An uneasy peace broken by an old enemy An old ally owed debts and obligations A new mission to bring light into darkness In the aftermath of the destruction of the Cadre's main base, there was a period of quiet in the Solar System. Now, however, pirate attacks are on the rise again. When the Cadre ambushes a medical convoy under the protection of Brad Madrid and the Vikings Mercenary Company, the attacking warship turns out to be of a type and class the pirates should never have come into possession of. The Cadre is no longer limited to pirate corvettes and scratch-built destroyers. Somehow, they've come into possession of a modern fleet of warships no one outside the Commonwealth should possess. Brad Madrid owes the Agency and the Commonwealth his allegiance and his life. So when Kate Falcone calls on him to help seek out the Cadre's new shipyard, he answers without hesitation. Their investigation, however, will draw his mercenary company into a newborn conflict unlike anything he's ever faced before.