Deep space is dangerous and humans are fragile beings. Few know this as well as Chief Safety Officer Kenik Duncan. He and a close-knit prospecting crew arrive at Drium, an unexplored world some twenty light years from their home on Unity Station. He has just one job: keep the crew alive. When the unthinkable happens, he finds himself reliving the same crisis that nearly killed him as a younger man. As the reality of isolation gnaws at the crew, Kenik has to make a choice. He can't save them all. But, he can save one ... if he can escape the snare of a fractured unity.