Outlaw Torri Rendego and her crew pilot the Far Seek to the mining colony of Newburg on Old Earth to smuggle out rare black opals, in fulfillment of their latest contract. So far everything goes as planned until Torri learns that Kai Tinsdale, her Academy bunk mate and now a Captain for the hated Coalition, is there to break up the dangerous but profitable smuggling rings. Will Torri and Kai survive another test of their fragile bond as they battle nefarious forces to complete their conflicting missions?

Outlaw Torri Rendego can’t shake her past, which most often involves Kai Tinsdale, her former Academy bunkmate and now commander in the hated Coalition forces. She’s convinced the Coalition is up to no good on Kai’s family holdings and decides to investigate. Problem is, the Coalition is definitely up to something, and Torri and the crew of the Far Seek have to pursue an outrageous plan to gather information and pass it along to Kai somehow. But even the best-laid plans can go dangerously awry, especially where Kai’s concerned. Risking herself, her crew, and a tenuous tie to a shared history, Torri goes deep into Coalition territory to uncover a secret with far-reaching consequences for a distant and ancient culture. The stakes of this venture may prove way too high, even for a gambler like Torri.

Commander Kai Tinsdale knows something’s afoot when she receives orders to post to the military base Koto on the virtually impassable jungle planet Hanzey. Rumors of rebellion against the Coalition are spreading across the quadrants, and the threat of war makes Kai all the more suspicious about her assignment. What does Major Tinniset Vic, the ranking officer at Koto, want with Kai? How might the decade-old destruction of a Hanzien city pertain to Kai's new posting? The only person she trusts, former Academy bunkmate turned trader Torri Rendego, is running merchant routes in other quadrants and may be facing her own problems in the growing rebellion. So Kai must play the hand she's dealt in a high-stakes game of intrigue and revenge where Major Vic holds all the cards and where a gamble could unleash a war all its own on Hanzey.