To make matters worse, criminals haunt the star lanes almost unopposed, enslaving refugees and ruining lives. Alaric must dance a fine line between heroics and villainy as circumstances and hard luck drive him to dark choices.
To thwart the Protectorate’s criminal elite, Alaric embraces the vast interstellar emptiness in a struggle to harden himself for survival. Every move seems the wrong one, and every choice carves a slice from his soul. Can he free Cassii before he loses himself or will she return to find her beloved captain just another monster in the black?