Decades after the murderous assaults on the civilized worlds by the Medusae and the Cometeers—worlds protected by the Legion of Space—the Hawkshead Nebula is a new setting of conflict and intrigue. Jil Gyrel is a lonely girl on a dismal planet at the edge of that nebula. Her life is changed forever when her father's long-missing spaceship reappears. The only survivor is her father's best friend Shon Macharn. Macharn's sudden marriage to Jil's mother sends Jil on a course of events that ends with all civilization at stake. For AKKA—the cosmos' ultimate weapon—has been stolen by mysterious agents, and the horrors from within the Hawkshead Nebula have rendered the Legion of Space powerless. Jil encounters the wonders of the galaxy and leads a motley crew against the terrors of the Nebula in an effort to find her father and recover the secret of AKKA! —From dust jacket flap