Hard times bring out the greatness in men, and those who give all are changed forever.

When James got stuck with dockyard duty while Ben and Stella get to go planetside without him, he never thought he might never see his older brother and sister again. But shortly after they leave, a Hameji battle fleet invades the star system, turning it into a deadly war zone.

As James flees with his father on the family starship, he can only look on powerlessly as the Hameji reduce their homeworld to molten slag. But Ben and Stella are not dead. When James learns that they’ve been captured and enslaved, he vows to rescue them, no matter the cost.

James isn’t a warrior. He’s never killed a man before, and doesn’t know if he could. But if that’s what it takes to save his brother and sister, he’ll become whatever he needs to be—even if there’s no going back.