Found adrift far from Consortium space pilot Dakota Merrick & Lucas Corso are taken prisoner by the alien Bandati. There Dakota discovers that humanity's knowledge of the galaxy is frighteningly inaccurate. The Shoal has apparently been fighting a frontier war with a rival species the Emissaries for thousands of years. As yet the latter seem unaware of their FTL technology's full destructive capabilities. But the Bandati now have this information & they will use it for profit. Dakota realises to her shock that the Shoal may therefore hold the Galaxy's best chance for peace. Forging an alliance with Trader a Shoal-member she's determined to prevent the Bandati's deadly knowledge from reaching the Emissaries. Yet despite her efforts a nova war now seems inevitable -- a war that will destroy millions of inhabited worlds.