Peace in the Galaxy hangs in the balance. Amid rising inter-species tensions, brilliant systems Engineer Allysha Marten takes one last job to rid her of debts and her cheating husband. On the mysterious planet Tisyphor she meets a security guard who wins her trust and her affection. Like her, he suspects that there's more to the operation on Tisyphor than reopening an abandoned mine. Together, they uncover a plot that threatens to plunge the Galaxy into inter-species war. As they scramble to prevent the coming holocaust, Allysha is horrified to learn that her new lover is ex-Admiral Chaka Saahren, the man the Ptorix call Chozhu the Destroyer, the man responsible for the death of her father, along with millions of other innocent civilians. In a race against time, Saahren must convince Allysha to set aside her conflicted emotions about him to help him prevent the coming conflagration. And perhaps while he's doing that, he'll win back the only woman he's ever loved.