The worst has happened: Fleet is tearing Itself apart. Some of the mutineers see injustice in the unequal spread of the rejuvenation drugs that offer virtual immortality to the rich; others are simply thirsty for power, or for blood. The Loyalists, meanwhile, fight desperately to preserve the rule of law In Familias Regnant space. But when Esmay Suiza-Serrano Is unceremoniously booted out of Fleet, the apparent victim of Family politics, she has no Idea of the whirlwind of conflict Into which she is about to be drawn. As the noose tightens on galactic civilization, great battles will be fought and greater loves affirmed ... and old friends will meet their destinies.