For a decade, peace has reigned in interstellar space. A tripartite agreement between the Colonial Union, the Earth, and the alien Conclave has kept war at bay, despite some yearning to revisit the fighting of former times. But now, a looming civil war threatens this hard-won peace. The Consu, the most advanced intelligent species humans have ever met, is on the cusp of a species-defining war. This war is between Consu factions, but nothing the Consu ever does is just about them. The Colonial Union, the Earth and the Conclave have been unwillingly dragged into the conflict and in the most surprising of ways. Gretchen Trujillo is an unimportant mid-level diplomat, working for the Colonial Union bureaucracy. Until, that is, shes called to take part in a secret mission. This will involve representatives from every powerful faction in space. And what she discovers could redefine the destinies of humans and aliens alike, or destroy them all.
