Captain Tom Thrush is patrolling the Octagon Rift when his ship is attacked by a black destroyer that seems to predict his every move. Outgunned and outmaneuvered, he flees in a crippled ship to the only sanctuary he can reach—a den of thieves and spies called Lotus Station. Stranded... His ship will be broken up for scrap. Half the crew are casualties. The rest are scattering, leaving Tom stuck on Lotus. As the black destroyer hunts down local freighters, Tom becomes obsessed with tracking it down and taking revenge. A lost corvette... There are rumors of one more warship on Lotus Station. The Calgary is a heavy corvette captured by the Dawn Alliance and towed to Lotus. A corvette is no match for a destroyer, but it’s all he’s got. If Tom can find the Calgary—if he can get her fit to fly—and if he can find a crew, he will face the black destroyer one more time.