Kim Morden should be elated. Not only has her fleet commander promoted her to captain, but he's given her command of the RAS Verdun, a great honor for any up-and-coming officer, especially one whose career had such a rocky, deadly start. However, no honor can conceal Morden's disappointment when she discovers that her first assignment will be a routine mission to search for missing cargo ships in Derek's Triangle, a worthless, backwater sector outside Alliance control. Such a mundane mission is hardly appropriate for a ship of the line when the Milipa Empire is closing in around the Alliance, and Morden wonders whether command has forgotten or forgiven her past after all.Morden's irritation grows when she discovers that her new second-in-command is none other than Emma Holsey, an old friend turned enemy. Morden hasn't seen Holsey in ten years, but the hatred and blame between them flares back to life. Holsey fights Morden's every decision, hell-bent on making her first mission as...

In the aftermath of battle...Captain Kim Morden and the crew of the RAS Verdun have triumphed over the Frontin in Derek's Triangle, but at a heavy cost. They limp toward Kensington Station, a run-down supply outpost on a remote planet in Alliance space, to repair their battered ship and mourn their dead in safety. After all, what danger could lurk on a dump like Kensington?A new threat rises...But the thick forests of this sun-drenched backwater world hide more than just an Alliance supply depot. A new and nameless enemy lies in wait, its objectives inscrutable, its intent lethal. When a surprise attack forces Morden to leave the planet, she makes the agonizing choice to abandon Lt. Commander Jack Wilcox and the rest of the Verdun landing party on Kensington. Morden vows to return, but will Wilcox and his people survive?And victory will demand the ultimate sacrifice.Outnumbered, Wilcox's party must join forces with the planet's garrison, a small, elite unit of Alliance Rangers....