Who can a traitor trust? Earth's Hegemony controls the surrounding alien civilisations with ruthless force. Their aim: dominate the galaxy to protect humanity. Horribly mutilated during the invasion of Homeworld, Udun escapes to seek help from the rest of the Lenticular. Instead he becomes a fugitive and hatches a desperate plan to travel to the Hegemony in search of allies. Left for dead on the Maagba battlecruiser, Rhees flees Human space and finds a powerful new alien species determined to stop the Hegemony. But can she trust them? And can she prevent humanity being destroyed if they succeed? And on Udun's Homeworld, the Hegemony kills and maims more innocent Kresz and turns its gaze on the rest of the Lenticular.