Lieutenant Keira Jenkins and her Jackals may have survived confrontations with the Black Spiral terrorist network and a betrayal by one of their own. Yet their troubles are only just beginning. With their starship badly damaged, they find themselves adrift in hostile territory. Somehow they must find a way to warn the Alliance before the Black Spiral unleashes a new war across the galaxy. But first they must face the Alliance's oldest enemy: the Asiatic Directorate. And the Directorate has a score to settle with Jenkins...