Life had lost meaning to Rafe, all but the challenge to stay alive. He was just another drifter, going from one cattle ranch to another, running from himself, until 'They' came, the Acenl. But accepting who they were and what they expected of him was a harder reality than his meaningless past. This new 'life' they offered imprisoned him within an existence he found more abhorant with every passing year. Assassination, murder and destruction were what they forced him to live for, until he almost forgot what being human was. Then a mission gone wrong made him a prisoner of another race and gave him back a hope. Not the one he would have chosen but one which would bring a return of the meaning he longed for.