Starfall did not just vanish—it unleashed something that now hunts the galaxy.

The Ayridians have fallen. Most survivors labor in the Deep, a mining colony where the Mote—a mining poison—claims entire families. But Ayra Weld's mother didn't die in the mines. She vanished aboard Starfall, the last transport to leave the planet.

To track Starfall, Ayra needs power, ships, and influence. She enters a brutal solar-sail race where most pilots die. Her victory forges an alliance with Zorian, a notorious power broker. Instead of funding another mine, she bankrolls a space program—turning the ruling syndicates against her. She survives sabotage, riots, and assassination attempts and completes the program with one mission: find Starfall. Then Ayra discovers she is infected and the Mote will kill her within a year.

With time running out, Ayra decides to gamble her life on one final launch. She knows this is a one-way ticket. She expects danger, not war. Two alien species are locked in a brutal conflict, and Ayra’s ship is heading straight for it—hopelessly outgunned and outmatched. But something worse than war awaits. An apex predator culling both species—and it originates on Starfall's last known coordinates.