After escaping from Heliodor and the wrath of the empire, Nia and the crew head to Earth to forge new alliances. Before Nia can investigate some unsettling information about her own family, they must leave, taking onboard fresh crew members in their quest to reach smaller Adamite communities and warn them of the emperor's plans. As new relationships are formed and old ones tested, Brec finds himself drawn to Peri, a reluctant recruit from Earth who wants nothing to do with him.But the emperor's diabolical schemes reach further than anyone imagined, and when the journey is disrupted by an anomaly, the crew realize that nothing will ever be the same again...