Captain Li Wing Hua has been a prisoner of an alien race for nearly four years, freed at last after the war. So when he's finally made captain of another space ship, he's eager to return to space. But when he discovers an observation outpost wrecked and the crew tortured to death, Hua has reason to suspect the same alien race that tortured and held him captive those four long years. But can he unravel the mystery before it causes an interstellar incident?