Thatch, Chuck, and Stockton have fled their burdensome lives on Mars in favor of raiding the stars with Hornigold MacCrinain and pirates. The future seems bright until Thatch is twisted into committing a heinous crime that leads down a road too dark to travel. Ambition may be the road to success, but there are no compasses in space and no king on the road to Hell. What goes up crashed back down.