Captain Ellisa Shann commands the Khidr, a small escort and rescue ship with a crew of twenty-five. When she picks up a distress call from the Hercules, a supply ship, three days out of Phobos station, she decides to investigate. What she finds will push her, her crew and her ship to the brink of destruction.

The Hercules is drifting dead in space. But there is another ship nearby, one that is decidedly not dead. In fact, it seems all too ready - and eager - to destroy the Khidr. Under attack by an unknown enemy, and fearing treachery from her own crew, Shann will need all the skill and courage she has if she wants the Khidr to survive.

Sequel: Resilient.