Andal has fallen, swallowed by the Never and torn from the observable universe. Gavin and his crew of republican rebels have escaped the mysterious cloaked ship and are stranded on an alien world, while Janus Darishma tries to uncover what has happened at the edge of the star empire and what Fleet Admiral Marquandt has to do with it. In his investigations, he confronts his own past, which he wanted to leave behind at all costs. But just like Gavin, he must operate in the shadows and accept any help to bring to light secrets that will shake all of humanity.