"Found adrift near a Bandati colony world far away from Consortium space, Dakota and Corso find themselves prisoners of the Bandati - the alien race from whom Dakota stole the film suit technology, and for which they now want payment. Dakota has discovered that humanity's limited knowledge of the rest of the galaxy - filtered through the Shoal - is direly inaccurate. The Shoal have been fighting a frontier war with a rival species, the Emissaries, with their own FTL technology for over fifteen thousand years and, as yet, their enemies are unaware of the drive's destructive capabilities. But the Bandati have also uncovered this valuable information and have resolved to use it for their own profit. Forced into helping, Dakota soon realises that, for all their faults, the Shoal may be the Galaxy's one chance for sustained peace."--Publisher description.