'"Enjoy the party, Reed. It will be some time before you attend another."Standing on the threshold of the station's crowded Grand Hall, the Admiral's parting words echoed in the captain's thoughts. They'd been a fitting coda for the disastrous briefing.'So begins the story of starship captain William Reed. Pushed aside by the father of his true love so that she may marry another, Reed is sent to patrol the far end of the Realm. Vowing to win glory and redemption, Reed instead faces disaster. Ambushed, and captured, Reed finds himself in a treasonous partnership with a separatist raider who shares with him a quest to find powerful artifacts. To keep them from rebel hands, Reed must risk his ship, his love, and his life in a desperate struggle against not only the rebellion, but also his own crew, and, ultimately, the artifacts themselves.