Kris has sought the outer reaches of space to try and discover who is destroying the Iteeche ships. Her grandfather's security adviser purposely let their enemies and allies know about the meeting with the Iteeche so her ships are joined by some from the Greenwald and Musashi. At first, they spend more time checking out the jump points and collecting data. A few attempts on the life of Victoria Greenwald add a little spice to their journey.

Then they come upon a planet that has been destroyed and the only inhabitants launch an attack on Kris. Hails are made with no response and when the ships open fire, Kris has no choice but to defend her crew. Rather than surrender, the main ship destroys itself and all aboard. They find a few bodies of a humanoid species. The scientists gladly take that and the data they recover from the few computer fragments they find.

The data they discover is disturbing. This civilization lives completely on their ships. They find a planet, obliterate the entire population, and the pull everything valuable from the planet leaving nothing behind.

Kris sends out scouts through the other jumps to see if there are any indications that these ship based people are intent on destroying others at the same time she sends word back to her grandfather. From her grandfather she receives a new weapon with the instruction to use it as a last resort. From the other scouts, they receive information about a planet which is directly in the path of the alien species. Kris must decide to save one civilization along with the possibility of her own and the Iteeche or start a war which could destroy life as they know it.

This was a tightly written, action packed adventure from start to finish. Kris is again placed in the untenable position of deciding matters that go far beyond what she would like. Heart thumping action will keep the reader engrossed and emotionally involved. It will be hard waiting for the next in the series.

Book Summary

Lieutenant Commander Kris Longknife leads a reconnaissance mission of the vast uncharted regions of space. No one, least of all Kris, expects to find a hostile alien starship. Now, she must determine the extent of the alien threat-and whether to start an interstellar war...