No one ever attacks the deep border. It's too distant, too poor and too boring to bother with. When ships do go missing there it's a difficult operation to find them again and its rarely good news. Someone has to make an attempt, however, and, as the largest civilian vessel in the Alliance, it's Jethabel's task to try. For the crew it should be an easy shake-down cruise and a chance to repair reputations and careers damaged by defeat and mutiny. For Dr Jessie Fletcher and the rest of the newly assigned science crew it should be an opportunity to get their study underway. It all depends on why the ships are vanishing, and who or what is to blame.