A pilot goes undercover to hunt down an assassin in this classic space opera adventure sequel to The Price of the Stars.

Blockaded, restricted, and forgotten—the Mageworlds would never threaten the Republic again.

A broken and drifting ship, it's long-dead captain still strapped in the command seat: that's what free-spacers call a starpilot's grave. When one of these derelict craft appears in the Net, the artificial barrier zone separating the Republic from the Mageworlds, the discovery is no accident. It's a sign, a warning that the Mageworlds have not forgotten the Republic—and the Magelords make long plans.

But the Magelords weren't planning on Beka Rosselin-Metadi.

Beka has unfinished business to take care of, and his name is Ebenra D'Caer: the man who arranged her mother's murder. D'Caer is safe—he thinks—hidden among the Mages on the far side of the Net. Flying under a false name and false colors, Beka penetrates the Magezone and finds more than anyone expected: the Magelords have discovered a fatal weakness in the Republic's defenses, and are poised to wreak their vengeance on the hated enemy.

The Mages are too strong. They must prevail.

Unless one woman in one ship can do the impossible.