The Shadows have been blooded and survived. There was no time for celebration as their next mission came upon them like a gangster in the night. Or missiles out of the blue. Captain Jack Marber, the Yollin Tc'aarlat, and Adina Choudhury take the ICS Fortitude to the moons of Taglen. They have to figure out what's going on before they can fix it, all the while they are the target of an unknown entity who wants them dead. No matter the cost. As Tc'aarlat might say, "Don't put all your eggs in one bastard." Slave traders, murderers, thieves, and con men find themselves in the crosshairs of the Shadows.