On a mission to bring aid to a beleaguered star system, John Knowles and Eb'shra Wirolen have been hurled by a freak accident across countless light years. They are marooned in uncharted space. As they work to repair their damaged ship, the Eli'ahtna, and the friends they've left behind launch a desperate rescue mission to bring them home, the castaways discover that although they are truly lost, they are not alone. In this third installment of the War of the Second Iteration, chance or fate lead to discoveries that promise to change everything Robert MacGregor and his friends think they understand. For the universe is about to reveal itself as more complicated, and dangerous, than they imagined.