Oen and Jarred are life mates: Oen is a brilliant and handsome engineer and inventor. Jarred is tall, dark, and large, a former acolyte from within The Order, trained to despise the kind of man he now loves. Together they helped free Oen's homeworld from domination by The Order and weaken its evil empire. But The Order has no intention of accepting defeat and kidnaps Jarred with the intention of controlling his mind with their secret nano-technology. Despite their plans, Jarred escapes the Temple compound and makes his way to the home of Darrik Madron, the rich and powerful descendant of a space pirate and friend of Oen. With the help of Dominik, a Temple employee, along with Oen and friends Alon and Shanra, the group uncovers The Order's plan to infect leaders from multiple worlds with nanobots that will control their thoughts and actions. These friends are pursued by Monsignor Zeisman, also known as Zeisman the Sliceman, the Order's head of security. But unknown to Zeisman, they are assisted by Captain, Darrik's advanced AI, and Arlana, a scientist from a world lost long ago to a nanobots plague. From their cloaked base on an ancient world, this team races to prevent bot dispersal and the enslavement of every inhabited world in their galaxy.