepared to face.
In a lonely, and uncaring galaxy, Jack Fenway, the younger brother of a ruthless cartel leader, would rather do anything than return to his family.
Finding work as a smuggler for Allana Rayker, the most dangerous woman in the galaxy, he is surprised to find his next mission is to transport a mysterious device, retrieved from a crashed ship that was buried beneath the ice of a comet on the edge of inhabited space. But as soon as he completes delivery, Rayker tries to have him killed.
On the run and low on options, Jack bumps into a mysterious and talented bodyguard named Urtiga, who claims she can help him disappear. But what is his charming and secretive new protector hiding from him? And what was the package he transported, that has made him the target of a ruthless killer?
Worst of all, Jack soon discovers that he isn't getting out of this unless he confronts his brother once and for all.