Independent galactic trader Ven Zaran has had a troubled past, but he thought it was behind him. He has a family and a successful career, but when he helps out a former crew member against a crime syndicate, it draws him into a spiral of self-destruction. His family is kidnapped and he is forced to work for the gangsters who have them. Unable to free them himself, and unaware that everyone around him is working to do just that, he caves to the temptation of an old drug addiction. As he struggles to avoid lashing out, events conspire to bring a showdown with the gangsters. It's no longer a matter of if someone will die, only who.