It was the deepest survey mission into unexplored space that had ever been attempted, and Captain Amelia West was more than qualified for the challenge. But when an unknown aggressor destroys her ship, she and her crew find themselves fighting for their lives light years away from the core systems.
As their last hope of survival fades, a warship appears. Elation turns to terror as they discover that this warship has been commandeered by a gang of fugitives with illegal combat augmentations. Finding herself and her crew trapped on an illegal warship in deep space, Captain West must find a way to survive and escape.
The combat hardened Captain Daniel Stryker and the crew of the rogue warship Athena insist they had nothing to do with the attack, but Captain West isn't naive. They were too far away from the core systems for Stryker to just happen across them. As she and her crew struggle with being trapped on Stryker's ship, a terrifying new reality is revealed. A reality that will either alter the course of humanity forever or destroy it.