A dark shadow awakens on the edge of known space. Long lost and long forgotten, an alien foe rises, One that would power its return by enslaving humanity! During her pursuit of the human traitors known as Nemesis, Mage-Captain Roslyn Chambers ventured deep into alien stars. She destroyed her enemy at the final moment, but saw firsthand the might of the alien empire Nemesis called the Reejit. The lost world Chimera has hidden between human and alien space for generations. Roslyn must protect the planet from this waking threat, but both the human and alien colonists see her as a harbinger of nightmare. Roslyn may have the full faith of the Mage-Queen of Mars, but political interference quickly undercuts Roslyn’s diplomatic power and the chain of command. She is replaced as Ambassador by Connor O’Hannagain, a man loyal to the Protectorate, but not its Queen or credos. Chimera’s fate will decide that of a hundred worlds. Can Roslyn save Chimera, make an ally of O’Hannagain, and serve her Queen? She’ll need to draw on every trick she knows as an officer, a Mage, and a protégé of Damien Montgomery—or fail to uphold every oath she has sworn!