Earth is no longer the centre of the universe After the invention of the faster-than-light jump drive humanity is rapidly establishing new colonies But the vast distances of space mean that the protection of Earth's laws no longer exists When a nearby world attacks the new colony of Glenlyon turns to Robert Geary a former junior fleet officer & Mele Darcy once an enlisted Marine They must face down warships with nothing but improvised weapons & a few volunteers
- or die trying The only hope for lasting peace lies with Carmen Ochoa a Red from anarchic Mars & Lochan Nakamura a failed politician & their plan for a mutual alliance But if their efforts don't succeed space could become a battlefield between the first interstellar empires