In a galaxy that bears the scars of millennia of war, peace is maintained by the Dioscuri, a near-mythical group of assassins. Mordax L'Amfour is a Traveller, an interstellar trader, scratching out a living on the fringes of civilisation with his father and the crew of their ship, the Indigo Starling. When cargo haulers begin disappearing, Mordax can't understand his father's insistence on investigating. But after his family is attacked, he has only one goal: revenge. Even if that means knocking on the door of the Dioscuri themselves. Akira Kudo is the daughter of the leader of the Kudo-kai. Once their empire spanned half the galaxy and innumerable worlds. That's all gone. Dismantled by the Dioscuri until all that's left to them is a single star system. But now the supply of fuel for their starships, their lifeblood, has been cut off and even the remnants of their empire are under threat. Akira must travel to a hostile planet and negotiate with a madman to save her family's fortunes. That is, if she can stay alive long enough to get there.