This short novel takes place in the universe of Walter Jon Williams’ Dread Empire’s Fall series. Three years after the Naxid war, Lord Gareth Martinez has accepted a meaningless post as Inspector General of Chee, a newly-settled world. Intending nothing more than a pleasant vacation with his family, Martinez first discovers corruption among the contractors engaged to develop Chee, but then finds something far more dangerous—- a literal cosmic menace that threatens to wipe out all life on the planet