The safety is off. After witnessing his son’s birth, Captain Justin Spencer contemplates leaving active duty in the Coalition Defense Force for a training post. New pilots straight from the academy are sorely unprepared for combat conditions, just like he was when the war with the League of Sol began. But after a year of intense dogfights, the CDF can’t afford continued losses from ill-equipped rookies. Especially when disaster strikes. Pirates target a civilian starliner, forcing the CSV Zvika Greengold to renew an old acquaintance. The intelligence agent’s methods are unorthodox at best, but Colonel Tehrani is determined to avenge the innocent. No matter the cost. Sustained CDF presence in neutral space brings back bad memories of Terran Coalition overreach in the fiercely independent outposts. But to flush out the culprits responsible for the horrific tragedy, Justin and the Greengold will go wherever the evidence takes them. Even when their actions threaten to start another war.