Now a captain, Sikander Singh North commands the destroyer Ardent, assigned to Zerzura, a haven for piracy and the next playing-board in the Great Game. The Aquilan Commonwealth and the Empire of Dremark vie for the allegiance of local ruler Marid Pasha, a competition with stakes that reach far beyond the sector's pirate-infested limits. Sikander must stop the pirate attacks while charting his course between the ambitions of corrupt planetary ruler, a dubious alliance with a beautiful shipping magnate, and the inexperience of Ardent's crew...a situation that only grows more complicated when an old enemy returns.