As the survivors of the ill-fated probeship William Bartram try to rebuild their lives, the Commonwealth seeks an end to the long, bitter conflict between the Republic and the Leyra'an. But the leaders of the Republic, suspicious of the motives that drive their long-sundered kin and faced with unrest among their own people, resist the changes that must come for peace to exist. And all the while, forces unseen by either side are at work, determined to force both the Leyra'an and Humanity to walk the path of war.