Jazon Lightsinger's desire to return to Earth may have gotten him into trouble. Dastoran High Lord Hromhada uses beautiful Amissa, a sixth-generation clone, to lure Jazon into accepting a mission to seek out a new life form in the Battle Zone, scene of decades of Alliance-Cha'aita conflict. The enemy isn't the only thing he has to worry about. Aboard Occam's Razor, the new interstitial skip drive ship, are three Dastoran Drones eager to protect Amissa and the ship, and a Trilock Ambassador eager to end the mission. The Phyein, the newly evolving inorganic race they seek out, need Amissa badly enough to insist that Lord Hromhada give Jazon control of the mission. Jazon has to discover why before they all die.