Federation space officer Aria Pantel's is haunted by actions of her past and forever being hassled by the arrogant Dr. Hansel Heinrich, a lover turned pain in the ass from the Academy. She wants to stick it to all her haters, yet her universe begins to spiral down a black hole when an unidentified ship of alarming origin blasts across her bow and risks destroying the fledgling humanoid settlement on the planet below that she's grown quite fond of. It couldn't be the Quillian aliens, not seen since they lost the war a decade ago, right? Such a thought might send Aria back to her vices.
Will she open herself to resources that can heal her heart, save the settlement, and all the while keeping Hansel from mucking it all up?