John Chamberlin and his younger brother have survived the civil war and returned home to a new and much larger mission - to snatch peace from the jaws of a looming, far deadlier war. He decides that the key to the future of the fractured federation lies with the hundreds of thousands of desperate, out-of-work veterans. He begins traveling from system to system, attempting to establish veterans associations and find work for their members. The former rebel worlds frequently react to his arrival with violence, and Earth just wants to continue her dominance of all thirty-seven colony worlds. His oldest brother returns to the fold and his circle of friends expands. His successes are hard-won, but more than one trips leads to more violence. Now that the threat of imminent death is lessened, love blooms, and friendships blossom like small islands in a desert of hatred. Slowly and painfully, they begin to piece together the puzzle of the source of continuing attacks against shipping, but beneath that question lies an even more important one: how is it that these attacks can't be stopped by the Navy?