The opposite of life isn't death; it's something far worse. In an anarcho-capitalist future, space-based corporate settlements have replaced the State. Colonel John Alvarez, a fifteen-year veteran, is unwilling to waste more years leading missions into deep space. He wants to start over and make a new life with his wife and son. But when a distress message from a distant research probe is received, Novos Corp reactivates Alvarez's contract. He must carry out one last mission, a rescue attempt. Unknown to Alvarez, however, is the hidden threat that awaits him, one that—if he cannot stop it—will doom humanity to a fate worse than death.