The war against the aliens is over and humanity has won - just. But the price has been high: the Earth's ecology has been shattered, her colonies all but abandoned and the galactic economy lies in ruins. For the surviving colonists of Hope Nation there can be no promise of salvation from home. If they are to survive they must act quickly but Nicolas Seafort knows that time is running out for the people of Hope - and even he may not be able to help them. And as Hope Nation slides inexorable towards civil war, an old enemy returns...