Athena Lee is the new Martian Ambassador but she is at odds with the old one. So much so that she is in a jail cell on charges of insubordination and treason, again. Visions of torture and persecution have her worried. Outside the Embassy, Dar is frantic with worry and has put a team together to storm the Embassy and free her. This comes of the Eve of change for the known Galaxy. A Massive Earth ship is on its way and Civil War is already breaking out in the Empire. The enemies of freedom, the Cabal, have come out of the shadows. With everyone against her, how can Athena Lee survive?